“Was Wicked of Him”: “Was Wicked of Him: Breckinridge of Kentucky Sued for Breach of Promise,” San Francisco Morning Call, Aug. 13, 1893.
“The Breckinridge-Pollard case was discussed”: “Rhodes Was Not Breckinridge,” CDT, Aug. 14, 1893.
“Nothing in recent years”: “Romance with Bitter Realities,” CE, Aug. 13, 1893.
two dozen a day: Williams, Years of Decision, 76.
six hundred banks and fifteen thousand businesses: Ibid., 77.
The great railroads: Ibid., 76–77.
15 percent: Ibid., 77.
“famine is in our midst”: Ibid., 77.
“Men died like flies”: Adams, The Education of Henry Adams, 265.
“suspended, for several months”: Ibid., 264.
“was the worst month”: Williams, Years of Decision, 76.
“Mills, factories, furnaces”: Ibid., 76–77.
“the symbol of the country’s ingenuity”: Ibid., 77.
“reshaped ideas, altered attitudes”: Ibid.
“the financial situation which had engrossed”: “Is It Blackmail?,” WES, Aug. 14, 1893.
“These charges are the result of vindictiveness”: “Is It Blackmail?,” WES, Aug. 14, 1893.
“Miss Pollard is not the woman”: “Much Excitement Here,” LCJ, Aug. 13, 1893.
“indirectly”: Ibid.
“prominent gentleman”: “Romance with Bitter Realities,” CE, Aug. 14, 1893.
“well educated, a constant student”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
popular New York weeklies: (Frankfort, KY) Daily Commonwealth, Sept. 12, 1861.
appointed as a local police judge: Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 1863; Civil Appointments by Governor Thomas E. Bramlette, 1863–1867, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, KY.
“full of books”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
resigned his position: J.D. Pollard to Gov. Thos. E. Bramlette, May 27, 1865, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort, KY.
“always held some public office”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
“If you are absolutely determined”: Quoted in Allen, The Law as a Vocation, 25.
“refined influence”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
earnest and active member: Journal of the Proceedings of the Right North Grand Lodge of the United States of the I.O.O.D., 1821–1878, Baltimore, MD: James Ridgeley Publisher, 1879, 7044.
“took cold”: Ibid.
“that the King of Terrors”: Ibid.
“almost on the verge of starvation”: Effie E. Knight to WCPB, Nov. 25, 1893, BFP.
she asked her mother: “Madeline’s Story,” WES, March 16, 1894.
“advantages of a Northern education”: “A Romantic Story Has Little ‘Madge,’” CCG, Aug. 15, 1893.
“seminaries”: See Jabour, Scarlett’s Sisters, 54.
“charmed with my young, widowed auntie”: “A Romantic Story Has Little ‘Madge,’” CCG, Aug. 15, 1893.
“jealously guards every penny”: Ibid.
“old, gray-faced rough-looking customer”: Ibid.
read her letters: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
“the liberal education of women”: Shotwell, A History of the Schools, 494.
five hundred students: Ibid., 495.
“I never saw a person who studied”: “Miss Pollard’s Suit,” LCJ, Aug. 16, 1893.
“before a large and brilliant audience”: “Romance with Bitter Realities,” CE, Aug. 14, 1893.
“poor, ambitious, delicate girl”: “A Romantic Story Has Little ‘Madge,’” CCG, Aug. 15, 1893.
“nervous temperament”: “Will She Kill Him?,” LMT, March 15, 1894.
“always looking downward”: Celebrated Trial, 2.
“She had never lived in a city”: “Sister Cecilia Resumes and Finishes Her Testimony,” LMT, March 15, 1894.
“always seemed anxious to raise”: “Will She Kill Him?,” LMT, March 15, 1894.
“When I think of the debt of gratitude”: “Romance with Bitter Realities,” CE, Aug. 14, 1893.
“Your face is very familiar”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
“man of his standing should come to her”: “Sister Cecilia Resumes and Finishes Her Testimony,” LMT, March 15, 1894.
“compel”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
Her face flushed: “Miss Pollard Corroborated,” CCG, Aug. 15, 1893.
“higher proof”: “His Story in Detail,” WP, March 31, 1894.
“I do not want to be like Aunt Lou”: “Breckinridge Testifies,” NYW, March 30, 1894.
“get up some kind of relationship”: “Madeline’s Story,” WES, March 16, 1894.
“he was a relative”: “Miss Pollard’s Suit,” LCJ, Aug. 16, 1893.
“protested about a student”: “Gossip’s Tongue,” KL, Aug. 17, 1893.
“Are we going in a closed carriage”: “Madeline’s Story,” WES, March 16, 1894.
“being an ignorant Kentucky country woman”: “Mr. Breckinridge Testifies,” NYT, March 30, 1894.
“such an act on his part”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
“further liberties”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
“wrenched”: “More About Her Life,” WP, March 20, 1894.
“conduct had not been improper”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
“nervous and excited”: “Miss Pollard’s Story of Col. Breckinridge,” NYW, Sept. 17, 1893.
“uncouth farmer”: “Her Autobiography,” LCJ, Aug. 15, 1893.
“a penchant for rich and gay old men”: “Miss Pollard,” CE, Aug. 13, 1893.
“lady clerk in the Treasury Department”: “Breach of Promise,” NYT, Feb. 9, 1877.
“improper meeting”: “The Oliver-Cameron Suit: Candid Avowals by the Widow,” NYT, March 20, 1879.
“say whether or not he had made the promise”: “The Oliver-Cameron Suit: Closing Events of the Long Trial,” NYT, April 1, 1879.
“disgustingly and without shame”: “The Oliver-Cameron Suit: Candid Avowals by the Widow,” NYT, March 20, 1879.
“Mrs. Oliver was easily shown”: “Breach of Promise Cases,” NYT, April 3, 1879.
“Gentlemen of the jury”: “Mr. Cameron Vindicated,” NYT, April 2, 1879.
5. THE WANTON WIDOW
Halpin was a young widow: The 1868 Jersey City, New Jersey, City Directory lists Maria as the widow of Frederick Halpin. U.S. City Directories, 1822–1995 (database online). Ancestry.com.
Her husband, Frederick: Frederick Thomas Halpin was the son of Frederick William Halpin, who emigrated from England and became a naturalized citizen in 1858. According to Maria’s father, Robert Hovenden, her husband, Frederick, died of “consumption.” Frederick T. Halpin died on July 27, 1865, and was buried in Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn. Frederick William Halpin, Petition for Naturalization, June 23, 1858, New York, Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in New York City, 1792–1989 (database online). Ancestry.com. “Poor Old Hovenden,” CDT, Aug. 18, 1884. Frederick Thomas Halpin, U.S. Find a Grave Index, 1600s–Current (database online). Ancestry.com.
Her son, Frederick, was six: Frederick T. Halpin was born Aug. 27, 1862. Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906–1964 (database online). Ancestry.com.
her daughter, Ada, was four: Ada Elise Halpin was born Oct. 6, 1864. New Jersey Episcopal Diocese of Newark Church Records, 1809–1816, 1825–1970 (database online). Ancestry.com.
twenty-five thousand in Boston alone: “Report on the Condition of Women and Child Wage-Earners,” vol. 9, 16.
“a mere pittance”: Penny, The Em
ployments of Women, vi.
“about $2 a week”: “Report on the Condition of Women and Child Wage-Earners,” vol. 9, 23.
The majority of the 533 jobs for women: See Penny, The Employments of Women.
the overwhelming majority of women: Women’s employment as household servants peaked in 1870, when 58 percent of working women were employed as servants. “Report on the Condition of Women and Child Wage-Earners,” vol. 9, 18.
“going into service”: Alcott, “How I Went Out to Service,” in Louisa May Alcott, 806–19.
fifty cents more: Kessler-Harris, Out to Work, 57.
six months or so: “120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait,” Fig. 8: Average number of days per year attended by public school students: 1869–70 to 1980–81, 28.
drove down wages and working conditions: Kessler-Harris, Out to Work, 46.
“vests at 18 cents apiece”: Quoted in “Report on the Condition of Women and Child Wage-Earners,” vol. 9, 148.
experience working as a seamstress: The 1860 census lists Maria, along with her mother and sisters, as a “dressmaker.” 1860 U.S. Federal Census (database online). Ancestry.com.
lived near her in-laws: The 1868 Jersey City Directory lists Maria as living at 62 Montgomery and Frederick and Elizabeth Halpin as living at 48 Montgomery. U.S. City Directories, 1822–1995 (database online). Ancestry.com.
the first department store: Christopher Gray, “The A.T. Stewart Department Store; A City Plan to Revitalize the 1846 ‘Marble Palace,’” NYT, March 20, 1994.
“tasteful frescoes”: Haven, “A Morning at Stewart’s,” 431.
nine hundred other seamstresses: Resseguie, “Alexander Turney Stewart and the Development of the Department Store,” 301.
“flock of women and girls”: Haven, “A Morning at Stewart’s,” 432.
“responsible position”: “The Cleveland Scandal,” CDT, July 30, 1884.
“careful matrons”: Haven, “A Morning at Stewart’s,” 432.
“lowest market rate”: “Alexander Turney Stewart,” Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, 647.
one-third to one-half: Kessler-Harris, Out to Work, 59.
possibly with some of her late husband’s family: Maria’s father, Robert, who apparently didn’t have much contact with her after she married, seemed to think she had gone to Buffalo with Frederick and Elizabeth Halpin, who was a milliner, to work in a millinery establishment, but there is no record of the Halpins ever leaving Jersey City, so it may have been other Halpin kin. “Poor Old Hovenden,” CDT, Aug. 18, 1884.
leaving Ada with her in-laws: In the 1870 census, Ada is living with her paternal grandparents, Frederick and Elizabeth Halpin, in Jersey City. 1870 U.S. Federal Census (database online). Ancestry.com.
making mourning collars: Maria appears in the Buffalo City Directory for the first time in 1871, listed as a widow and “mourning collar manf.,” U.S. City Directories, 1822–1995 (database online). Ancestry.com.
promoted to sales clerk: The 1872 Buffalo City Directory lists Maria as a “clerk.” U.S. City Directories, 1822–1995 (database online). Ancestry.com.
320 or so sales clerks at Stewart’s: Resseguie, “Alexander Turney Stewart and the Development of the Department Store,” 301.
“inferior class position”: Benson, Counter Culture, 24.
“the confidence and esteem”: “Politics for All; Maria Halpin’s Pitiful Story of Her Acquaintance with Grover Cleveland,” CDT, Oct. 30, 1884.
“ladylike, intelligent and fine appearing”: “The Cleveland Scandal,” CDT, July 30, 1884.
“unusual intelligence, modesty, neatness and business tact”: “Is It Gov. Cleveland’s Boy?” CDT, July 22, 1894.
“no longer owed her sexuality”: Wood, Freedom of the Streets, 16.
“You have to dress well”: Kessler-Harris, Out to Work, 104.
“remarkable sweetness of manner”: “Is It Gov. Cleveland’s Boy?” CDT, July 22, 1884.
“persistently sought”: “What Widow Halpin Says,” CDT, Aug. 16, 1884.
“honorable”: “Politics for All,” CDT, Oct. 30, 1884.
in her early thirties: Various census records give different birth years for Maria, which wasn’t unusual at a time with no birth certificates, but the most accurate appears to be the 1865 New York State Census, which lists her birth as “about 1842,” which comports with her father’s recollection that she was “but 19 years old” when she was married. If earlier censuses are correct, she may have been in her mid-thirties at the time. New York State Census, 1865 (database online). Ancestry.com. “Poor Old Hovenden,” CDT, Aug. 18, 1884.
“very marked attention”: “Politics for All,” CDT, Oct. 30, 1884.
“to go with him to dinner”: “The Strife of Parties; Maria Halpin Relates the Story of Her Ruin by Grover Cleveland,” CDT, Oct. 31, 1884.
“by the use of force and violence and without my consent”: Ibid.
“accomplished my ruin”: Ibid.
“sensible, domestic American wife”: Grover Cleveland to Mary Cleveland Hoyt, March 21, 1866, Nevins, Letters, 103–4.
“told him that I never wanted to see him again”: “The Strife of Parties,” CDT, Oct. 31, 1884.
“What the devil are you blubbering about?”: Ibid.
“made it virtually impossible for a mature, healthy woman”: Bock, “An Accusation Easily to Be Made,” 112.
“utmost resistance”: Ibid., 105.
“consummation meant consent”: Ibid., 119.
“there was a general assumption”: Ibid., 20.
“notwithstanding the defendant treated the girl”: Ibid., 88–89.
“without an excitation of lust”: Farr, Elements of Medical Jurisprudence, 42–43.
“ordinarily it is impossible”: Storer, “The Law of Rape,” 55.
“was willing to socialize alone”: Lindemann, “To Ravish and Carnally Know,” 68.
“promised that he would marry me”: “The Strife of Parties,” CDT, Oct. 31, 1884.
“irritated, rude and rebellious”: Merrill, Bourbon Leader, 9.
“man’s man”: Nevins, Cleveland, 71–72.
“the circumstances of her intimacy”: “Maria Halpin; A Buffalo Clergyman Speaks His Mind,” Boston Globe, Oct. 31, 1884.
“was excusable and understandable”: Grossberg, Governing the Hearth, 48.
“the act of a male person”: Humble, “Seduction as a Crime,” 144–45.
“to compel an unmarried man”: Ibid., 151.
“He must marry you”: “Maria Halpin,” Boston Globe, Oct. 31, 1884.
“would be impossible”: Ibid.
“of good repute”: Humble, “Seduction as a Crime,” 146.
“agree to provide for the child”: “Maria Halpin,” Boston Globe, Oct. 31, 1884.
“friend, employé and father confessor”: “Is It Gov. Cleveland’s Boy?,” CDT, July 22, 1884.
“would pay me … and told me several times”: “Maria Halpin’s Terrible Experience Related by Her Child’s Nurse,” CDT, Oct. 1, 1884.
“I begged Cleveland”: “What Widow Halpin Says,” CDT, Aug. 16, 1884.
“very much depressed and broken down”: “The Cleveland Scandal,” CDT, July 30, 1884.
“They came to me in a hurry one day”: “Maria Halpin’s Terrible Experience,” CDT, Oct. 1, 1884.
“overjoyed”: Ibid.
“apprehensive that she might attempt some injury”: “The Cleveland Scandal,” CDT, July 30, 1884.
“in which he demanded that she give the baby up”: “Is It Gov. Cleveland’s Boy?,” CDT, July 22, 1884.
“appealed to the Chief of Police”: “The Cleveland Scandal,” CDT, July 30, 1884.
“could do nothing with her”: “A Terrible Tale,” Evening Telegraph, July 21, 1884.
pay for his care and establish her in a dressmaking business: Nevins, Cleveland, 165.
on April 28 she spirited him from the orphanage: According to the records of the Buffalo Orphan Asylum, Oscar
was “stolen” by Maria. “The Charges Swept Away,” NYT, Aug. 12, 1884.
“old crony”: Lynch, Grover Cleveland, 70.
“the assistance of Mr. Baker”: “Is It Gov. Cleveland’s Boy,?” CDT, July 22, 1884.
“It was a hell of a time”: “A Terrible Tale,” Evening Telegraph, July 21, 1884.
“was drunk at the time”: “Is It Gov. Cleveland’s Boy?,” CDT, July 22, 1884.
“without warrant or form of law”: “A Terrible Tale,” Evening Telegraph, July 21, 1884.
“boozy”: “The Cleveland Scandal,” CDT, July 30, 1884.
“abduction and false imprisonment”: Ibid.
“had plotted the abduction”: “A Terrible Tale,” Evening Telegraph, July 21, 1884.
“anxious to avoid public scandal”: Ibid.
“fair lawyer in the host of average lawyers”: “Is It Gov. Cleveland’s Boy?,” CDT, July 22, 1884.
“remarkably unreceptive to new ideas”: Merrill, Bourbon Leader, 25.
“frustrated, uneasy retreat into conservatism”: Ibid., 29.
“much-despised Jay Gould”: Ibid., 27.
“class legislation”: Ibid., 31.
“refreshing moral correctness”: Ibid., 35.
“We do not believe that the American people”: New York Evening Post, quoted in “A Clean Candidate,” CDT, Aug. 5, 1884.
“The issue of the campaign”: “Character and Candidates,” CDT, Aug. 4, 1884.
“serious stampede”: “The Presidential Race,” CDT, Aug. 7, 1884.
“tell the truth”: Nevins, Cleveland, 163.
“I don’t think there is an intelligent man”: “A Methodist Minister on Cleveland,” CDT, Aug. 13, 1884.
“formed an irregular connection with a widow”: “An Amazing Confession,” New York Evening Post, Aug. 5, 1884.
“Is he fool enough to suppose”: Nevins, Cleveland, 168.
let political associates do his dirty work: Merrill, Bourbon Leader, 17.
“a little bit of detective work”: “Cleveland’s Vindication,” NYW, Aug. 8, 1884.
“call[ing] on some of Gov. Cleveland’s friends”: “Beecher; He Flops to Back Cleveland,” CDT, Aug. 7, 1884.
He blamed the Reverend George Ball: “Beecher Means Business,” Boston Globe, Aug. 7, 1884.
“The facts seem to be that many years ago”: “Cleveland’s Vindication,” NYW, Aug. 8, 1884.
Bringing Down the Colonel Page 38
