On a March morning in 1894, what appeared to be a routine drunkenness case in a New York courtroom took a rather dramatic turn.
A woman named Mary Morgan stood before a judge, pleading for mercy and insisting that her intoxication had been an unfortunate accident. Ashamed and desperate, she begged to be released.
Then her sister rose from the gallery.
What followed was a public denunciation that stunned everyone in the courtroom. Rather than defending Mary, Jennie Russell painted a grim picture of a life consumed by alcohol. She told the judge that drink had destroyed her sister’s marriage, burdened their family, and broken their mother’s heart.
Instead of asking for leniency, she urged the court to send Mary back to prison.
Denounced By Her Sister
NEW YORK CITY. — When Mary Morgan was arraigned before Justice Hogan in Essex Market Court this morning, to answer to a charge of intoxication, she made a strong appeal for her release. She said that it was by accident that she got drunk.
The policeman who arrested her, stated that he found Mary lying on the sidewalk, and that it required four policemen and a push cart to take her to the Delancey Street station house.
Again, Mary appealed for her release, saying that it was her first arrest, and that she was ashamed of herself. At this juncture, a woman entered the court room in great excitement.
“May I say a word about this case?” the woman asked the Court.
Permission was granted. She introduced herself as Jennie Russell.
“The prisoner,” she said, “is my sister. Rum has been her ruin. Through her love for liquor, she has broken my mother’s heart. Your Honor, she only left the Island six months for a similar offense. I wish Your Honor would send her away again, as she is only annoying her sick mother.”
The sister said that Mary’s husband had left her on account of her drinking habits.
Justice Hogan committed her to the City Prison for six months.
Source: The Evening World. New York, N.Y. March 20, 1894.
