Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 August 1889 — ELOPED WITH A PRIEST. [ARTICLE]

ELOPED WITH A PRIEST.

MIKE M'DONALD'S UNFAITHFUL WIFE • CAUSES A SENSATION. Father Joseph Moy san t, of Notre Dame Church, Her Paramour—Masquerading in the Garb of a Nun, She Carries on a laaison for Two Years. fChicago special] What has for many days past beenneighboruoud gossip in the aristoc.atic residence portion ot Ashland avenui yesterday crystal zed into a fact, and it became known upon the streets that Mrs. M. G. McDonald, wile of the weh-known politician and ex-gambier, had eloped. It is supposed that she is by this tims in Europe, aud that she will ever be seen or’ heard of again here is doubtful.

This is not her first escapade of the kind, she having in 1875 decamped to tan Francisco with “Billy’ Ai the minstreL To this point her husband pursued her, and, much to the disappointment of the residents of the coast, refrained irotn killing Arlington. McDonald, however, thought of nothing but his young children and his love for his wife, the companion of the years when his affluence was not as great as now. and so he forgave his erring partner. brought her bacx, and strove as the yea>s went by to make thembota forget the past

But it seems that the woman could not be induced to behave. Mike McDonald’s bitterest enemies must say that he lavished everything on his family. As things prospered with him in the past ten yea s, and his accumulation of wealth savors of the luck of a modern Monte Cristo, he spared nothing to surround his household with ail the comforts and luxuries money could purchase. If a palatial home, fine raiment, costly jewels, an army of servants, blooded horses for riding and driving, and above all a young and growing family, and the touch of baby fingers, cou'.d make a woman halfway contented, then Mrs. McDonald ought to have been happy. But it seems it was not to be. On the 24th day of July Mrs. McDonald left her husband’s palatial home, at the corner ot Ashland boulevard aud Harrison street, ostensibly for the purpose ot visiting her mother at Tiffin, Ohio. She did not go. to Tiffin, but eloped with a Catholic priest, Rev. Father Joseph Moysant, assistant pastor of the Church of Notre Dame de Chicago, at the corner of Vernon Park place and Sibley street. Since the day she left her home no one has heard from or seen her, except once, three days a.terward, when she returned to the house secretly attired in a nun’s garb. Her visit was so timed that her husband would not Bie her, and she left to return no more. The elopement is one of the most sensational on record. Mrs. McDonald is fortyfour yea s ot age and looks older on account of her hair; her supposed priestly paramour is seventeen years her junior, and not at all a man who would ordinarily fascinataor attract a woman. Mis. McDonald is the mother of four children and the grandmother of two. Mr. McDonald was found at his home last evening by a reporter, who explained his mission as delicately as possible. “I have nothing to conceal,” said Mr. McDonald in a tone which was almost pathetic in its sadness. He seemed quite crushed by the blow which has fallen upon him. “Come in.” he continued, “and I will give you all the particulars as fully as I can.” He led the way into a sumptuously furnished parlor, fitted up with all that the most captious woman could desire. Exquisite Turkish carpets and rugs covered the hardwood floor; costly pictures hung upon the wall; a grand piano of inlaid woods stood near the broad folding doors and marble busts of Mr. and Mrs. McDonald and their eldest boy stood in an alcove lormed by a large circular front window.

“Yes. It is true that my wife has gone.” said Mr. McDonald, as ho seated himself and motioned the reporter to another chair. “She has gone with a priest—Father Moysant—of Notre Dame Church, of which she has been a member for some years, and where the family attended, the children also attending the school belonging to the church. She left July 24. telling me she was going to make a visit to her mother at Tiffin, Ohio. I supplied her with money for her trip, and heard nothing from her tor a week, when Mrs. Gandy, who has been in our family three years and seven months and had charge of the boys, told me she had gone away with this priest, Moysant; that she and Moysant had been sustaining improper relations for over two years. Of course, it was a stunning blow to me. To think that she should be guilty of so base an act Why, she will be forty-four years old the 29th of next November; she is the grandmother of two children, while he is a fat. little, lecherous French priest, dirty and greasy. “Moysant had been stationed for the last three or four months at Dixon, HL He was sent from Notre Dame into retreat at Bourbonnais Grove, near Kankakee, 111., tor neglecting his duties in the church and because of his drunken habits. He did not return to Notre Dame, but went fiom Bourbonnais to Dixon, where he remained until this escapade took place. They were in constant communication with each other all the time. “This dirty, lecherous dog has sat at my table countless numbers of times. He has blessed my food, and has even had my little boys get down on their knees that he might bless them. Ah, the scoundrel! Ir I could only have him before me and see him ask them to get down on their knees again!" and the wronged husband clinched his lists and made a meaning gesture. "He came to my house the first time two years ago last July. My wife, who had been to church, came home and told me she had met a poor priest at the church, and asked it she could bring him home to supper. ‘Why. es course,’ I replied; ‘bring them all home and till them up; feed them if they are hungry.’ She brought the dirty dog to the house, and, mind you, he was no pleasant looking object. He had no shoes to spaak of, and I noticed that he wiped his nose on his coat-sleeve. I said to her quietly, ‘Mary, you’d better go up and get Father Moysant a handkerchief.’ she did so, and brought him one of my finest silk handkerchieis. “This thieving, rascally fellow so worked upon that poor little woman that she did whatever he asked her to do. He got her to rob me; to take money from my pockets at night, and in various ways made of our house all he could. He was a glutton—a hog—and would eat five meals a day and drink beer by the bucketful. He was here day after day and was made welcome to the best in the house. r They had their places of meeting at the Grand Pacific Hotel, the Palmer House and the Sherman House, she going to these places in the garb of a nun; and, by the way, she returned to the house three days after the elopement and was then dressed as a nun, with a long string of beads hanging down by her side, and wearing a hood and all the other uniform of a nun. “This scoundrel, I am convinced, planned to have me poisoned or put out of the way by her in some manner. He circulated a story to the effect that it would not be a great while before there ‘would be a funeral at Papa Mac’s’—he always called me ‘Papa Mac,’and my wife‘Mamina Mac.’ He said I had heart disease, and was liable to die suddenly any moment He lied when he told these stories, and I am positive he tried to get my wife to murder me. She either would not or did not have the nerve to make th-3 attempt.