Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1922-09-08

TRY Of Mrs. aateaaa Robinson n
lHi9ably assumed name Of the wv4a
WISE body rests Beneath the HHNE
bHSed headstone al Mattewan, is that
she was of either Hng1lsh or CANADIAN
oSSn and that size. rame to Troy, n,
H. In 1851, being; always well sep
pd&d with funds FINN a source wrfch
remained concealed even during he
r'etd investigation which followed lei
arrest on the Charge OF murder.
Some months affair Mrs. Roblnssn"
sadtled in Troy a Strange and apaar
Gently in~explicable tragedy occurred.
Il merchant and 81 young woman who
was living with his family dropped
lead at the table,. A post-mortem ex.
animation showedi that they had been
poisoned and, desgite the absenOs OF
motive, Mrs. Rablnson," who. had
been present, was arrested, bur re.
fused to say a wxd even to her law
yer.
To add to the air OF mystery Ehich
surrounded the entire case, tie de-
PENDANT insisted upon appearing In
court shrouded in a heavy black veil
which effectually concealed hlf fea-
lures. All during the trial sbe sat,
impressive and unmoved, apparently
taking not hAe slightest interosa in the
conduct Of the proceedings. When the
state had concluded its case. a com
paratively fimsy structure OF circum-
stantial evidence, the counsel for the
defense arose and, admitting that he
had not a shred Of direct evidence to
offer, Introduced the plea of insanity.
At the conclusion of the trial and
before delivering his charge to the
jury. the presiding judge called atten-
ton to the fact that no one in the
court had seen the attendants face
and requested Mrs. Robinson" to lift
her veil.
Slowly and with great dignity she
arose, but made no effort to comply
with the courts request.
Il am here" she stated, in a voice
which penetrated to every orner Of
the crowded courtroom, "to undergo
a most painful ordeal, not to be
gazed at" g
The request was not repeated and,
AFR a elaboration Of several hours,
the jury returned a verdict of
Guilty" and the prisoner was SEN
fenced to death-a decree which was
later committed to life Imprisonment
by order Of the governor, though not
before Mrs. Robinson" had made her
II formal statement In the shadow
Of the gallows:
When I am dead" she declared,
'all will die with me. l have prom
Used to be silent, to die without be
traying anything"
The first Is years Of her life sem
tence were passed in Sing Sing peni.
tertiary. She vas then, moved to the
Auburn State Prison for the Insane,
where she remained for II years, and
finally to the Asylum of the Criminally
Insane at M%attewan, where the woman
Of mystery finally died on May 4, 1905,
after 81 years In prison. During all
this time, however, she never wrote a
letter nor spoke q word, save to her
lawyer who visited her at regular in
tervals and who admitted that his
services had been paid for by certain
influential ~personages' whom he was
not at liberty to name.
All that was known Of Henrietta
Robinson" was that she played the
organ at Sing Sing with the touch Of
q master musician and that she died
as she had lived-in silence, utter and
absolute, leaving as a heritage some
Of the most puzzling questions In the
history of criminal proceedings:
What was the woman's real name
and where had she come from?
Had she poisoned the merchant and
his young guest and, If so, with what
motive?
Why had she insisted upon conceal.
ing her face during the trial2
If she were innocent, why did she
refuse for more than half a century
to make any plea for leniency?
What did she mean by her state
ment that she chad promised to be
silent, to die without betraying any
thing?"
Who supplied the funds with which
the lawyer was paid?
The answers to these and as many
more unsolved riddles connected with
this woman of mystery lie concealed
beneath that simple headpiece in the
Potter's field at Mattewan, a head.
stone bearing only the number "SS."