The Lewitt Divorce Case

After considerable delay the great Levfitt divcrce case came off at the Circuit Court, and hot occupied the greater portioa of the present weok and the latter part of Inst pek. The aflklavits of the plaintiff tended to how ttmt Mrs. I.ewitt. had been fjuilty oí aduitery. Katc Luick, a seivant in the Lowitt tinnly tor ten year. hn.l seen improper re1: tit-iis betw eti ilie ttefendant :uid Dr. Edwin Goodwill. Frank Lewitt, non of the parties, testifiefl to 'he sume thiug iiid instanced auother man by the name of A. S. Brown. Tin? tpstimony oí uumerous other witnesse wan t" the sume effect, and in mldition that [rs T-fwitt had been very mach in the oompany of Alvin J. Cole. Ii.leu Gamón, one of the most important tritnewKI tor the complainant, testiried sul). atanlinlly as follom : Have liTed in the Lewitt (amily; wout to live with them in 1866; think it was in June; romained iintil the folLowiiig spring ; remembeT hoaiiny; the doetor iek if there waö not onc day that shü could bft pleaant ; tiie defendant wished me to troat the doctor unkindly, and I had some words with hoi about it ; never saw the doctor Ulgry with the deitmdant ; he always treated her very kindly ; the defendant told me that one day she struck the doctor, and that he shed tears theu ; Mrs. Lt'Witt would not speak to her husband when he came in late to his meals ; the doctor when thus treated endeavored to make himself more agreeable and paid her more attention. I have seen the complainant pive her money ; I have met Dr. Edwin Goodwiu at the residence of the deieudant ; Mrs. Lewitt was much more agreeable to him than to her husband ; saw him on the sofa sittmg by the side of Mrs. Lewitt, his head npon her lap at one time, and at another time she nallfid me to come to the windoW' to see how handsome he was. On the cross examiuation' the witness said that Bhe had once heard the plaintiff say that he was sorry at the way one of his best patiënte had been treated by the defendant. At another time I went to the door to answer the ring of some one of the doctor's patients, aud Mrs. Lewitt told me to reply to him in au unpleasant rnanner. Other witne88es for the plaintiff were Thomas L. Humphrey and Dr. Wm. J. Mayuard, who testifled as to Mrs. Lewitt's ban temper, to her mterference with her husband's practice, and to her familianties with other men. The evidence for the defense waa then read. The fir8t witness was Dr. Edwin W. Goodwin, who testitied that he had never at any time or at any place taken any improper liberties wito Mrs. Lewitt; that he had never had carnal intercourse with her ; that he uever lay upon any sofa and allowed the (tefendant to smpoth iïs huir; aud he pronounoed the testimony of all previous witnesses who have testitied to 8uch things to be utterly false. Alvin J. Cole and Dr. Win. J. Maynard both denied all improper couuectious with Mrs. Lewitt. Dr. Moses Gunn testified that he believed her to be a chaste womau ; had never seeu anything out of the way with her. Mrs. Lewis B. Gilmore said in her evidence that she had boarded for a year and a hall with the partios m the suit and had never observed any but the kmdest treatment of complainant by defendant ; had seeu Mrs. Lewitt with Dr. A. J. Cole, but liever saw any improper iamiliarities between them ; the defendant's standing in society was good, and her reputation lor cliastity in Aun Albor was good. Lewis B. Uilmore testified substautially to the same things. Alden S. Brown deuied all charges that had been made against him in connection with Mrs. Lewitt. Caroline C. Williams produced testiraony to some length, which in substance only denied specifically the charges made against Mrs. Lewitt, in connection withGoodwin, Cole, and Brown. She also further testified that Mrs. Lewitt's reputatiou for cliastity was good. A secret correspondence had boen carried on between the witneas aud the defeudant to ascertain it the complainaut was unfaithful to the defendant. A long list of witnesses followed who testified to the repututiori oí Mrs. Lewitt for cliastity, and her good character generally. These comprised many of the leading citizeus of Ann Arbor. The defense then undortook to show that Dr. Lewitt had been uulawfully intímate with Mrs. Helen Perkius of Delhi. The testimony of seivant girls in the family of Mrs. Perkins and of a young lady living there and attending school was produced. It was to the effect that Dr. Lewitt was accustomed to cali regularly to see Mrs. Perkins on Wednesdays and Saturdays, the days wlien Mr. Perkins was usually away from home. Mrs. Perkins waa supposed to be sick, and the doctor was giving medical attendance. He visited Mrs. Perkins in the bed room, and remained from one-half of an hour to three hours. The doctor frequently ïnscribed pootry to Mrs. Perkins, and the following is a sample : " How I love you, bless you darling Fnr those kiudiy words of cueer, Though but few, so fondly uttered, They have made you dsubly dear. " How I love you ! Oh, my darling ■ Tliis poor weary heart would tain Hear your Ups, in sweotest acceuts, Say it o'er and o'er aaiu. " I have loved you, dearly loved you, You can never know how well ! All the words that I couid utter, Nuver could my passions teil ! "Tbough our love be wrong and sinfui, We alone our auguish know, We alone must bear the burden üt this everlasting woe. " Had we met in years departed, Had we then each other knowu, Wtu'.n we both were free and loving, Tltink, üh think, what might have been ' The croas examination of these witnesses revealed the fact that they had never soen any improper conduut between Dr. Lewitt and Mrs. Perkius. Letters were then read by counsel for the defendant that had passed betweeu Dr. Lewitt and wife duriug the first few years of their married life, the object being to show the amicable relations that existed between them during that period. Followiug these wer some that hiul been passed between the parties duriug the fall of 1873, while Mrs. Lewitt was away visitmg in California. The letters breathe warm affection on the part of Mrs. Lewitt, as well as trusting simplicity. The detenso would show that the doctor was deceiving her by his friendly and affectionate letters, and at the same time was concoctiug a. schenio for a divorce. The first bill of divorce waa filed in her absence and without her kuowludge or any suspicion on her part. Following these letters came the rebutting testimony of the prosecution, which was devoted inainly to proving the lack of cliastity on the part of Mrs. Lewitt. The argument of the counsel were opened by Mr. C. Joslin, ol Ypsilanti, for the prosecutiou. His remarks were quite brief, lasting out uttle more than an hour. Mr. James i). U-ott, for the delense, followed and contmued to speak till teu o'olock on Thursday. He reviewed carefully all the charges made by Dr. Lewitt, aud attempted to show that they could not be supported because they were not specifïc as to time, place, and circumstances, as is uecessury in proviug adultery. E. E. Frazer followed with an eloquent plea for Mrs. Lewitt. The court waa fllled now with a iarger crowd tliau had appeared beiore during the trial. Mr. Beakes succeeded him and occupied the time till 4:30 o'clock, when the case closed after occupyiug seven days. John Collyer, one of the early settlers near Pmckney, died at the latter place on the Hth, after a long illness. He carne to hi farm, one niile west of Pmckney about 4( years ago, where he hved till he moved to the village some bíx years smce. He was upward of sixty years of age.