Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-10-29
MRS. PRIME
WINS SUIT
w.. FOR DIVORCE
Judge MoultOn Gives Barton
Woman Decision Against
Husband

Judge Moulton, sitting in Orleans
County Court at Newport last night
handed down a decision in favor of
Mrs. Ada Prime in her suit for di
vorce against her husband, DR.. Mer
rill F. Prime, prominent physician of
Barton, thus ending one of the most
sensational divorce trials in the an
nails Of this court. Mrs. Prime was
granted separation on the grounds
of adultery. Judge Moulton has
taken the matter of alimony under
consideration and will probably MT
render his decision for several weeks.
The st. Johnsbury law firm of Dun
nett, Shields and ConanI handled
Mrs. Primes case while Boston at
torneys represented DR.. Prime.
In her deposition Mrs. Prime
charged the doctor with having i'm
proper relations with three well
known Barton women, one teacher
in the schools there. The trial was
replete with sensational testimony
and drew the attention of people
from all over the state. Each side
produced long list of witnesses who
came from all parts of New England
to testify. Most of them were from
Boston and Barton.
In their testimony at the trial both
DR.. and Mrs. Prime declared they
still loved each other.
Lawyer Will w. Reirden Of Barton
was the last witness on the stand
Friday. He testified that he had talk
ed with Mrs. Ferguson, the detective,
and she had told him that she had
not seen anything improper in the
doctors relations with his women pa
tients or that anything had transpir-
ed at the doctors Office that was not
alright.
Following the arguments Attorney
Scharton for the doctors side and
Lawyer Conant for Mrs. Prime, the
case was taken under advisement by
Judge Moulton and a decision rem
dered later.
Mrs. Ada Prime was the first wit
ness Friday in the rebuttal. She ad-
mitted she knew Mrs. F. l. .Goodell
and that she recognized her when she
took the witness stand several days
ago. She also admitted she had sent
Mrs. Goodell presents but had never
sent her handkerchief.
Mrs. Prime denied that Walter w.
BATHS had furnished her money to
pay for detectives to watch DR..
Prime, but admitted that her sister,
Mrs. Eva Landy of Boston loaned
her SIS to pay Mrs. Ferguson's
Boston detectivc) railroad fare to
Barton. She said she drew 5000 out
of the Citizens National bank at st.
Johnsbury on August 81 and went
right to Boston.
The witness testified that the rea-
son she left her sisters home in Bos-
ton was that she overheard CONVEX
sation in which Melville BATHS,
brother of Walter w. BATHS, stated
that he had just talked with DR..
Prime and that the doctor had prom
ised him $500 if he could get any
thing "on" Mrs. Prime. She said
she left Mrs. Landy's home after
hearing this conversation. She said
Mrs. Williamson of Boston, who
lived at Mrs. Landy's home also
heard the conversation. Mrs. Prime
testified that her sister was sorry to
see her go and was very friendly
with her at that time. She said she
didn't move her furniture from Mrs.
Landy's home to the Mountford
street house.
The witness admitted having had
a bunch of violets 13 years ago but
denied that the Boston business man
gave them to her. She denied also
that she had told her husband an
old friend had given her the flow
ers.
Mrs. Prime denied that she used
as much profanity as the doctor. She
said that when Dr. Prime got the let
ter (this is the letter Mrs. Prime is
alleged to have written in endearing
terms to the Boston business man)
he deceived Carroll Webster, the
postmaster at Barton. DR.. Prime,
she said, told the postmaster that his
wife, chad left something out of the
letter."
Mrs. Prime admitted that when she
was 16 or II years of age, Walter w.
BATHS gave her a stick pin. She
also admitted that she kept her cloth
es in the same closet with BATHS
clothes but only because they were
her best clothes and she didn't want
to get them soiled. She said BATHS
gave her the pin but no other pres
ents. She denied she ever owed Bat
tbs 5000 for detective services.
Mrs. Prime testified that in the
years 1910, 1911 and 1912 she, and
she alone, drove the doctors auto
mobile all of the time.
Mrs Alice Wilkie of Barton follow
ed Mrs. Prime on the stand. She de-
MED any knowledge of the alleged
automobile trip to Sanbornville, N.
H., and also denied that Walter w.
(Continuad nm mn On Ava