[Indexed as: (Polydore case), “America,” The Times (London England) (reprinted from New York Tribune), Sep. 20, 1858]
The correspondent from the New York Tribune gives the circumstances of a case of habeas corpus for the recovery of a child which was abducted from its father in England four years ago. The correspondent says: –
The hearings were had in Chambers before Judges Eckels and Sinclair. Insamuch as I am informed that a similar case will soon be presented, and as the present one was conducted under instructions from Washington and at the request of the British Government, I shall subjoin a full account of the proceedings.
Mr. Henry Polydore, the plaintiff, is a gentleman of Italian Descent, residing in Gloucester, England, and following the profession of a barrister. Both he and his wife were Roman Catholics, and in 1852 they placed their child, a girl then six years old, at a Catholic school in Lincolnshire. In the course of the following year domestic difficulties occurred between the husband and wife, and in 1854 Mrs. Polydore abducted the girl from the school, became a convert to Mormonism, and fled with her to America. After a brief sojourn in the east they came in 1855 to Salt Lake City, where Jane Meyer, one of Mrs. Polydore’s sisters, was living as the fourth wife of Elder S. W. Richards. Mrs. Polydore went back to England in 1856, but sought no interview with her husband. She returned to America in 1857, and was last seen in New Orleans, but letters had been received from her which indicate she is now on the way again to this city across the plains, in company of Mormon emigrants. During her absence the child, whose real name is Henrietta, has been living with Mrs. Richards under the assumed name of Lucy.
During 1854-55, while Mrs. Polydore and the child were still in the States, the father made strenuous endeavours to recover possession of his daughter. Her secured the assistance of the British Government, and Lord Clarendon, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, sent instructions to the British Consuls at Portland and New Orleans to aid him to the extent of their power. Their efforts were fruitless, and all trace of the girl was lost until last March, when Mr. Polydore received a letter, dated at New Orleans, from Mr. John Hyde, the author of a well-known book on Mormonism. Mr. Hyde informed the father of the existence and situation of the child, and added that Mrs. Polydore was then in New Orleans, but intended to start for Salt Lake City during the spring or summer.Mr. Polydore immediately addressed a letter to Mr. Dallas, the American Minister in London, applying for any aid which in his official capacity he might be able to bestow, and another letter to the Earl of Malmesbury, the British Minister of Foreign Affairs, beseeching the renewed interest of his Government. His intercession was granted, and Lord Napier, the British Minister in Washington, was instructed to exert all his influence in behalf of the father. He accordingly addressed a note to Mr. Cass, concluding in the following language: –
“Her Majesty’s Government has instructed me to request that you will lend your good offices towards the recovery of the child, by directing the military and civil authorities of the United States to afford such assistance as may be in their power to Mr. Polydore, or his attorney, or to any other of Her Majesty’s consuls, with the view of securing the personal safety of the daughter and her restoration to her father.”
This occasioned a communication from the Department of State to the Department of War, in which Mr. Cass wrote as follows: –
“I have the honour to request that you will be so good as to cause the necessary inquiries to be set foot in that quarter by military authorities of the United States, with a view to the restoration of the daughter to the father, in accordance with the wishes expressed by the British Government on the subject.”
A good copy of the correspondence was forwarded to General Johnson by Colonel Cooper, the Adjutant-General of the Army, with the remark that:
“The Secretary of War desires that you cause inquiries to be instituted for the purpose of gaining information respecting the young woman alluded to; and, should it appear that she is still among the Mormons, that you adopt such measures as may seem to you advisable to bring about her release from their community and her restoration to her friends.”
The papers and correspondence were immediately inclosed by General Johnson to Mr. W. K. McCormick, the acting United States’ Attorney for this territory during the absence of Mr. Hockaday, with the following comments: –
“I presume that the duties enjoined upon me in my military capacity were expected to be performed only in the contingency that the relations of the people of this territory to the Federal Government should be still unchanged on the reception of the instructions. Now, inasmuch as there has been an amicable adjustment of the difficulties heretofore existing, and the supremacy of the law is re-established, I do not doubt that, under existing circumstances, the design of the Department will be fully accomplished by my handing over the papers to the civil authority, that such proceedings may be instituted as shall lead to the recovery of the little girl and the restoration to her father, in accordance with the request of the British Minister, who asks the interposition of our Government for that purpose.
After ascertaining that the child had not been removed, Mr. McCormick and Mr. A. G. Browne, jun., who were associated as counsel in this case, presented to Judge Eckels last Saturday a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to be directed to Mr. and Mrs. Richards, commanding them to produce the child, and show cause, if any they had, for her detention. The writ was granted and served, and the parties appeared with their counsel, Mr. Hosea Stout, the Mormon Attorney-General of the territory. The hearings resulted yesterday in an order that the child be discharged from the custody of the defendants and committed, by consent of the parties, to Mr. Dotson, the United States’ Marshal, to be delivered by him to Mr. Polydore with as little delay as practicable. As soon as a suitable person can be found to take her in charge, she will be forwarded to the British Legation at Washington. She is now an intelligent and interesting girl of 12 years of age; and whatever may have been the influences exerted over her during the last four years, it is especially fortunate that she has been rescued at this time. Had another year passed without the successful intervention of the father, she would probably have been betrothed, if not married, to a polygamist.