Salacious Society Scandal of the Gilded Age: The Breckinridge-Pollard Affair

[Music] in 1893 a trial in the District of Columbia pitted a young woman against a powerful United States Congressman the salacious allegations captivated the nation and went to the very heart of the power structures of the Gilded Age the Breen Ridge po Affair is little remembered today but the time it was as one contemporary account explained the most noted breach of Promise suit in the history of Court records and it deserves to be remembered on August 13th 1893 26 year-old meline Pard filed a breach of Promise suit in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia in her filing she wrote she sues the defendant William P Breckenridge for that whereas heret for on the 17th of May 1893 in consideration that the plaintiff being unmarried at the request of the defendant had then undertaken and promised the defendant to marry him that him the defendant undertook and promise the plaintiff to marry her yet he disregarded his promise one of the lurid and Sensational forms of American Court activity Professor Robert C Brown of the Indiana University School of Law explained in a 1929 edition of the University of Pennsylvania Law review is the suit known technically as a suit for the breach of contract to marry but more popularly by the simple designation of a breach of Promise suit all suits for breach of contract are technically for the breach of promise but when the term breach of Promise suit is used neither lawyer nor Layman has any difficulty in understanding what is meant journalist Patricia Miller told Smithsonian Magazine in 2018 that such suits were not uncommon they recognized that marriage was women's primary career in those days and there was a real financial hardship if you had to kind of age doubt of the desirable marriage age but this particular suit was uncommon for a number of reasons first the damages requested were exceeding inly large $50,000 the equivalent of more than a million dollar today second the suit was filed against a powerful individual William Breen Ridge was an influential five-term congressman from Kentucky 30 years Pard senior Brecken Ridge was known as a silver tonged gentleman the biographical directory of the United States Congress writes that after being admitted to the bar in 1857 Breen Ridge had enlisted in the Confederate Army during the US Civil War where as Colonel of the 9th Kentucky Cavalry he was in command of the Kentucky Cavalry designated to act as bodyguard for President Jefferson Davis and the members of his cabinet at the close of the Civil War in 1891 The Washington Post apped that one of the most interesting gentlemen upon the floor of the house is The Honorable wcp Breen Ridge of Kentucky Mr Breckenridge has a flued complexion and silver hair and beard his eyes are blue and his men are cheerful and impressive he is one of the true orators of the house he speaks fluidly and incisively and always commands attention Mr Breckenridge is one of the best lawyers in Kentucky he's a lawyer among lawyers his legal Brothers consult him in regard to their cases as though they were clients in fact in 1883 the well-connected cousin of former Vice President John C Breen Ridge was almost certainly thinking of higher office encyclopedia.com explains that in 1893 it seemed that William Campell Preston Breen rdge of Kentucky was destined for great things the five-term Democratic congressman's grandfather was an attorney general his cousin was a vice president and several other relatives were Senators representatives and governors there was talk of higher office and the congressman dreamed of the White House Pard on the other hand the Washington DC history site boundary Stones explains was not born into High Society she grew up in rural Kentucky where her father died early ending her schooling and leaving her mother with six children and no means to earn a living in 189 3 edition of the Boston Globe wrote that she was not prepossessing in her features but there was an indefinable attractiveness about her face she was a brunette of slender build but not tall her manners were Charming Not only was she a woman of modest birth and means challenging one of the nation's most powerful men but she was not the typical plaintiff in a breach of Promise case Miller explains these suits were designed to protect the reputation of respectable women and what was revolutionary was that Pard admitted that she was a Fallen woman she had been Breen ridge's longtime mistress when his wife died he did not marry her as he had promised but her position made the suit even more important to her future well I told Smithsonian in those days if a woman was Fallen she was a social paria she couldn't get a respectable job or live in a respectable home and she certainly could never make a respectable marriage Breen ridge's breach of Promise essentially left Pard destitute and without prospects while her suit instantly garnered attention the difficulty faced was made clear in Breen ridge's First Response printed in the August 13th 1893 edition of The New York Times I can only say at this time that I hope my friends will believe that these charges are the result of vindictiveness vexation and perhaps of intention to Blackmail and ask that they suspend judgment until a full hearing shall have shown all that was in them in fact her allegations were scandalous the New York Times reported that she claimed to have first met the congressman in April of 1884 when she was just 17 years old and a student at Wesleyan female Seminary the two she claimed had met on a train traveling to Frankfurt Kentucky where she had been called on account of the Grave illness of her sister she said that the congressman made her acquaintance on The Plea of knowing her family and that she was flattered by his attentions knowing who he was and regarding him as a very prominent man and that he subsequently by ws and artifices and protestations of affection subsequently took advantage of her Youth and inexperience the entire idea was scandalous Breen Ridge at the time was a prominent Kentucky lawyer and law professor 47 years old and married his daughter nisba was a year older than Pard but the allegations went on not only had the two had an affair she claimed but it had continued for nearly a decade the times wrote the birth of two children who died in the premature birth of a third child are alleged to be the result of this intimacy historian Sandy Levens writes on the website Wednesday's woman po also became pregnant twice during that period Well times the colonel sent her to lying in homes Charities that took in unwed mothers to keep them out of the public eye and both times po gave her babies up to what were known as infant asylums where both children died she agreed to relinquish them when Breckenridge insisted that he couldn't risk having their paternity traced to him Paul claimed that during the affair the congressman insisted that he would marry her when he could Levens writes that Breen rid had always assured PA that he would marry her if only he were free to do so following the death of his second wife in 1892 Breen Ridge proposed they marry but only after a suitable period of mourning their engagement was announced in the New York Times on June 24th 1893 however the times writes from time to time the point of alleges the date was postponed until on July 18th she alleges Mr Breckenridge wrongfully and injuriously married another woman Miss Louisa wing Wing was a wealthy Widow and Breen ridge's distant cousin the times wrote the announcement of her engagement to Mr Breen Ridge and the subsequent breaking of that engagement in Mr Breen ridge's marriage created sensation in the capital in his response Breen rid denied having made any promise to par and give a different account of their meeting rather than him introducing himself his account said that he was accosted by the young woman whom he described as between 20 and 22 years of age rather than 17 he denied that he by ws and artifices and protestations of affections or by any other means attempted to take advantage of the youth and inexperience of the plaintiff and denied that the plaintiff was at any time pregnant by the defendant most directly his response denies that there was at any time any contract agreement or understanding of marriage between the plaintiff and the defendant and that the plaintiff knew during her entire acquaintance with the defendant that this was impossible Breen ridge's allies moved quickly to discredit Pard in August 15 edition of the Philadelphia inquire reported that Breen ridge's friends here unite in saying that the suit filed against him by Miss meline Pard is the result of spite all of them believe Mr Breckenridge innocent of the charges made by the woman one close friend of Mr Breckenridge a Confederate veteran said tonight that he believes at Miss Pard to be an adventurous the Alexandria Virginia Gazette wrote that when visited by a reporter polard said I am not by any means all the sort of a woman have been described when I go on the stand understand I think that many will change their views about me and my position in this whole Affair anyone can see by the character of the lawyers who have undertaken my case that I have a good case they would not have taken it if it had not been such the Lexington Kentucky leader seemed to agree regarding her attorneys Miss Po's attorneys Judge Jerry M Wilson and honorable cauldron Carlile stand at the very head of the Washington bar who would not touch a suit of this character without satisfying themselves of the truth of at least such portion of Miss Pollard's astounding narrative as could be verified Breen Ridge had reason to be concerned that his reputation alone would not save him the Owensboro Kentucky messenger apped this is a time for plain speaking and there is no use disguising the fact that the people of Lexington are disgusted with the sentimental twaddle that we've heard for the few days past of standing by the colonel in his Misfortune etc etc there is nothing in the nature of Misfortune about the Scandal as we understand the word Levens says of the 1894 trial the meline PO case was tried in the nation's capital in a trial lasting 28 days lines formed outside the courtroom upholding the tightly laced Victorian morals of the day women were barred from the courtroom lest they hear the lurd testimony but for more than a month people all across America couldn't get enough of the salacious details Carlile in his opening statement said she does not come here saying that she is devoid of fault or blame but that there is the promise of marriage and its breach the issue in this case at the trial Mrs Julia Blackburn Widow of former Kentucky Governor Luke Blackburn testified that Colonel Breckenridge had brought Pard to her house and said I have brought this young woman to ask for her your kind care and protection for expect that in the future she will be a great deal to me as soon as sufficient time after the death of my wife has elapsed I intend to marry her major William G Moore the District of Columbia chief of police recounted a bizarre tale of how Breen had taken Pard into the police department stating that his life was threatened and that he wanted protection Miss Pard had drawn from her bosom a pistol which she said unless Colonel Breer marry her she would use on him and herself but on another visit the major testified that Colonel Breckenridge sat on the sofa in his office side by side with Miss Pard her hand clasp in his and said that she was pregnant by him was going to New York to prepare for the event and that after that they were to be married despite his denials there was evidence linking him to her preg icies a Dr E Taber Johnson testified that he had attended Paula during her miscarriage in May of 1893 and provided letters and telegram sent by the colonel in regards to sanitation cost Comfort Etc such as to seemingly connect the defendant with the matter likewise the Dr Mary Parsons testified that Breen Ridge had paid the bill for Professional Services when Pard had given birth in February of 1888 Pard broke down as the doctor testified that the child had gone to an asylum and had died the following April the the trial was as Sensational as it promised to be at one point the tension between the opposing attornies almost resulted in fisticuffs and they had to be broken up by a Baff in his closing argument Wilson argued there's one thing I expect to show and if I show it I will be satisfied it is that this woman friendless alone barred out of society that This Woman's condition is traceable to the crime of that man this is the simplest case in the world and if you get out of your head all the clamoring and shouting of the defendant Council you will see how simple it is Breen ridge's lawyer simply tried to discredit Pard as a self-acknowledged prostitute the jury only required an hour and a half deliberation before finding in favor of Pard and assessing damages of $15,000 Breen ridge's political career was destroyed he lost re-election and never again served in public office the Lafayette Indiana Sunday Times opine that he went back to the constituency that he had disgraced and asked for a restoration of confidence that he had deliberately forfeited he died in 1904 following complications from a stroke levans described him at the time as a mentally physically and financially Broken Man however he reportedly never paid any of the $15,000 judgment to Pard Pard for her part went to Europe became friends with a wealthy Irish Widow and the two of them traveled around Europe while she pursued her writing career she died in December of 1945 the case was salacious by the standards of the time but it also changed some of those standards Breen Ridge was derided as a lust fiend while Pard was exonerated despite being a fallen woman the jury had repudiated the sexual double standards of the 19th century and the Gilded Age I hope you enjoyed watching this episode of the history guy and if you did please feel free to like And subscribe and share the history guy with your friends and if you also believe that history deserves to be remembered then you can support the history guy as a member on YouTube a supporter on our community and locals or as a patron on patreon you can also check out our great merchandise shop for book a special message from the history guy on cameo [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 128,185

Keywords: history, history guy, the history guy

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Length: 14min 41sec (881 seconds)

Published: Mon May 13 2024