Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 July 1878 — THE FEMALE WITNESS. [ARTICLE]

THE FEMALE WITNESS.

[From the New York Sun.] John Sherman was almost hopelessly damaged when he appeared to testify in his own behalf as to the guarantee which he had given to Weber and Anderson on the 20th of November, 1870. Beforethe investigation was ordered, he repeatedly and to different responsible persons authorized an emphatic and unqualified denial of ever having written any such letter, and denounced any letter of that purport, bearing his name, as an absolute forgery. When confronted with a copy of the letter, and dreading the production of the original or of afae simile, he Hesitated, dared not deny, and admitted there were parts of the letter hewould have written.

The verdict of the country was that he was an unanswerable witness against himself, and that he had written the letter. Not content with that exposure, he •and his counsel, in their desperate dilemma, have again invited the same crushing judgment. They have produced a female witness, who claims to be a Republican politician, accustomed to all the corrupt practices known in Louisiana. Sharp, unscrupulous, and udacious, this woman is Agnes D. Jenks, wife of Thomas H. Jenks. Both she and her husband were the intimate friends of James E. Anderson, until their prejudices were conquered and they were converted into his enemies and friends of John Sherman.

For months past it has been known that the Jenks woman was not only to be silenced, but to become an active partisan of John Sherman. After the failure of Anderson to provide for her husband she visited Washington, last January, on her own account, though at the suggestion of Kellogg, and it is supposed then made terms with the fraudulent Secretary of the Treasury. Now she appears as a witness, swearing that she dictated the Sherman letter in parlor Pof the St. Charles Hotel, filled with “visiting statesmen” and other prominent persons, not one of whom can be named; that she had no motive for that act but the honor of the party, and that she delivered this letter with the signature of John Sherman forged toit, to D. A. Weber. This is her story, after more than a week of constant coaching by Sherman’s lawyers, with a retentive memory to hold their instructions, and with quick resources of her own for sudden emergencies of swearing. The man Jenks and the woman Jenks both swore vigorously that, in their correspondence with Anderson and with other persons, they had no knowledge whatever that the Sherman letter was referred to previous to the 6th of last January. They were told, of course, to fix hat date, and, as the sequel will show, it convicts them both. It was always some “document” or “other letter,” according to the female Jenks. Now for proof. First of all, it is well to reproduce the letter in question, which is the pivot in all this controversy: New Orleans, Nov. 20, 1876. Messi's. D. A. Weber and Jas. E. Anderson :

Gentlemen—Your note of even date has just been received. Neither Mr. Hayes, myself, the gentlemen who accompany me, or the country at large, can ever forget the obligation under which you will have placed us should you stand firm in the position you have taken. From a long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. Hayes I am justified in assuming responsibility for promises made, and will guarantee that yon shall be provided for as soon after the 4th of March as may be practicable, and in such manner as to enable you both to leave Louisiana, should you deem it necessary. Very trulv yours, John Sherman. Every word of this letter bears internal evidence of being written by a man of affairs, and those who are familiar with the style of John Sherman can hardly mistake its paternity. The style is the man in miniature. With this guarantee in their hands, Weber and Anderson were secure of reward, whenever the demand should be made, after Hayes was installed in office. Anderson knew its full value well, and in his joyful moments he exhibited it to several friends. Weber, more prudent, got possession of the letter, and had it in his inner pocket when killed, several months later. Meantime the existence of the guarantee became known to many leading Republicans. Anderson went to Washington at the inauguration to look after his own interests and those of his friends, of whom the male Jenks was one of the most intimate. The failure to get either of two first-class Consulates, and the offer of Funchal, and a Custom House Inspectorship, are well known;through the Stanley Matthews correspondence. In the beginning of June, 1877, wearied with unsuccessful importunity for high office, and indignant at the treatment he had received, Anderson telegraphed Matthews as follows: Washington, June 7, 1877. Hon. Stanley Matthews, Cincinnati: The President claims to have received no letters. Want no more correspondence and no more nonsense. Come here and arrange this affair, or yon can all face the music. Telegraph me at once. Care nothing about documents in your possession. Anderson. This was the language of a man confident of his position, and who was not to be trifled with. He meant war, and he began his preparations by a letter to the male Jenks in these words : Treasury Department,) Fourth Auditor’s Office, June 10, 1877. ( My Dear Tom : Have returned to the city this morning, and am in receipt of your letter. I hav» not written for the simple reason I had nothing favorable to write. They offered me the Consulship to Funchal, worth altogether about $2,000. I refused it. I asked what was to be done for you. Their answer I will give you verbally when we meet. . . . When those Republican dead beats came to Louisiana last fall, to have a “fair count,” Dan Weber and I refused to fall into line until we secured a written guarantte that we would be provided for. I. am convinced that it was on Weber’s person the day he was killed. (He had charge of it.) Now, what has become of that paper? If we can get possession of it we will make this administration hump. . . .

James E. Anderson. Again he writes to Jenks thus: Philadelphia, June 27, 1877. My Dear Tom : Have had no reply to my last. Have you made any efforts to secure that letter? It was inclosed in a white envelope, and backed “D. A. Weber, Bayou Sara, or James E. Anderson, New Orleans.” Weber carried it in an inside pocket case. You can find out what part of his body the majority of bullets and buckshot entered, whether they might have destroyed it, and who took charge of his body. . . . If you can secure it our case is made. . . . James E. Anderson. So much were the male and female Jenkses impressed with the importance of getting hold of this letter that they went to Donaldsonville, where Mrs. Weber resided, to make a search for it, as will be seen by the following letter: Philadelphia, July 4, 1877. My Dear Tom : Is® terribly disappointed

over the result of your trip to Donaldsonville. Have you found out if any one searched Weber’s body after he was shot ? If so. who did it? Also, find out what day he left Now Orleans for home after the 141 h of November. If you would only find that document, your fortune would be made. . . . James E. Anderson.

These letters were all written in confidence to an intimate friend, with no expectation that they would over see the light of day. They contain moral proof of the existence of the Sherman guarantee, in the extraordinary efforts made by both these parties, who expected to profit by the discovery. Though foiled, Anderson did not give up the search. He wrote again to Jenks the following letter, which the female Jenks sent to Kellogg with others: Philadelphia, Sept. 23, 1877, My Dear Tom : Don’t you think it about time you answered my last letter ? Have waited patiently nearly two months. ... I wish you could succeed in tracing and getting possession of that letter sent to Weber and myself. I will guarantee you a roof $1,(100 if you do get it. Have you made any effort lately ? . . , * James E. Andebson. On the back of this letter is an indorsement, the signiticance of which seems to have escaped the attention of the committee’s shrewd lawyers: N. B. —I looked up th? letter here referred to long ere the within was written. Pi ay do not fail to return this to me. I sincerely trust this matter will be inviolable. A. D. J. Here is the proof under her own hand that this woman had “looked up the letter here referred to” long before the date of Anderson’s last inquiry. And it was true, for she bad gone with her husband to see Mrs. Weber at Donaldsonville for that object exclusively last July. Therefore she, knew all about it. But this is not all the evidence of her knowl edge. She artfully appealed to the sympathy and gratitude of Mrs. Weber, in a letter, as follows :

Corner Belle Castle and Constance Sts.,) < New Orleans, Oct. 10. 1H77. (' My’Dear Madam: I send you by this mail the Howers I made of your good husband’s hair and your own. It would have been nicer, but I had not quite hair enough. In regard to <Ae letter I ment up to Donaldsonville to speak to you about, 1 feel sure it must be among Mr. Weber’s papers, as he had it in Als-poctei [Anderson’s words to her husband in a letter of June 27, 1877] when he loft the city for Bayou Sara the last time. As Mr. Anderson and Capt. Jenks went to the boat with him, and they mere speaking of it and other business, and at that time Mr. Weber expected to return to New Orleans in a few days, otherwise Mr. Anderson and Capt. Jenks would have kept the letter here, as it Aclonged to them all. It may have got out of the envelope and slipped in among other papers. It was addressed to Anderson and D. A. Weber. After reading it you will see that it is of no use or benefit to you, but really ?7 is of use to us. If you will once more look well for it, and you should find it, 1 will see that you are remembered well for your time and trouble in searching for it. . . . Agnes D. Jenks. In October last she was thus offering to buy the Sherman letter “addressed to Anderson and D. A. Weber,” after having previously visited Mrs. Weber to make a personal search for it. although she now swears she had dictated this letter herself, rnd never heard allusion made to it by anybody until Jan. 6, 1878. The female Jenks evidently wants one essential quality for a first-class alibi witness. There is still further evidence from her own hand. Anderson and Kellogg were not friendly. Kellogg was trying to get seated in the Senate, and ho knew the female Jenks held the secrets of the. circle in which Anderson moved. So lie opened a correspondence with that enterprising woman, and she answered promptly in these words : New Orleans, Nov. 14, 1877.

Most Esteemed Friend : Your nolo of the 9th was received yesterday. It gives me pleasure to hear of your we'l-bcing. In regard to the Anderson affair I know not that the matter is worthy of your notice. . . Yes, I refer to the letter you wrote of. You will perceive by one of Anderson’s letters, which I inclose (above cited |, that be values it highly, and also that he is not in possession of the document; and you may be sure /«• shall never get it or the othef papers he deems of value. . . A. D. Jenks. On Wednesday last she was recalled and asked: Q —When did yon see Mrs. D. A. Weber last ? A. -A few days before I left for Washington. I was reque-ited to take her a note by Gen. Sheldon. It read. “Please come to New Orleans, and Mrs. Jenks will explain." Q. —Did you know for what purpose Mrs. Weber was wanted in New Orleans? A.--I had not the remotest idea (though she was to explain the reason). When I got to Donaldsonville, Mrs. Weber said that Anderson Lad said I had got SIOO,OOO for some document. I said it was false. I asked her to go and see Gon. Sheldon.

Q. —Did Mrs. Weber return with you to New Orleans? A. —No, she did not; she said she didn’t want to go, and she did not want to hear anything more about that document.” Thus within eleven months the female Jenks had changed her base of operations. First, she wanted in July, 1877, the letter “ addressed to Anderson and D. A. Weber ” by Sherman. She wanted it to extort terms at Washington hh the friend of Anderson. In June, 1878, she wanted the same letter for the same object in another form, as the ostensible friend of Sherman. In either case, it was to be turned to her own account.