MANTENO, March 22, 1860.
Mrs. Packard then stated that the above was presented to the class, the
15th day of the following April, and was _rejected_ by the teacher Deacon
Smith, on the ground of its being irrelevant to the subject, since she had
not confined herself to the Bible alone for proof of her position.
As she took her seat, a murmur of applause arose from every part of the
room, which was promptly suppressed by the sheriff.
DANIEL BEEDY, sworn, and says:
I live in Manteno. Have known Mrs. Packard six years; knew her in the
spring of 1860. I lived a mile and a half from them. Have seen her very
frequently since her return from Jacksonville. Had many conversations with
her before she was taken away, and since her return. She always appeared
to me like a sane woman. I heard she was insane, and my wife and I went to
satisfy ourselves. I went there soon after the difficulties in the Bible
class.
She is not insane. We talked about religion, politics, and various
matters, such as a grey-haired old farmer could talk about, and I saw
nothing insane about her.
Mr. BLESSING, sworn, and says:
I live in Manteno; have known Mrs. Packard six years; knew her in the
spring of 1860; lived eighty rods from their house. She visited at my
house. I have seen her at church. She attended the Methodist church for a
while after the difficulties commenced, and then I saw her every Sunday. I
never thought her insane.
After the word was given out by her husband that she was insane, she
claimed my particular protection, and wanted me to obtain a trial for her
by the laws of the land, and such an investigation she said she was
willing to stand by. She claimed Mr. Packard was insane, if any one was.
She begged for a trial. I did not then do anything, because I did not like
to interfere between man and wife. I never saw anything that indicated
insanity. She was always rational. Had conversations with her since her
return. She first came to my house. She claimed a right to live with her
family. She considered herself more capable of taking care of her family
than any other person.
I saw her at Jacksonville. I took Dr. Shirley with me to test her
insanity. Dr. Shirley told me she was not insane.
Cross-examination waived.
Mrs. BLESSING, sworn, and says:
Have known Mrs. Packard seven years; knew her in 1860. Lived near them; we
visited each other as neighbors. She first came to our house when she
returned from Jacksonville. I did not see anything that indicated that she
was insane. I saw her at Jacksonville. She had the keys, and showed me
around. I heard the conversation there with Dr. Shirley; they talked about
religion; did not think she talked unnatural. When I first went in, she
was at work on a dress for Dr. McFarland's wife. I saw her after she
returned home last fall, quite often, until she was locked in her room. On
Monday after she got home, I called on her; she was at work; she was
cleaning up the feather beds; they needed cleaning badly. I went there
afterward; her daughter let me in. On Saturday before the trial commenced,
I was let into her room by Mr. Packard; she had no fire in it; we sat
there in the cold. Mr. Packard had a handful of keys, and unlocked the
door and let me in. Mrs. Hanford was with me. Before this, Mrs. Hanford
and myself went there to see her; he would not let us see her; he shook
his hand at me, and threatened to put me out.
Mrs. HASLET, sworn, and said:
Know Mrs. Packard very well; have known her since they lived in Manteno;
knew her in the spring of 1860; and since she returned from Jacksonville,
we have been on intimate terms. I never saw any signs of insanity with
her. I called often before she was kidnapped and carried to Jacksonville,
and since her return.
I recollect the time Miss Rumsey was there; I did not see anything that
showed insanity. I called to see her in a few days after she returned from
Jacksonville; she was in the yard, cleaning feather beds. I called again
in a few days; she was still cleaning house. The house needed cleaning;
and when I again called, it looked as if the mistress of the house was at
home. She had no hired girl. I went again, and was not admitted. I
conversed with her through the window; the window was fastened down. The
son refused me admission. The window was fastened with nails on the
inside, and by two screws, passing through the lower part of the upper
sash and the upper part of the lower sash, from the outside. I did not see
Mr. Packard this time.
_Cross-examination._--She talked about getting released from her
imprisonment. She asked if filing a bill of complaint would lead to a
divorce. She said she did not want a divorce; she only wanted protection
from Mr. Packard's cruelty. I advised her to not stand it quietly, but get
a divorce.
Dr. DUNCANSON, sworn, and said:
I live here; am a physician; have been a clergyman; have been a practicing
physician twenty-one years. Have known Mrs. Packard since this trial
commenced. Have known her by general report for three years and upwards. I
visited her at Mr. Orr's. I was requested to go there and have a
conversation with her and determine if she was sane or insane. Talked
three hours with her, on political, religious and scientific subjects, and
on mental and moral philosophy. I was educated at and received diplomas
from the University of Glasgow, and Anderson University of Glasgow. I went
there to see her, and prove or disprove her insanity. I think not only
that she is sane, but the most intelligent lady I have talked with in many
years. We talked religion very thoroughly. I find her an expert in both
departments, Old School and New School theology. There are thousands of
persons who believe just as she does. Many of her ideas and doctrines are
embraced in Swedenborgianism, and many are found only in the New School
theology. The best and most learned men of both Europe and this country,
are advocates of these doctrines, in one shape or the other; and some
bigots and men with minds of small calibre may call these great minds
insane; but that does not make them insane. An insane mind is a diseased
mind. These minds are the perfection of intellectual powers, healthy,
strong, vigorous, and just the reverse of diseased minds, or insane. Her
explanation of woman representing the Holy Ghost, and man representing the
male attributes of the Father, and that the Son is the fruit of the Father
and the Holy Ghost, is a very ancient theological dogma, and entertained
by many of our most eminent men. On every topic I introduced, she was
perfectly familiar, and discussed them with an intelligence that at once
showed she was possessed of a good education, and a strong and vigorous
mind. I did not agree with her in sentiment on many things, but I do not
call people insane because they differ from me, nor from a majority, even,
of people. Many persons called Swedenborg insane. That is true; but he had
the largest brain of any person during the age in which he lived; and no
one now dares call him insane. You might with as much propriety call
Christ insane, because he taught the people many new and strange things;
or Galileo; or Newton; or Luther; or Robert Fulton; or Morse, who
electrified the world; or Watts or a thousand others I might name. Morse's
best friends for a long time thought him mad; yet there was a magnificent
mind, the embodiment of health and vigor.
So with Mrs. Packard; there is wanting every indication of insanity that
is laid down in the books. I pronounce her a sane woman, and wish we had a
nation of such women.
This witness was cross-examined at some length, which elicited nothing
new, when he retired.
The defense now announced to the court that they had closed all the
testimony they wished to introduce, and inasmuch as the case had occupied
so much time, they would propose to submit it without argument. The
prosecution would not consent to this arrangement.
The case was argued ably and at length, by Messrs. Loomis and Bonfield for
the prosecution, and by Messrs. Orr and Loring on the part of the defense.
It would be impossible to give even a statement of the arguments made, and
do the attorneys justice, in the space allotted to this report.
On the 18th day of January, 1864, at 10 o'clock, P. M., the jury retired
for consultation, under the charge of the sheriff. After an absence of
seven minutes, they returned into court, and gave the following verdict:
STATE OF ILLINOIS, } _ss._
KANKAKEE COUNTY, }
We, the undersigned, Jurors in the case of Mrs. Elizabeth P. W.
Packard, alleged to be insane, having heard the evidence in the case,
are satisfied that said Elizabeth P. W. Packard is SANE.
JOHN STILES, _Foreman_.
DANIEL G. BEAN.
F. G. HUTCHINSON.
V. H. YOUNG.
G. M. LYONS.
THOMAS MUNCEY.
H. HIRSHBERG.
NELSON JERVAIS.
WILLIAM HYER.
GEO. H. ANDREWS.
J. F. MAFIT.
LEMUEL MILK.
Cheers rose from every part, of the house; the ladies waved their
handkerchiefs, and pressed around Mrs. Packard, and extended her their
congratulations. It was sometime before the outburst of applause could be
checked. When order was restored, the counsel for Mrs. Packard moved the
court, that she be discharged. Thereupon the court ordered the clerk to
enter the following order:
STATE OF ILLINOIS, } _ss._
KANKAKEE COUNTY, }
It is hereby ordered that Mrs. Elizabeth P. W. Packard be relieved
from all restraint incompatible with her condition as a sane woman.
C. R. STARR,
_Judge of the 20th Judicial Circuit of the State of Illinois_
January 18, 1864.
Thus ended the trial of this remarkable case. During each day of the
proceedings the court-room was crowded to excess by an anxious audience of
ladies and gentlemen, who are seldom in our courts. The verdict of the
jury was received with applause, and hosts of friends crowded upon Mrs.
Packard to congratulate her upon her release.
During the past two months, Mr. Packard had locked her up in her own
house, fastened the windows outside, and carried the key to the door, and
made her a close prisoner. He was maturing a plan to immure her in an
Asylum in Massachusetts, and for that purpose was ready to start on the
Thursday before the writ was sued out, when his plan was disclosed to Mrs.
Packard by a letter he accidentally dropped in her room, written by his
sister in Massachusetts, telling him the route he should take, and that a
carriage would be ready at the station to put her in and convey her to the
Asylum.
Vigorous action became necessary, and she communicated this startling
intelligence through her window to some ladies who had come to see her,
and were refused admission into the house.
On Monday morning, and before the defense had rested their case, Mr.
Packard left the State, bag and baggage, for parts unknown, having first
mortgaged his property for all it is worth to his sister and other
parties.
We cannot do better than close this report with the following editorial
from the Kankakee Gazette, of January 21, 1864: