T H E S I N S O F N E W Y O R K
As "Exposed" by the Police Gazette By: Edward Van Emery P A R T I THE ORIGINAL POLICE GAZETTE (1845) Chapter 3 Virginia of Virginia (A Red-Hot Mamma of the Forties) 1) THE RICHMOND TRAGEDY This horrible affair"____citing the National Police Gazette of October 31, 1846, in its editorial comment upon the matter which carried through various issues under the heading of "The Richmond Tragedy"___"though more than a month old, has outlived the limit of ordinary horrors {the Gazette went strong in its usage of the word horrible}...Apart from the social position of the parties involved, the offense which gave rise to the bloody denouement is an extraordinary case of adultery in which the bold, flagrant and licentious woman made the weak, vain man convertible to her desires." Study of this particular illicit love affair, which was quite the topic of its times, would make it seem that the righteous Gazette was rather inclement with the man in the case. At least, as it will be seen, he died like a gentleman with a lie on his lips in defense of his lady love, and he was apparently deeply enamored of his charmer. And the frail fair one was not only easy to look at, but her epistolary wooing was so high-powered in romantic expression___well, it is no wonder at all that this poor bachelor was taken by this seductive dame of Richmond, even, as the common phrase has it, this Virginia City was later taken by General Grant. Her letters to the man whose death she brought about were such burning outpourings of a love-hungry heart that it is too bad, indeed, that___but wait. 2) NEW YORK AGOG IN SCANDALIZED INTEREST Strictly speaking, the Richmond Tragedy had little to do with New York and its sinful ways, though the Astor House, in Broadway, then the most splendid hotel in all the country and even all the world, figured slightly in the case, and New York was agog in a ribald and scandalized interest. The circulation of the Gazette took a tremendous jump with its issue of October 24, 1846, for in this number the first of the above-mentioned love letters were reproduced in print. 3) THE LOVE LETTERS READ IN THE COURTROOM They came to light during the taking of the testimony in the Mayor's Court, Richmond, Virginia, in the examination of William R. Myers (husband of Virginia) as principal, and Samuel S. Myers (brother of William) and William S. Burr, as aiders and abettors in the murder of Dudley Marvin Hoyt for supposed illicit intercourse with the wife of the principal. Excerpts from a few of these fervid pennings tell the progress of the tragedy. A) LETTER #1 Wednesday, Dec.3, 1845 I trust you will pardon the liberty I take in writing you, and the still greater liberty of begging you the favor of calling here tomorrow at 1 o'clock...I know you will have some scruples as to my request, but I appeal to the kindness of your heart. If you will be so kind as to call at 1 o'clock tomorrow you will find me alone....May I beg of you the kindness to forgive me this note. Yet, when you know the cause you will pardon me. What I have written is strictly confidential, and knowing your high, noble sense of honor, I need say no more. Although I have not the honor of your acquaintance, yet, believe me, I am one of your warmest, most sincere friends........ Virginia M. "It will be seen," points out the Gazette, "that her bold and amorous character is revealed at the outset; that Mrs. Myers, while yet unacquainted with Hoyt, deliberately and of herself contrived the first meeting." She was not so slow for a small city gal, and in a day well before the ladies are supposed to have been taking stock of their various rights. Nor do the facts at hand enable us to enlighten as to what it was about Mr. Hoyt that made for his sex appeal, though his sideburns are described as "very elegant." Anyway, whatever it was that Virginia had need of discussing so urgently with a gentleman whose acquaintance she had not yet enjoyed, a second interview was requested in a letter which contained "warm expressions of satisfaction at the results produced by their first meeting.," Her amatory thoughts were expressed to the boy friend thus: B) LETTER #2 My Dearest and Best Friend:_____This morning I received a note from a lady I am to go visiting, that she would prefer my going Monday instead of Tuesday. Now won't you come Tuesday? If you cannot come that day I will excuse myself to her, for on no account on earth would I miss the pleasure of seeing you. You will come, won't you? I had anticipated so much delight in seeing you Monday......... The postponement of one day seems very long to me....All Monday, I shall be thinking of the pleasure of seeing you; and I hope the time may pass quickly until our meeting.....Don't laugh at this note____for I have written it fresh from my heart....Come, dearest, at 12 o'clock, instead of 1 o'clock....I will go to the theatre tomorrow night if only to rest my eyes on your dear face and tell you with a glance how wholly I love...... No getting away from it, Virginia was a fast worker. So it is no surprise that her next letter, which was written on the Friday following, confessed to being Hoyt's wife, save in the empty ceremony. And by now she was vowing that no other man should touch the lips which he had kissed, nor would her form be clasped by another. Which, the Gazette seems to intimate, was not at all nice for a married lady. C) EXCERPT FROM LETTER #3 "This love of you," she wrote, "is raging like a storm in my heart___burning, my sweet, like an electric shock through my soul. I love you better than Heaven, and I call to it to witness this vow, that my whole person is sacredly yours." In less than the year this correspondence was continued Mrs. Myers must have written more than fifty letters, of which close to one-half were read in the courtroom and every one breathed with love's transports of devotion and its throes of dejection. Such Elinor Glynish self-expression was deemed that of a depraved female. Virginia even feigned illness so she would not have to leave town with her husband and might remain in Richmond with her lover. Finally, during the summer of 1846, she was forced to accompany her husband to New York and from the Astor House her distracted letter sets forth: D) EXCERPT FROM LETTER #4 I was unable to close my eyes in sleep all last night, and the distress of being away from you is killing me. You may hear of my taking my life any hour. The only thing that has stayed my hand from taking laudanum is the thought you still love me. Letters were also read from Hoyt that were almost as long and as love laden, though not so numerous, as those penned by Virginia. In one just before the tragic ending of the infatuation, in endeavoring to reassure as to how sincere was his feeling, he penned these lines that were fraught with a significance that he did not then realize: "You must know, Virginia, dearest Virginia, how anxious I am to make you a happy woman, that I would willingly give my life to accomplish it, would that but do." 4) VIRGINIA'S INFIDELITY EXPOSED Soon after the return to Richmond an anonymous letter apprised Mrs. Myers' brother-in-law of her intimacy with Hoyt. She soon saw she was under suspicion, which caused her to send a warning that advised the return of her letters. The request was complied with and the letters, unfortunately, were intercepted. The husband, who was out of town, was informed of the state of affairs, and_______ Thunderstruck at the infidelity of her whom he had ever loved, honored and cherished, and stung to madness with the thought of his honor wounded in the tenderest point, Mr. Myers hurried to Richmond to glut his vengeance where he had been so foully wronged. 5) VIRGINIA'S LAST ATTEMPT TO CONTACT HER LOVER In the agitation of her extremity Virginia wrote as follows: O God! Was ever misery like mine? Wretched days and sleepless nights. What hope is there for me? Tomorrow decides my fate. I am separated from my husband and compelled to return to a house where I well know how I shall be received. My father is a stern-hearted man. What stays my hand when all can be ended in a moment? Oh! that I could see you for one moment___just one instant! I have sat for hours by my window hoping that I might see you. For one hour with thee, I would give up life itself. Dearest, never forget___never forget; swear to me you never will___your promise that my last moments shall be spent with you. You will be sent for, that I promise; and oh, tell me, that you will not refuse to come; then I will be happy, knowing that my last breath will be in your arms....Think of me tomorrow, when my fate is to be decided, and oh! pray God to have mercy on me.....All my friends believing me ill, and not having heard the cause of my distress, have called to see me. But I am in too much agony and can see no one...only you, I want to see. And on that same afternoon she wrote one more letter, which was also intercepted and in which she promised to be waiting by her window at midnight, when she would lower him a farewell note on a string, and that he should attach his reply which she asked to strengthen her through her coming ordeal. "Tell me," she wrote, "you are mine forever and then they may condemn me." On the next day came the tragedy. 6) RESULTS OF THE TRIAL The following was reprinted in the Gazette from the Richmond Inquirer as apparently pertinent to the case: The case of the Commonwealth vs. W.R. Myers, S.S. Myers and Wm. S. Burr, was continued, not, however, in the legal sense of the term, before the Hustings Court on yesterday. The whole day very nearly was occupied in the reading of the intercepted letters of Mrs. Myers, introduced in behalf of the Commonwealth. It is understood they are brought forward to rebut the evidence given in the defense, to falsify the dying declaration of Hoyt. ACQUITTAL OF THE PARTIES:_____On Monday the argument in the case of the Richmond Tragedy was continued and concluded. The case was then submitted, and the Court stood Five to Two for acquittal, and the parties were discharged. The courtroom was crowded almost to suffocation with spectators, who lingered through the long argument, full of anxiety for the result. When that was ascertained, such a burst of applause took place as we never heard in a court of justice. 7) THE PARTICULARS OF THE TRAGEDY In this wise the Gazette correspondent dramatically gives the particulars of the tragedy: William Myers, his brother Samuel, and Burr, forced their way into Hoyt's room at about 7 o'clock in the morning, while the latter was still in bed. Burr thrust a letter before Hoyt which he demanded must be signed. It was a pledge that Hoyt would leave Richmond and never return to the city under penalty of death. Hoyt stoutly refused. Col. Samuel Mthen brandished a stick over Hoyt and said that he must sign or take the consequence. Hoyt answered coolly: "Gentlemen, I shall decline signing this paper." Whereupon William Myers drew a revolver and fired twice as Hoyt started to rise from the bed. The weapon was only a foot away from his person as the trigger was pressed and the bullet was discharged full in his face and pierced the brain above the right eye. He was instantly blinded with the blood of his wound, yet still attempted to defend himself, when he received a second ball, which passed through the fleshy part of one thigh and buried itself in the other. And in this brave fashion the honor of a Virginia gentleman was avenged. And the villain in the case? Why, as he fell to the floor blinded with the gush of his life-blood and believing the words would be the last (which they were) he would ever utter, cried: "She is innocent!" 8) THE END This chapter should be rounded out with an account of how Virginia committed suicide over the resting-place of her lover, or at least pined away in sadness to an early grave. Only that was not what really happened. Hardly a month later she was trying to exonerate herself at the expense of her dead lover in a letter to a friend, which she took pains to have given out to the public, and which wound up as follows: May God enable me to bear my trial meekly, assured that high heaven will not always shroud the pure innocence of Your afflicted friend, Virginia Myers At which point the Gazette waxed very indignant editorially and lost interest in Virginia of Virginia. Which, by now, is possibly the case with the reader. Sins of New York As "Exposed" by the Police Gazette By Edward Van Every Publisher: Frederick A. Stokes Company--New York Copyright: 1930 3 Printings October 15, October 23 and October 30. Prepared and Transcribed by Miriam Medina RETURN to POLICE MAIN RETURN to MANHATTAN MAIN Back To BROOKLYN Main