About Connections: Love it or hate it, history is a map. Those who hate history think it irrelevant; many who love history think it escapism. In truth, history is the clearest road map to how we got here: America in the twenty-first century.
First an apology to all the readers upset that the article about Shaker Elder Daniel Offord ran without an explanation of what happened to Mabel Franklin. However, that was the point of telling the story: no one cared; no one asked, and no one kept a record. The story was what happened to the man; what happened to the woman was not considered news.
– C.E.O.
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The Morning Call, December 1874: “With all the fullness that decency would allow, we gave the evidence in the great scandal case of Wilson v. Waite.”
It was difficult for the newspapers to sort through the facts and decide what was fit to print in 1874. However, newspapers from Pittsfield to San Francisco made the effort. It was, after all, a humdinger of a story.
The law suit
Early in 1867, Mrs. Edwin R. Wilson of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, felt ill. She consulted the Pittsfield physician Dr. Lorenzo Waite. Waite diagnosed a chronic ailment that required constant medical attention.
The medical attention consisted in Waite seducing Mrs. Wilson at every appointment. She withstood the attention for as long as possible but finally succumbed. The good doctor unfailingly issued a bill for every appointment and the husband consistently paid it.
The affair went on, undiscovered or at least unremarked upon publicly, for four years. Then, in 1871, Eliza confessed to her husband.
Wilson sprang into action. He tore down North Street seeking the doctor. Witnesses said angry words were exchanged; nothing more. What happened next became a matter of argument. Finally, in 1872, Wilson moved out of the family home and consulted a lawyer. He was advised to file suit against the doctor.
Today, it would be the woman who had legal standing to file suit as today we would consider if anyone was harmed, she was. Not so in 1874. Then it was the husband who was considered harmed. The sanctity of his home was defiled, and sadly, it was considered that his property was damaged. The role of the wife was as witness.
Mrs. Wilson’s testimony
Since the details were so salacious, the newspapers said they “can only hint at Mrs. Wilson’s testimony.”
However, since the story was such a good one, all the papers made a valiant effort.
Eliza J. Downing was born in1838. She wed Edwin R. Wilson in September 1859 when she was 21 and he was 30. For eleven years the marriage was childless. In September 1870 Eliza gave birth to a daughter, Addie Lophelia Wilson.
She met Dr. Waite in his professional capacity in 1864 when she was 26 and “in a weakened state.” Immediately, he began his protestations of undying love. She favored him with a kiss upon his arrival and departure, but he pressed for more.
He complained of a loveless marriage, he promised to always stand by her, and to help her through any “troubles.”
By troubles, he meant pregnancies. The doctor aborted two pregnancies. One pregnancy, however, resulted in the birth of Addie Lophelia.
Lophelia was an unusual name; it was one name for cold water coral. It was also the middle name of Dr. Waite’s daughter born three years earlier. Adeline Lophelia Waite was born in September 1867. Dr. and Mrs. Waite chose the unusual middle name because it was Mrs. Waite’s middle name; Frances Lophelia Bailey Waite.
Eliza testified she named her daughter that to establish paternity, just as, in a better regulated relationship the child would have the father’s last name.
Eliza had exhibits to support her testimony. She had the instruments Waite used to perform the abortions, and she brought Addie Lophelia into court.
Finally, she testified that she confessed to her husband because her efforts to extradite herself from the relationship had failed, and she wanted out.
Mr. Wilson’s testimony
Wilson confirmed his wife’s confession. After the confession, he was unable to remain in the marital home. He took up separate lodgings.
After confronting him, Waite offered him money. The offers rose from $1,000 to more than $5,000. Unsure what to do, Wilson consulted a lawyer. He was advised to file suit. Wilson sued for $20,000.
When suit was filed, Waite fled the country.
Dr. Waite’s testimony
Waite denied everything except seeing Mrs. Wilson as a patient. He testified the story was concocted to extort money from him.
Born in 1829, Waite was the same age as Wilson. Waite came to Pittsfield in the 1840s to attend Berkshire Medical College. He remained and opened a practice in his home on North Street.
Contradicting claims made to Eliza of a loveless marriage: Waite and his wife had a son, Lorenzo Waite Jr., also a Pittsfield doctor, twins in 1866 and daughter, Adeline Lophelia, in 1867.
By 1854 he had established himself as the only homeopathic doctor in Pittsfield. The theory of medicine is less well respected today than it was then. Waite may be viewed (with twenty-twenty hindsight) as a bit of a quack. Especially when, in 1907, he was peddling Duffy’s Pure Malt Whiskey as a cure all.
“Doctors prescribe: Dr. Lorenzo Waite, a prominent physician of Pittsfield, graduate of the Berkshire Medical College, says that he used Duffy’s Malt Whiskey as a tonic and stimulant with satisfactory results.”
In any case, it is important to remember he was a trusted and well-respected doctor then.
Summations
Mr. Wilson’s attorney closed by explaining that Dr. Waite had, by his actions, condemned himself. No innocent man would have offered Wilson money. No innocent man would have fled the country abandoning both profession and family.
Waite’s attorney defended Waite’s actions as an innocent man trying to minimize damages with money and fleeing from Wilson not because he was guilty but because he was afraid of Wilson’s violent nature.
They made a stab at discrediting Mrs. Wilson; even going so far as suggesting she was a prostitute who had at other times in other places run a house of ill repute. They overreached when they suggested the Pittsfield house may have been a whore house. The neighbors strongly denied it.
The outcome
Waite was found guilty. It was Mrs. Wilson who swayed the jury. Though they kept her on the stand for eight hours, she was an excellent witness, clear and calm and believable.
The verdict was unanimous; the only dispute among jurors was the amount to award Wilson. Finally, it was agreed and he was awarded $10,000.
The aftermath
Waite continued with his practice in Pittsfield. His wife the Mrs. Dr. Waite remained a faithful wife and mother asserting without doubt that the Wilsons had lied for financial gain.
Eventually, the Wilsons reconciled. They left Pittsfield together; lived together, died and were buried alongside one another.
They were to face one more test of their relationship: in 1883, Addie died at the age of thirteen. She was buried Addie Lophelia Wilson – indicating regardless of the parentage Edwin Wilson never rejected the daughter or his wife.
The similarity to the law suit involving another Berkshire resident cannot be overlooked. Next week: Tilden v. Beecher.
