Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-09-30
DR.. J. W. HILL IS
SUED BY WOMAN

terday afternoon shortly after the
summons in Miss Covington's suit had
been filed in tho county clerks office
by her attorney. Nathaniel F. Schmidt,
of 220 Broadway.
Before going he declared that she
had no valid claim against him and
was merely trying TO compel him to
pay her money not due her In order to
avoid unpleasant notoriety. He told
his attorney, Bainbridge Colby, that ne
didn't know the nature of the action
in which the summons had peen
served and Mr.. Colby himself got ms
| first information that the suit was for
breach of promise when he was told
of statements made by Miss CoVing-
She is so, He 81 Years Old
Lawyer Schmidt said yesterday that
his client is about 80 years old, while
Dr.. Hill is So, and that she first met
him in Chicago in 1910 when she was
manager of the lyceum and chau-
tauqua branch of the Western Vaude-
Vile Association. Miss Covington told
her attorney that the clergyman fell
in love with her at once and that In
July, 1910, shortly after they first met,
he proposed marriage.
Miss Covington reciprocated the
clergyman love, her attorney SAID,
although he was nearly twenty years
older than herself. He then brought
her to New York and attached her to
his own staff. with the understanding
that he would marry her here, she
said She says she discovered In the
latter part of 1911 that DR.. Hill didn' t
intend to marry her and that he really
couldn't wed her because he had
wife.
Lawyer Schmidt described his client
as an able writer of fiction and poetry
and said she is now on a lecture tour
In the West. She was formerly a
school teacher. he said.
cambridge Colby. discussing the suit
against his client. said last night that
because of the fact that many threats
of disagreeable publicity for DR.. Hill
had been made before the suit was
actually filed. the bringing of the ac-
ton is miserable, rotten thing, too
disgusting to consider" He said he
was certain that his client didn't know
when the summons was served that
the plaintiff alleged that there had
been a promise of marriage.
Son Threatens ReprisaIs
John Warren Hill, son of the clergy
man, said last night at his fathers
home, 131 West One Hundred and
Eighteenth street:
This case is simply a shakedown
as bad as any / ever saw attempted. |
have material in my possession which
from my knowledge of criminal law
believe could be used as the basis for a
prosecution of this woman"
Mr.. Hill said that Miss Covington
has been making demands for money
on various grounds against his father
for a long time and on one occasion
stated that her silence could be bought
for $4,000. She was discharged by the
Rev. DIR. Hill, his son said, and sub
Sequently imagined she had claims for
back salary and on other grounds.
Several weeks ego, while I was on
my vacation, this woman called up my
Office and said she was a lifelong
friend of mine, which. of course is un-
true. and wanted to know where 7
was said Mr.. HILL "She then wrote
me at the district attorneys office and
stated that she wanted to see me as
soon as possible in order to make ar
rangements so that good deal of an.
noyance should not come to my fam
lily. ] refused to see her.
Saws She is 40 Years Old
Mr.. ITill said that the plaintiff is
about 40 years old and that she was
in his fathers employ only a few
months.
The Rev. Dr. John Wesley Hill has
other grown children besides his son,
John Warren Hill. His first wife was
Nora Holmes, of Findlay, Ohio, whom
he married in 1888, and his second
wife was Sadie Harrison Schmidt, of
Brooklyn, whom he married in 1906,
while pastor of the James Methodist
Episcopal Church. Brooklyn, just be-
fore becoming head of the Metro
politan Temple in West Fourteenth
street in 1907.
The Rev DR.. Hill has been widely
known as a civic. industrial and ma
tional peace speaker. He made his
first appearance in the Blaine cam
paign and took an active part in the
Mckinley campaign in 1896. He was
chaplain of the Republican national
conventions in 1908 and 1912, and
during the campaign of 1912 accom-
panied President Taft on his north
western tour. He resigned from the
pastorate of the Metropolitan Temple
TO have more time to work for Presi-
dent Taft and also for the cause of
international peace. He visited Japan
in 1911 and established the Asiatic
branch of the International Peace
Forum at Toxic.
The Rev. Dr.. Hill is a member of the
Republican Club of New York and
the Union League of Chicago and is
vice-president or the American Civic
Association. His office is at 1S East
Forty-frst street.
The Rev. John Wesley Hill was
pastor of the Grace Methodist Church,
leaving here in 1906 to go to New
York