outside. There were many females among them.

Mr. and

Mrs. Twitchell entered the courtroom arm in arm, the wife appearing to lean heavily upon the husband's arm. She was dressed in deep mourning, and her face was concealed by the thick black veil she wore. Mr. Twitchell walked erect, and bore the steady gaze of the people without being in the slightest degree affected. Mr. Twitchell, Sr., accompanied the prisoners, and was seated in front of the dock they occupied. Furman Sheppard, District Attorney; Richard Ludlow and Henry S. Hagert, for the Commonwealth.

Patrick T. Ransford, Charles H. T. Collis, Joseph D.

The

ell, and inside are portraits of himself and his wife Camilla. others are drawings of Twitchell striking Mrs. Hill over the head with a poker while she is reading on a sofa; his throwing her out of the upstairs window; he and his wife surprised in their bedroom by the ringing of the door bell; his arrest while bathing Mrs. Hill's head, and he and his wife, in the carriage with the officer on the way to prison, imploring him to declare her innocent of the crime.

2 BREWSTER, FREDERICK CARROLL. (1825-1898.) Born Philadelphia. Attended Friends School and graduated University of Pennsylvania 1841. Studied law with his father and admitted to Bar 1844. President Law Academy 1845. City Solicitor 1862-1866. Judge Common Pleas 1866-1869. Attorney General of Pennsylvania 1869-1873. Was a finished classical scholar and linguist in French, Spanish, Italian and German. Author of numerous legal and literary works. Among others, Digest Pennsylvania Reports; Brewster's Reports; Moliere in Outline; Disraeli in Outline. Died in Charlotte, North Carolina.

3 See 3 Am. St. Tr. 308.

4 See 3 Am. St. Tr. 308.

5

LUDLOW, RICHARD. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania. Admitted to the Philadelphia Bar 1856. His practice was confined chiefly to civil cases and he was noted for his considerate treatment of witnesses. He died in 1874. See Phila. Public Ledger, June 8, 1874. Martin's Bench and Bar.

See 3 Am. St. Tr. 308.

TRANSFORD, PATRICK THOMAS. (1844-1882.) Born in Ireland. Came to Philadelphia at an early age and after graduating from Central Hall School was appointed to a position in the War Department, and was afterwards private secretary to Judge Kelley, of Philadelphia. Studied law with John O'Byrne and was admitted to the Bar in 1867. See Phila. Record, Feb. 13, 1882. Martin's Bench and Bar.

8 COLLIS, CHARLES HENRY TUCKY. (1837-1902.) Native of Ireland and a member of a prominent English church family of which two were eminent Irish Barristers and one a noted surgeon of Great

Pratt, John O'Byrne1o and William B. Mann," for the Pris

oner.

District Attorney Sheppard. May it please the Court: The Court having fixed today for the trial of George S. Twitchell, Jr., and Camilla Twitchell,12 charged with the murder of Mary E. Hill, and the defendants and their counsel being in court, I move that a jury now be called.

Britain. His father was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. All of the family but the father and this son, then fifteen years of age, perished on the steamship "City of Glasgow," while on the voyage to America. He studied law with John M. Read, of Philadelphia, and was admitted to the Bar in 1859. In the Civil War he gained wellmerited recognition and after the Battle of Petersburg, was made a Major General at the request of General Grant. At the end of the war he resumed his law practice. Assistant City Solicitor Phila. 1866. United States District Attorney 1868. City Solicitor 1871, 1895. Director Board of City Trusis 1869. He held this position for fifteen years and compiled a complete history of the Charitable Trusts held by the City of Philadelphia. He was an extensive contributor to magazines. See Heitman Hist. Reg. and Diet. of U. S. Army. Martin's Bench and Bar. Biographical Album of Prominent Pennsylvanians. Biographical Encyc. of Pennsylvania.

9 PRATT, JOSEPH TOWNER. (1838-1877.) Born Middletown, Pa. Admitted to the Bar, but went into the Union Army. Major 23 U. S. Colored Regiment. Provost Marshal at Hilton Head, Charleston, S. C., and of the Northern District Department of the South. Knight Templar. Judge Court of Common Pleas Philadelphia 1874-1877. See Martin's Bench and Bar; Whittelsey (C. B.) Ancestry and Descendants of John Pratt.

10 O'BYRNE, JOHN. Admitted to Philadelphia Bar 1862. Practiced law in that city until 1882, when he removed to New York City and became District Attorney of the County of New York. See Martin's Bench and Bar.

11 MANN, WILLIAM BENSON. (1816-1895.) Born Burlington, N. J., but his parents removed to Philadelphia in 1821. He was educated in the classical academy conducted by his father; studied law and was admitted to the Bar in 1838. Assistant District Attorney 1851-1857. District Attorney 1857-1871. Organized in 1861 the Second Regiment of Pennsylvania Reserves. Prothonotary of Common Pleas Courts (Phila.) for many years. He was a powerful public speaker and a very prominent criminal lawyer. See National Cyc. Am. Biog.; Martin's Bench and Bar; Hudson (S.) Penn. and Its Public Men.

12 "Twitchell is nearly twenty-eight years of age, and has enjoyed up to this time a good reputation among his friends. He was educated at a college in Connecticut, which he left upon his father taking possession of a farm in New Jersey, near Carpenter's Land

Mr. Mann replied that under the act of Assembly, Camilla Twitchell desired to sever and claimed a separate trial.

con

ing. At this time Mrs. Twitchell, who was several years older than young Twitchell, was engaged in the capacity of taking care of the house, a post which she had held since the death of Mr. Twitchell's wife. Young Twitchell wrought hard on the farm, and while here it was that he became enamored of the governess. She reciprocated his affection and they, with but little money in their pockets, eloped to New York, where they were married. After living there for a time, they came to Philadelphia, and here he came across his father, to whom the farm speculation had proven a bad investment. The old gentleman was very angry at the course which his son had pursued. The young man then engaged in the produce commission business in the Spruce street market, but this he soon relinquished. While boarding on South Front street, Mrs. Hill, who had married a wealthy contractor who had just died, purchased the property at Tenth and Pine streets, and requested the couple to come and live with her. When her husband died Mrs. Hill became possessed of a large income from his estate and an abundance of funds, together with the importunities of her daughter and Twitchcll, induced her to change from a very unpretentious style of living to a scene of rather costly ostentation. Then Twitchell cluded to go into business again and engaged in the manufacture of shingles at Camden, N. J. But the enterprise did not succeed and at the time of the tragedy it was bankrupt and Twitchell was hard pressed for money. Twitchell is about medium height and of fine muscular development. With persons who knew him well he has always had the character of a peaceable, inoffensive man. His chief amusement was in living among horses, and since residing with Mrs. Hill he had ample gratification in that respect. Fine horses and vehicles were obtained by Twitchell soon after the house at Tenth and Pine streets was purchased, and in pleasant daily drives, Mrs. Hill, her daughter Camilla, and Twitchell, appeared to be getting along with one another in the most agreeable manner. Camilla Twitchell, the daughter of Mrs. Hill, is a person of rather small stature. Twitchell is her second husband, as she was married some years ago to a man named Martin, who was an attendant in a store in the vicinity of Tenth and Chestnut streets. Whether a legal divorce, or a simple determination to get away, separated Mr. from Mrs. Martin, is not definitely known, fondness for somebody else instead of the husband is ascribed by some people as the cause of the matrimonial disruption. From what we have learned there can be no doubt that Mrs. Hill, her daughter, and Twitchell, lived together for several years upon the most friendly terms. The girls who lived with them testify to this fact, and outside association in almost daily drives about the city, and other mutual amusements, show that they must have been pleased with each other's company." Report of the Trial, ante, p. 2.

The COURT allowed the motion to sever. 13

The jurors were called to the stand and sworn true answers to make to such questions as might be put to them touching their competency to serve as jurors in this case. To such of the jurors as had formed or expressed an opinion, the Court put the question, "Notwithstanding the opinion you have formed, can you enter the jury box and decide the guilt or innocence of the prisoner upon the evidence submitted to you, and that alone, uninfluenced by the opinions you say you have formed."

The jury were sworn as follows: George Toppin, saddler; Charles E. Stewart, merchant; John Landis, stove-finisher; Michael Dych, shoemaker; Jeremiah Wykoff, Robert Topping, hat-presser; Daniel Riggs, watchmaker; William Sheppard, gentleman; James A. Holbrook, stone-cutter; N. Gibberson, manufacturer; Thomas Riley, grocer; Frank Clark, carpenter.

MR. LUDLOW, OPENING FOR THE PROSECUTION.

Mr. Ludlow in opening referred to the high and solemn duties of the jury, and said that the crime of murder had become so common that the citizens demand the vigorous execution of the law. A murder most foul, unprincipled and devilish was committed on the 22d of November, with foul premeditation, and Mary E. Hill lost her life in her own house. The deed of Mrs. Hill's property was made in the name of Mrs. Twitchell, and when the former heard of this she demanded a reconveyance. This murder was committed on Sunday, and on Monday or Tuesday the suit for the reconveyance was to be commenced. All the facts of the case were bloody and they would all point with unerring aim to this prisoner at the bar.

The officers of the Commonwealth stand, without malice, over the grave of a murdered woman, seeking to protect the jury as well as the daughters and wives of the land, and to hold above every citizen the shield of the law, particularly to

13 Sometime after Twitchell's conviction and while he was in prison awaiting execution, Mrs. Twitchell was tried and acquitted by the jury.

aged women in their own houses, when the shades of night come over. He invoked the jury to sustain the law, and thereby strike terror to the hearts of those who brutally murdered aged and defenseless women.

THE WITNESSES FOR THE COMMONWEALTH.