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ORY OF MY
By Evelyn Thaw
Tenth Instalment of the Most Extraordinary Human Document
Written—Stranger Than Any Story in Fiction or Drama
Ever
Interesting Comments by Clergymen.
I
By Rev. MARY T. CHAPIN,
Pastor New Thought Church. •
BELIEVE in aaving all girla. Every soul is worth saving. While
I believe that beauty and integrity are the ideals and pictures to
be held steadily before the mind% yet it is well to show the direc
tion of the pitfalls. That the story of Evelyn Thaw’s life, told by her
self has done. Too often what we call innocence is merely ignorance.
Ignorance should be banished. The autobiography of this young per
son certainly banishes ignorance of the means of misguiding young
women in great cities.
I
1 hail with
of the dan-
serves as a)
By Dr. RUDOLPH GROSSMAN,
Pastor Temple Roddh-Sholem.
DO not believe in keeping our girls in ignorance,
joy any movement toward spreading knowledge
gers that beset youth, if it be done so that it
warning and help.
The life story of Evelyn Thaw, like the epochal play, “Damaged,
Goods,” may serve the same purpose of warning. I earnestly believe
in the propaganda of information that will warn youth, if the means
be kept within certain restrictions of discretion and taste
Harry
Begins
in Matteawan
a Strange Existence
Chapter X.— With
Evelyn Thaw
as the Wife of an Imprisoned Lunatic
Written by Evelyn Nesbit Thaw.
Copyright, 1913, by Star Company.
Book Rights Reserved by Evelyn Nesbit Thaw.
r was morning at last. The jury had been in confinement ail
night and the news flew about that the jury was ready to
come into court.
Thus run my notes of the final hours of the Thaw trial. Let
me quote a few more paragraphs from the memoranda I made at
that time:
During the early hours there was a constant gathering of
people in the streets leading to the court buildings, particularly
I ear the Bridge of Sighs. A hlg force of police failed to keep
t tie crowd moving on.
When Harry was called to the bar to day he entered with a
quick stride. His eyes were bright, and in his arms he carried
half a dozen morning newspapers, which he had been reading.
He was in better condition physically than any other person
connected with the trial. The dejection he betrayed on leaving
the court last night had gone. Last night, while waiting for the
expected verdict, he was the Jolliest member of the party. He
bowed graciously to his mother, to me, his sisters, the Countess
of Yarmouth and Mrs. Carnegie, and his brothers, Edward and
Josiah. and then, turning to h1s counsel, entered into a brisk
conversation with them.
had led to and had followed Mr. Beale’s acquittal were as much
responsible for the crime as any.
The “exaggerated ego" to which reference had been made in
the course of the trial was a very Important factor in all that
Harry did. The world revolved around him
"I am Harry Thaw, of Pittsburgh!" was the dramatic an
nouncement he had made to me on our meeting, and in these
words he told me all that I know about him. His self-importance
was phenomenal, and he was talkative on the subject of his own
virtues
If Harry Thaw were sane his character was the most complex
that I have ever examined. Had he grafted to his eccentric
habits of thought a creative faculty he would have been a genius.
I have observed that men who have the eccentricities of genius
and none of its quality are sure enough insane folk. Examine
Harry Thaw’s actions and see how murih it lacked balance.
The jury disagreed.
That is all.
Hollow eyed men, too tired almost to talk, came blinking Into
the court, red-eyed, husky, shaking. I think I knew they had dis
agreed. It was common knowledge that they were divided.
Oh, well—there must be another trial, possibly yet another.
The story told all over again, perhaps with greater wealth of de
tail. For myself I had ceased to .be horror-stricken. I was now
getting to the limits of boredom.
And yet behinfi all this was Harry’s life. X told myself as
much a hundred times. Harry, who was my husband; Harry, who
in his inconsistent way had been quixotic and kindly. Whether I
loved Harry or not then or before is of no great concern to any
body. if love is sacrifice, then be sure I loved him; but there are
other instincts besides love which induce living. There is that in
nate sense of justice with which I was born, a sense of loyalty
which has ever been mine, a faith in the genuineness of his de
sire to serve me, however mndheaded might be the way he chose.
None the less, the formality of denying this innuendo or admit
ting the truth of that suggestion had ceased to hold novelty or ex
citement for me. I wanted n change. I would have welcomed
the most strenuous tussle with the lawyers providing they would
take a new line—promulgate new charges and introduce into the
dreary atmosphere which was mine, something electrical to startle
me to interest.
I do not understand even now on what point the jury split. It
was enough that they disagreed, and that the worst end to the
trial was avoided. Harry was bitterly disappointed.
"If there is justice in the State I shall be acquitted." he had
said to the reporter, and this view was shared by the family. I
confess I was relieved by the disagreement. Even then l had
few illusions, and certainly none that murder was anything but
murder, or that a jury who had before it the undisputed evi
dence of the killing of one man by another could come to any
conclusion than that the bare facts as stated and uncontested
were true. Nobody ever questioned the fact that on a certain
evening Harry had shot dead Stanford White. Whether he was
insane at the moment was the only question for decision. To
anticipate a verdict of “not guilty" without the rider as to his
insanity was unthinkable, yet Harry did expect that, and so also
did his people.
Harry was terribly depressed. The disappointment left him
dazed and bewildered. His optimism had not been shared by
his counsel, and while the alleniste—that young army of lunacy
experts—had taken a view that a verdict in which his murder
was established would be returned, Harry had not shared their
enthusiasm. For he was satisfied that his fellow countrymen
wofild have given him a more triumphant exit
Truxton Beale had been so acquitted on the Pacific slope.
Truxton Beale had killed a man, and had received the pardon
which a California Jury accorded him amid demonstrations
and public approval.
Harry's interest in this case had been largely responsible for
the murder. Mr. Beale, it may be remembered, was with us on
the night of the murder. In Harry's eyes he was little short of
a hero, and I do not donbt in my own mind that the events which
Up to Me to Prove Harry Mad.
1. He himself was tinged with peculiarities in his relationships
with others.
2. He is filled with horror at the crimes of Stanford White.
3. To shield me he agrees with his family that the past should
be a closed book.
4. To justify his hatred for White he keeps the book open.
5. To revenge himself on White and because he feared him,
he kills him. •
6. He takes this final step, not for the wrongs which I have
suffered, but because he is inspired by a similar shooting, which
left the murderer a popular hero. (Truxton Beale.)
7. To save himself he plays his trump card—my life as a child
in every terrible detail. He boasts to the reporters as one pre
paring them for a great treat—that they will have a story from
me such as has never been told.
It is not my wish to follow the weary progression of trials and
commissions in lunacy which was lo send Harry to an insane
Here was the case over and with no further advance toward a
solution than had been made before the opening day of the trial.
1 have observed that men are very sympathetic to sick women,
only they do not believe that we ever get sick. This is a peculiar
fact which has application to me. Everybody thought that I had
conducted myself splendidly during the trial. I was “brave little
Evelyn” and wonderful girl. A reputation for courage is the hard
est reputation to uphold on the battlefield. There had been times
when I was near to breaking down.
I was a sick woman, mentally and physically, and nobody
seemed to realize the strain I had undergone—nobody except a
few 'of those good friends who had stood by me in my darkest
hours and understood me well enough to know how bitter was the
ordeal through which I was passing. People would have 'been
sympathetic—I do not dou-bt—if they had known 1 needed sym
pathy, but as sympathy must come spontaneously in obedience to
an instinct to be of -any value, such expressions I received were
net very impressive.
There were other trials ahead. I was quite a lawyer now. I
knew the rules of the game. I saw the ponderous machinery of
it, the aged cogs and flywheels that were so immovable in appear
ance as to suggest that they had no functions, save to add to the
illusion of complication.
Thai those trials came you know. Criminal trial, examina
tions in lunacy— au age of litigation so it seemed; a whole life
time spent in the choking environment of the courts. I learned my
way to the Tomibs. It was as familiar a road as I have ever trod.
I learned the routines of prison, the faces of wardens, the situa
tion of the cells.
Gradually the centre of gravity was being changed. The ques
tion as to whether Harry killed Stanford White or not was all be
side the point.
We never thought about that. We were engaged in the pur
suit of a new quest, the elucidation of a greater problem. Was
Harry a sane man? Was he a madman only on that night of
terror? “A monument of convenience,” one of the opposition
counsel described our pleading; another spoke of our “supreme
outside of m.v life will Judge whether I did my duty and in
trying circumstances 1 so performed it. To. t#> silent or to lie
jeopardized his life; to tell the truth saved It.
it was folly to Juggle with such big Issues. Neither I nor an;
other cou>d couvince hardminded legal folks that a man could b*
sane all his life and a lunatic for the space of three minutes. \y«
had hoped for, and had counted on a verdict of “not guilty." We
had persuaded ourselves that sentiment w&uld rise superior (o
reasoning, that the “unwritten law" would carry my husband to
liberty, and we had failed; we had to make the best of a bad job
When the trial began, I had taken off my gloves and handled
tne truth, however unsavory it was, without hesitation and with
out fear. This was no time to resume the gloves and mince with
vital fact.
I saw Harry almost daily save for the time when considers
tions of health took me on a short vacation. He was his own in
consistent self. Now in his most exalted mood, full of cheer, optj
mistic, almost jovial. Now in the depths of despair, ready, for
death, 'bitter, reproachful, self-pitying.
These discussions of his sanity were terribly humiliating, but
only at intervals did he recognize the humiliation. To go inlo
such an adventure in a high spirit, with all the illusions of chivalry
which were bis, and after an achievement which 'he could not fail
to regard as an act or sacrifice, to have the state of his mind in
quired into, was a ridiculous finish to his sublimity
There are people who invent all manners of stories as to why
I gradually drifted apart from Harry. There is no ignoble cause"
which they have not adduced. That we quarrelled over money,
that he was jealous, that I neglected him, that there was some
mysterious source of disagreement which the trial had not re
vealed. All these have been put forward by speculators in truth,
but the rift showed during the days of lunacy hearings. We werel
not estranged then. Indeed, we had many happy days together
even after he was committed to the asylum. But I saw the begin
ning of the end, and what is more, I recognized that it was in-1
deed the end of my love for Horry Thaw.
in those days of anxiety I had many friends—rumor credits
me with more than I possessed, but rumor is a willing creditor.
They were friends who grew in a night from mere acquaintance
ship. My mail bag was packed every morning with letters and
cablegrams from people whom I had never heard of. My affairs
were everybody’s affairs, and the temptation to offer advice which
carried no responsibilities to the adviser were irresistible. There
were letters from people who wanted to help me, letters from good
folk who prayed for me—a long training as a prayer subject gave
this act a kindness of certain flavor—letters from men and women
who desired my autograph, my photograph, my clothes, and let-
ters from folk who desired to give.
j
Illi
of the peo
kindest ms
tnIk about
I knoi
given for
were olhei
'tin-ir own
caused me
Prominent Men Fearful of Exposure.
I know it is the pose of people who find themselves placed as
I was placed that such letters are a nuisance. To me many of
these letters, written by warm-hearted and unknown friends, wqfe
a source of encouragement and strength. My own countrymen and
countrywomen were with me in that tragic period of my life, and
I would be the veriest poseur to pretend that this knowledge was
not immensely helpful. It will serve no useful purpose to repro
duce the letters here, hut I give this one in order to indicate the
direction in which public feeling went:
-Harry
teai
Dear Madam.
I have not the pleasure of knowing you, but feel that
i raust sit down and write you. Have followed the course
f these long trials closely, and realize the extent of your
courage and devotion to Harry K. Thaw. Without going
into the merits of the case. I appreciate, and I am sure
all my fellow citizens appreciate, the terrible onleal
which you are passing, and I feel It a duty, as one hold
ing public office, to express to you on behalf of my
friends and myself, a sense of our admiration. 1
Faithfully, Mayor.
This is a representative letter. They came from every grade
of society, and were in striking contrast to the outpouring of the
vicious and decadent men against whose calumny I had to contend.
The distinction between fame and notoriety is to be found in
the character of the stories which are invented Concerning the
subject. Those of my friends who thought well of me placed me
amongst the immortals, to my embarrassment, and such inven
tions as were made, such anecdotes as were created, were emi
nently flattering. To a Jaundiced section, who drew unkindly con
clusions from the data to hand, I was less than pleasant, and the
"My
hi* hrn
mclanc
confine
lion of
that II
built,
Hons
The k
and *
dining
airy e
ing n>
brary-
teape
premia
tions. m
It is l
verdict 1
eerned.
long-cop
rocks b<
which h
si niggle
-|Ca> well
i rent, t
probablj
lighting
Harr]
Matteawan Insane Asylum, Which Harry Thaw Has Made Famous All Over the World.
asylum—for me it was a most terrible ordeal. However satisfied
I might be with my ability to face judges, juries and attorneys,
it would be absurd to state the constant strain of the fights told
on me
Somebody once asked me whether 1 spoke the truth throughout
all those examinations. From any but the person who asked that
question would have been an impertinence. I spoke the truth—
every word of it. If I wilfully suppressed facts they were facts
which would have told against Harry. He was not giving me
the happiest time: he was moody and hateful sometimes, in
sistent upon my appreciation of the fact that he had done every
thing for me. I was not sufficiently grateful for the sacrifice he
had made—he, Harry Thaw, of Pittsburgh. He had killed the
man for my sake—he had faced death for me. and I was not
grateful.
Heaven knows I tried to argue him to a normal condition of
mind. I tried to point out to him what fetters these were upon
my gratitude. I could have told him of the sacrifice I had made
to save him from the consequence of his mad act, but I had little
to urge on my own behalf. The egotist abhors egotism in
others—it is his pet abomination.
But I most return to the thread of my narrative. Harry
Thaw was still a prisoner and his future fate uncertain—and
what of my own future?
audacity” in urging the plea we did.
Wrangle on wrangle, showers of mud darkening the air. long
and wearisome periods of dull verbiage, and a never-ceasing
tramp from the body of the court to the witness stand and hack
again—these are the impressions I retain of those months—or
were they years?—of inquiry which preceded the issue of a dictum
that Harry was mad all the time and must go to an insane asylum.
We had saved his life, and we lmd done that -which it was
right to do, but in doing what I did I incurred the resentment, and
eventually, the hatred of my husband. To Save his life we must
prove him mad; to prove him mad 1 must adopt an attitude which
was tacitly hostile to him; 1 must tell stories of our association
which lashes him to fury. I must give to the world stories which
I have locked in my own bosom. No other evidence could be so
convincing as mine. Actualities will always succeed against
hypotheses, and my e x5>erience with Harry carried more convic
tion than much of the medical evidence.
Not only must I antagonize Harry, but I must earn the scowl
ing disapproval of the whole Thaw family and lay the foundation
for a complete estrangement, for it must be remembered that the
Thaws ‘'have, a certain position in society to uphold,” and no new
story of Harry’s eccentricities qould succeed with the appointed
arbiters of his fate unless it also brought his name into contempf.
Here was u»y position, and the impartial observer standing
stories that found currency were rather awful. But they came
when I was in a condition of mind to meet them, and they have
made little or no impression.
Like some one else, I had been insulted by experts, and the
amateur efforts of lesser people left me unmoved. I have heard
of a man holding quite an important position in his profession
openly 'boasting of his conquests, and that before a dinner party
of men, but a man who would take that course of advertising his
powers of fascination would iie any way. There were bitter at
tacks upon me from many quarters, but that was to be expected.
Harry's act and the trial that followed revealed some of the dark
spots in the life of New York’s fashionable men. White was bot
alone in his depravity. 'He wa3 merely the central pivot of *
vicious circle. The murder which shocked America shocked to a
great extent a few Americans, and some there were who found
it convenient to leave the country on a visit to Europe. Some
stayed on and spent every effort to discredit me, because by dis
crediting me they might weaken any evidence I might offer
against them.
I had no intent of moving against them or of dragging their
names into the case, but they did not know this, and they were
the penile who invented and circulated all that ingenuity could
devise to my discredit. For years afterward X found myself com-
iug against these stories. I found that they were -believed, and
that no explanation or denial of mine could shake the credulity
As fo
said. J<
that ) \
^iirabie .
greater
fires ha
the rec-
M'lf stu
of vxtrl
' Appl)
an. inn
heartily
What
had I t-
«t first
of whl<
II is
era) da
•lie jury
of as cr
to inore
most ex
longue '
"So t!
ion *he r
tflem al
are a k
worried
If it
early d;
judgme
and I :
wife of
period i
in th
Matron
This
course.