1 - Entering the Law's Shadow

Summary

Thursday, July 16, 1840, would be the first of many vexing days that summer and fall for Presiding Judge George Washington Barton of the Philadelphia Court of General Sessions. He huddled with his fellow judges Robert T. Conrad and Joseph M. Doran not knowing quite what to do. The case had seemed like a routine parental fight over a little boy, but complications quickly set in. The judges found themselves forced to decide between the clashing claims of a young, beautiful daughter of a Boston Brahmin and a youthful Swiss count. They faced five of the most eminent lawyers of the state. As usual in such delicate cases, they had decided to handle the dispute privately behind the closed doors of their chambers. But word of the case had leaked and spread around the city. A crowd demanded to be let in, and the parents differed over the wisdom of doing so. Perplexed, Barton called a recess.

Two days later, the presiding judge regretfully ruled: “After a careful consideration of the circumstances of the case, we think it our duty to sit in public. The affair has already gotten into the newspapers, and, by a private hearing, great injustice would probably be done to one party, if not to both. Perfect privacy or entire publicity is desirable. The former being out of the question, we must decide upon the latter.