Creffield and the Holy Rollers made page one headlines from 1903 to 1907. When I was researching Holy Rollers: Murder and Madness in Oregon’s Love Cult I spent months transcribing hundreds of articles. I’m not sure why I was so obsessive. Maybe it was my way of immersing my self into a cult without joining one. Anyway, I’m posting them all for those who are really interested in the story, or are interested the history of journalism, or are interested in how a scandalous story played out in the "media" in a by gone era. Since I no doubt made typos and unconsciously corrected papers' typos, these web pages should not be cited in anything serious (e.g. your dissertation). For such projects they should only be used as starting points and you should refer to the original sources. If you want a shorter version of the story, buy my book. Enjoy.

July 2, 1906: Esther Mitchell on Stand Refuses To Aid Brother

 

 

Donna Starr and Frank HurtSeattle Star 7/2/1906 p1

“God Bless You, George; We’re Praying For You.”

Slayer of Creffield Is Loaded With Flowers as He Marches From Prisoner’s Dock to Cell--Defense Outlines What Will be Used to Prove That Mitchell Was Insane at Time of the Killing.

 

(In a box)

ESTHER MITCHELL ON THE STAND

 

Esther Mitchell, sister of the prisoner, was the first witness called by the defense this afternoon. She was an unwilling witness and it was not believed by Mitchell’s attorneys that she would answer the questions propounded. Frank Hurt, brother of Mrs. Creffield and a resident of East Seattle, and Mrs. Starr, the elder sister of Mitchell, are also being examined this afternoon.

__

 

“God bless you, George, we’re all praying for you!”

 

And an old woman, 60 or 70, perhaps, made her way through the crowd gathered about the door of Judge Frater’s court room and, grasping the hand of George Mitchell as he was being led away for the noon recess, gazed affectionately into his face as the tears coursed down her cheeks.

 

Behind her stood a woman of tender years, garbed in June day white, and in her hand she carried a large bouquet of roses.

 

FLOWERS FOR THE PRISONER

 

“They’re for you, George,” she said in a sweet little voice that brought a lump to the throat of the man the state would hang for murder. “I thought you’d like them down stairs and I brought them to you.”

 

“Down stairs” was Mitchell’s cell. It must have been brighter today than usual for there were others beside the old lady with the tears and the young lady with the roses who stopped the prisoner to shake his hand and wish him well.

 

MITCHELL SMILES

 

And through it all Mitchell only smiled an embarrassed sort of smile, but one of gratitude.

 

Two or three times he tried to express himself in words, but that lump in his throat seemed always in the way, and he hurried on so that those who interrupted his walk to the prison below should not see the moisture in his eyes.

 

DEFENSE BEGINS

 

This morning the defense began its presentation of the facts that it believes will acquit the prisoner of the charge of murder in the first degree in the killing of Franz Edmund Creffield.

 

Silas M. Shipley, of Morris & Shipley, attorneys for the defense consumed the entire morning session in outlining to the jury the case of the defense. At the noon adjournment he had not concluded and 30 minutes of the afternoon session was occupied in the completion of the statement.

 

INSANE AT THE TIME

 

The defense will attempt to prove that Mitchell was insane at the time he committed the deed. According to Mr. Shipley, testimony will be introduced tending to show the Mitchell family to be peculiar in many ways. The defense will show the father to have been a religious maniac and will point to the conduct of the sisters, Esther Mitchell and Mrs. Starr, as evidence of a mental weakness in other members of the family.

 

The defense will undertake also to prove that Mitchell was a devout spiritualist and that on several occasions he made the statement to friends that it had been revealed to him that he should seek out Creffield and take his life.

 

“You men have not been chosen to God to that work,” Mitchell is said to have remarked to three Corvallis men. “I am the only one who can kill Creffield, and I am going to do it. God has revealed to me a command that I should go and get him and deliver him over to God.”

 

WILL TELL STORY

 

The defense will put witnesses on the stand to tell the entire story of Creffield’s actions in Oregon. These witnesses will tell, according to Mr. Shipley, of Creffield’s most depraved conduct and of his relations with the female members of his flock.

 

The efforts of Creffield to ruin Esther Mitchell, the sister of the victim will be related to the jury. This testimony will tend to show the wonderful influence exerted by Creffield over his followers, and will, of course, be introduced with the idea of justifying Mitchell in the killing of his victim.

 

The jury will be told of the effort of a Corvallis man by the name of Hartley to kill Creffield. It will be known that this man, whose home had been broken up by the leader of the Holy rollers, had held a gun almost in Creffield’s face and had five times pulled the trigger, but the gun refused to discharge. It was afterwards found that the gun was of center fire and the cartridges rim fire.

 

CORVALLIS EXPERIENCE

 

The jury will also learn of Creffields experience in Corvallis when he was taken from his room in the dead of night and after being stripped of his dress was tarred and feathered and told to get away as quickly and as far as possible.

 

The story of the defense will be the history of Holy Rollerism from its inception until its death, which came with the death of its leader in Seattle in May. The baleful influence of Creffield will be dwelt upon and the jury will be asked to believe that there was sufficient provocation for the killing of Creffield.

 

 

HEADLINES IN DIFFERENT PAPERS FOR THE SAME ARTICLE

Esther Mitchell

 

Seattle Daily Times 7/2/1906 p1

Esther Mitchell on Witness Stand

Sister For Whose Sake Man Charged With Killing Creffield Committed Crime Helps Brother’s Case Little.

Attorney Shipley Takes Entire Forenoon To Outline Intentions Of Defense, And Says Client Was Insane At Time.

Declares Young Farmer Boy Believed Himself To Be Selected By God To Remove Holy Roller From This Life.

 

Oregon Daily Journal (Portland) Mon 7/2/1906 p2

Esther Mitchell On Stand

Sister Of Slayer Of Creffield Tells Of Her Connection With

Holy Rollers.

Has No Sympathy For Brother Who Loves Her

Defense In Opening Case States It Will Be Shown Defendant Was Temporarily Insane When He Killed “Apostle.”

 

Corvallis Times 7/3/1906 p1

Esther Mitchell on Stand

Refuses To Aid Brother

 

(In A Box)

 

Mrs. Burgess Starr, sister of George Mitchell, and who was the prosecuting witness in the Oregon Case in which Creffield was found guilty of adultery, refused to come into court this morning to testify in her brother’s behalf. She was escorted to the courtroom by a deputy sheriff and at the noon adjournment was allowed to go to the Stevens Hotel, where she is staying. When court convened for the afternoon session Mrs. Starr was not in court and it was stated she had again refused to come. A bench warrant was issued and two deputy sheriffs sent to enforce its provisions.

 

_____

 

By E. C. Kelsey

 

Nervously interlacing his toil knotted fingers and biting his lips until they showed white, in a vain effort to repress the volcano of feeling which surged in his breast, George Mitchell this afternoon watched and listened while his sister Esther told on the witness stand of her connection with Joshua Creffield and his band of Holy Roller fanatics. It was to save his sister from being totally ruined by the man who held her in the hollow of his hand and altogether responsive to his false teachings that the young farmer boy took the law into his own hands and placed himself in jeopardy because he loved her.

 

That the sister has no appreciation of this great love in which she is held by her brother, and decries his act in taking the life of the man who would have destroyed her, is evidenced by her attitude. For all she cares, her brother may pay the penalty which the law exacts for the crime of murder, and she would never mourn him. She does, however, mourn Joshua Creffield, and every bit of evidence she gave for the defense was drawn from her by great effort on the part of the attorneys who are trying to secure the freedom of George Mitchell.

 

SHIPLEY OUTLINES DEFENSE

 

George Mitchell in taking the life of Joshua Creffield on the morning of May 7, believed that he was performing an act for which he had been especially selected by God. He believed that he was the only man living who possessed the power to rid the world of this man who had brought ruin and disgrace, not only upon the people Mitchell loved best, but upon others whom he knew and of whom he was fond. this belief which he had expressed to a number of people and which all argument failed to dispossess him of, had been with him for months before he finally accomplished what he felt to be his solemn duty and even when lying delirious with illness in a Portland hospital he babbled of his fear that Esther Mitchell would meet the fate which Creffield had in store for her.

 

This and other evidence tending to show that Mitchell was temporarily insane was placed before the jury this morning by Attorney Silas M. Shipley when the defense outlined its case. Mr. Shipley spoke for more than two hours and had not finished at the time of the noon recess. As soon as court was called for the afternoon session he spoke for nearly half an hour. Every detail of the doings of the Holy Roller under the spell cast by Creffield was recounted at length, and as the man who is defending him talked, George Mitchell watching him and the faces of the men upon whose decision his fate depends was forced to call upon all his mental strength to keep himself under control, as the acts which had so preyed upon his mind that he lost the power to reason with the logic saneness were set forth in all the vividness of their gross character.

 

TAX ONE’S BELIEF

 

Some of the statements made by Mr. Shipley were of such a nature as to tax one’s power of belief in their possibility, but it was the knowledge that these were the things which the defense will show by witnesses so prayed upon Mitchell that his mind, already tainted with an inherited blight became blunted to aught else except his married sister’s fate and the moral doom which hovered over Esther. He believed that to him and to him alone was given the power to save the sixteen-year-old girl, who time and again had broken from loving restraint and sought the presence of the man who claimed to be God.

 

It was not pleasant, this awful revelation of baseness, indulged in by those who had become dead to all sense of moral and physical decency, but there were many women and girls of tender years who struggled for a point of vantage in the sweltering crowd which jammed the courtroom this morning and heard with straining ear the low spoken words which told of it all. (Oregon Daily Journal (Portland) The courtroom is crowded, as is the corridor leading to the courtroom. The intense heat makes the work in the court-room very disagreeable.) These same people hung upon every word which Esther Mitchell spoke from the stand and turned and craned their necks to better see this child who, deadened of all love for family, would see her brother punished for what he has done in her behalf.

 

FEAR RULING ON WITNESS

 

It is a patent from the strength of the address made to the jury this morning that the defense holds a fear that some of its witnesses may be prevented from testifying because of certain provisions of the law. It is when the attempt to cite many events leading up to and having a tendency to show hereditary insanity is made that the defense fears for its present plans, and Mr. Shipley devoted much time in telling of the family history of the defendant. It was for the same reason also that the doings of the Holy rollers was gone into at such length.

 

In opening Mr. Shipley said:

“I am authorized for the defendant to make a statement in this case of the facts leading up to the homicide which occurred on the 7th of May last. He appears in this court charged by the prosecution with having on the 7th of May, in the City of Seattle, committed a murder in the first degree; it is claimed that on that day he coldly, deliberately, in the full possession of his senses and unmoved fired the ball from his revolver which severed the bond connecting the soul of Creffield with his body and sent him to his grave in the cemetery.

 

“We are not before you for the purpose of pettifogging, or attempt to befog the real issue before you. Our position in this case is that while not denying that it was the defendant’s hand that fired the shot, we do deny that his act at that time was controlled by a mind in the possession of its rational and reasoning faculties to such an extent as to comprehend the true relation which he bore to his surroundings and responsibilities and obligations he rested under to others, or to realize the true nature of the act, or control his will in reference thereto; and that under these conditions, brought to such a state of mind by a certain sequence of events which we shall unfold to you, he fired the shot, but of course in so doing he is amenable to the law of man.

 

“You have listened to the evidence fall from the lips of the states for the purpose of showing a deliberate attempt to kill has through its witnesses displayed the cool demeanor of the defendant. The defense by its cross examination of witnesses has drawn out before you in greater degree than the prosecution did, and emphasized the same qualities, and we propose to show by the defense in this case, in addition to the witnesses offered by the state, the fact that upon that occasion the defendant was cool, that in all of the acts and surrounding of the homicide, and his conduct subsequent thereto he displayed not only a lack of extreme nervousness, but that he was absolutely dead to any fear of punishment, that he failed to apprehend that he was amenable to man’s laws believing, as the witness Sefrit testified that he had said that he had only done what was right, what duty had called him to do and that he could not be punished.

 

“The evidence of the defense will be to introduce further to emphasize this condition, which the state has in part established. Having done that we will then show evidence bearing upon the early life of this young man, tracing him from birth to manhood, and present to you facts which have been instrumental in making what he was on May 7, in order that you may determine what the true condition of his mind then was. for only by so doing can we solve the mystery of the human mind. It is only by its outward manifestation that we can form judgment on the mind.

 

FATHER WAS INSANE

 

“For that reason we shall cause you to be led by the witnesses over to the little hamlet in Oregon, where at the age of 5 this defendant, with his father, three sisters and four brothers, moved from the State of Illinois, where he was born and had resided up to that time, to this village. Settling there on a small place, the father was compelled to wrestle with nature for a livelihood for the family. There this defendant passed the early days of his boyhood. While at the age of 10 or 12 years his mother was laid in the tomb. The two older sisters were required and did support themselves, as well as the two older brothers. The younger brother and this defendant remained with the father. The younger sister, Esther, was taken in the care and custody of a kind family in the little town of Newberg. The family lived under these conditions for a few years following the mother’s death.

 

“Prior to this time the father, a hard-working man, a man who loved his family, was a strongly religious man. Commencing at an early day, in the State of Illinois, he belonged to the Friends, or Quakers. He was a man of strong peculiarities and eccentricities, a man who could see no good in things only as they were seen through his glasses. [sic] This man was a Friend as long as the people in the particular organization looked well--whenever they would not follow him he became something else. Following the mother’s death in the State of Oregon he joined the Salvation Army because of disagreement and dissension in his former sect. Added to his religious eccentricities and peculiarities, he was a strong Prohibitionist and had no use for a man not a Prohibitionist.

 

“We will introduce neighbors and friends of the father and you will hear from their lips their statement of their acquaintance with this man prior to the birth of the defendant up to the time he left Oregon for Illinois, when this boy was 11 years old. These witnesses will relate the state of facts as existing in the case of the father, and as some of them will express it in their homely way, he was ‘nothing.’ He was an overly religious man, and always an active member of the Salvation Army. He answered to the calls of their meetings, no matter what his home duties were, and everything had to yield to his religious passion.

 

IS A FAMILY CHARACTERISTIC

 

“The facts will show that this is a strong family characteristic and that it was handed down from father to children. It will be shown that the father possessed the additional eccentricity that he could not argue, or debate, or reason with anyone without flying off the handle. And the witnesses will tell you of the efforts they had to keep on friendly terms with the father because of the strong peculiarities we have just mentioned.

 

“The older-boy, some two to four years older than the defendant, inherited the same characteristics, and became an active and zealous worker in the Salvation Army. At an early age he showed the same peculiar processes of mind that the father had, and could see no good in any person’s acts, or reasons, or views unless they agreed with his. This older brother some three years ago, as evidence will show, while in a state of despondency over a love affair attempted to commit suicide. That brother has always shown traces of a mental condition which witnesses described as ‘being off,’ and not right in the head.

 

“We will show further by the evidence that the sisters went to Portland and eventually took up the work of the Salvation Army, following in the footsteps of the father, and the inherited tendency manifested itself in all of the children. The defendant, at the age of 12 and 14 years--as early as that--attended meetings, but while becoming interested, never professed religion.”

 

After describing the disgusting doings of the Holy Roller society and the many efforts of George Mitchell and his brother-in-law, Burgess Starr, to keep the sisters of the one and the wife of the other, free from the influence of Creffield, Mr. Shipley went on to show how the defendant had for some time given evidence of religious insanity and told of his belief in spiritualism.

 

Following a brief outline of Creffield’s career from the time of his discharge from the Oregon penitentiary until his second marriage with Maud Hurt in Seattle, Mr. Shipley continued:

“Shortly after this George Mitchell is confined to the hospital in Portland with measles. The doctor who attended him will testify as to his condition at that time and will testify that the sole theme of the defendant’s conversation, even in his delirium, was of his two sisters, and particularly Esther. At this time he claims that his mother had revealed to him that Creffield was again at large and that his influence was again going to be exerted over those two sisters. He asserted that the spirits had revealed the fact that it was going to be given to him to bring this unholy influence of Creffield to a close, the manner not yet being revealed, however.

 

“One night towards the end of April, some time between the close of the day and the ushering in of the morn, Mr. Starr awakes to find that his wife has left him, leaving a note. The next day the defendant calls at the house and reads the note, something to the effect: ‘I cannot wait until daylight because the babies would cry to go with me. I have taken $3.50 of your money, but I guess I have been worth that much to you. It is not enough to pay my fare and I will have to walk to the place I am going.’

 

“This brother, the defendant, reads that letter and takes the motherless babies on his lap, one of seven months, one of three and another of five years, and cries over them. He tells them that his mother has told him that God would reveal to him where their mother had gone--that God was going to tell him and he would bring mamma back to them.”

 

Mr. Shipley followed along similar lines, showing the belief of Mitchell in spiritualism, and said that several witnesses would testify from the stand as to conversations held with Mitchell in which he had affirmed his revelations given from the spirits, particularly that of his mother, in which he was told that he would remove Creffield from the world.

 

 

Evening Telegram (Portland) 7/2/1906 p1

Insanity Will be Mitchell’s Plea

Defense Outlines Plans and Every Effort Made to Sway Emotions of Jurors.

 

SEATTLE, WASH., JULY 2.--That the belief that his sister, Esther Mitchell would be ruined by Creffield, the leader of the “Holy Rollers,” drove George Mitchell insane and caused him while in that condition to kill Creffield, is the defense that the young farmer boy on trial for his life in the Superior Court will offer, according to the opening statement made by Silas M. Shipley, one of the defendant’s attorneys. For two hours and a quarter the attorney outlined the evidence that the defense will offer. The fanatical acts of Creffield in hi so-called religious camp were detailed at length. Nothing was admitted.

 

Everything that could sway the emotions of the jurors in Mitchell’s favor was brought out in the opening statement, as the defense fear that it will be precluded by the court from introducing much of it as evidence.

 

Esther Mitchell will be called this afternoon to testify. It is expected that she will prove an unwilling witness for the defense, as she still mourns Creffield’s death and declares her brother should be punished.

 

 

Morning Oregonian (Portland) 7/3/1906 p1

Oregon Man Tells Revolting Story

O. V. Hurt On Witness Stand

Warned George Mitchell To Guard Sister From Creffield.

Ruin Of Corvallis Home

Father-In-Law Of Dead Fanatic Gives Seattle Jury Insight Into Domestic Troubles--Mother’s Spirit Told Son To Kill.

 

AN ABRIDGED VERSION OF THE SAME ARTICLE ALSO APPEARED IN

Corvallis Gazette 7/6/1906 p1

Against Her Brother

Reveals Teachings Of Holy Roller Prophet.

Sister Testifies In Mitchell Trial--Crowds In Attendance.

 

SEATTLE, Wash., July 2.--(Staff Correspondence)--Holy Rollerism, the leprous cult conceived and expounded by Edmund Creffield, was laid bare before court and jury during the day’s proceedings in the Mitchell-Creffield murder trial today. All the unnatural and hideous phases of the sensuous creed were exposed as tending to mitigate young George Mitchell’s offense against the law when he shot down the man who had ruined several home and a score of lives under the cloak of religion.

 

The tragedy was first described by S. M. Shipley, of counsel for the prisoner, in his opening statement for the defense. Mr. Shipley spoke in simple words and his manner was calm and unimpassioned. Such a recital seemed to need no emphasis. That he was giving a clear and uncolored version of Creffieldism was hard to believe. It did not seem consistent with anything in human nature. To the layman, the suspicion could not as times be avoided that Mr. Shipley, out of zeal for his client, was making more lurid the pigments with which he painted the unpleasant picture.

 

HURT TELLS GRAPHIC STORY

 

Later when O. V. Hurt of Corvallis, Or., took the witness stand, the relentless truth of what the attorney had said was driven home to jury and spectators. Those in the courtroom who thought they knew human nature were doomed to learn that the love a mother for her children is not always supreme; that a daughter’s affection for her father may be changed to scorn and dislike when touched by the venomous influence of a reptile like Creffield; that a sister may come to despise the brother who risks his life for her honor; that women of mature years may forget their devotion to their homes and may even leave off their acquaintance with such institutions as modesty, decency, humanity and other traits of the normal, human being.

 

HURT TELLS GRAPHIC STORY

 

Mr. Hurt’s story, as told from the witness stand in Judge Frater’s court today, was that of the ruining of his own life, the breaking up of his own home and the scattering of a contented, happy family. His voice choked with emotion as he told it. Often his power of speech would be lost in a flood of emotion. The jury was visibly affected by the recital of Hurt’s domestic wrongs.

 

Nor were the proofs of Creffield’s strange power all left to the verbal testimony of the witness. The court had a practical demonstration of it early in the afternoon, when Mrs. Burgess E. Starr, the married sister of the young defendant, absolutely refused to come into court, as ordered, to testify in her brother’s behalf. Mitchell’s attorney demanded that she be compelled to appear and Judge Frater issued a bench warrant and detailed a deputy sheriff to escort her to the witness stand. When confronted by the officer the woman objected to leaving her room at the Stevens Hotel. She offered no resistance, however, when he insisted.

 

BEGRUDGES BROTHER AID

 

Her testimony, when she did take the stand, was given in a hesitating and reluctant manner, as if she begrudged her brother and protector any advantage she might give him in his battle for life.

 

Esther Mitchell, the younger sister was also on the stand. She, too, showed no inclination to help her brother. Her answers to questions were brief and of little or no direct consequence. The two sisters were on the stand but a few minutes today. They will be recalled before the defense is finished and examined more closely.

 

The first day of the defense was much more productive of results than had been expected. Mr. Shipley did not get through with his opening statement until the middle of the afternoon. It had been intended to call several unimportant witnesses for the purpose of establishing Mitchell’s temperamental peculiarities, thus laying the foundation for an insanity defense.

 

STATE MAKES LOUD OBJECTION

 

A. R. Mills, a Newberg, Or., fruit-grower, was called for this purpose, but such vigorous objection to this line of testimony was interposed by the prosecution that it was withdrawn pending a ruling on the materiality of the evidence. This ruling will not be made until both sides have presented authorities and arguments in the morning.

 

This development caused the defense to call Mr. Hurt to the stand. It was anticipated that his testimony, too would be objected to, and it was desired by Mr. Morris and Mr. Shipley to find just what latitude they might expect in handling their case.

 

By repeating his story of Holy Rollerism in the form of a statement that he had made to young Mitchell, prior to the killing, Mr. Hurt was permitted, under Judge Frater’s ruling, to testify concerning Creffield and Creffield’s pernicious teachings.

 

Mr. Hurt is a man of about 55 years, stockily built, intelligent and kindly of appearance. He spoke in a hesitating manner and had to be frequently prompted to proceed in laying bare his family misfortunes. Several times he had to stop speaking and fight for self control.

 

WHAT HE TOLD MITCHELL

 

After stating, in response to a question, that he was the father of Maud Hurt Creffield, the dead man’s widow, he said:

“I met the defendant, Mr. Mitchell, in Portland, the last week in March. I told him Creffield was out of prison and described to him the effects of his power over the women folks.

 

“I told him that Creffield used to get his followers to lie on the floor and roll about, praying and shouting. He would keep telling them that God would smite them unless they did as he said. He claimed to be the Savior. I have known Creffield to keep them rolling about on the floor in this manner for from 12 to 24 house at one time. His power over his followers, who were nearly all women, was something wonderful. They did whatever he said. They were dead to all human sympathies. They let their children, their husbands and their parents go uncared for and without a kind thought or word.

 

OBEYED HIM LIKE CHILDREN

 

“Creffield would say, for example, as I told young Mitchell, ‘Esther Mitchell, you do this;’ and she would do it. He would tell my wife or daughter to do a thing and it would be done as he said.

 

“When they got together for the religious services, all would lie on the floor. Creffield would walk among them and sometimes he would roll about, too. While lying this way they were supposed to receive messages from God. Creffield would keep telling them to pray and shout with all their might or God would smite them.

 

“These things happened mostly at my home while I was away, prior to the time Creffield was sent to the penitentiary.

 

“Esther Mitchell came to me one day and said she had received an inspiration from God that he would smite me unless I made my peace with him. She warned me not to attempt to got to town that day, as I had been in the habit of doing.

 

DROVE HIS FAMILY INSANE

 

“When I talked the matter over with George Mitchell I told him they were all in a religious frenzy and that all of them had been driven crazy by Creffield. I told him that my wife, Mrs. O. V. Hurt, my son, Frank, and my daughter, May Hurt, had all been sent to asylums as a result of their associations with Creffield. I told him that his Sister, Esther, had been taken from my home, where she had been staying, to the Boys’ and Girls’ Aid Society, at Portland, because of her mental state. I told him his sister was completely ‘off’ on account of this religion.

 

“At one time, as Creffield’s power grew, they offered a sacrifice of two dogs and a cat. I heard there had been talk of offering up a little girl as a sacrifice. Creffield made them turn the pictures of homes to the wall saying such things partook of vanity and the world. About this time the Sheriff of Linn County came to my home and took Creffield away to be examined as to his sanity. They did not send him to an asylum, and he came back.

 

TELLS OF THE NAKED ORGIES

 

“It finally came to such a pass that Creffield made the women burn all their clothes as a sacrifice and wear nothing by thin wrappers. These garments even would be dispensed with during the rolling services. My wife and daughter and Mitchell’s sisters submitted to these teachings. They refused to sit in chairs. They would not eat in my presence, and those who had children would neglect them. My wife neglected her little girl.”

 

“That man, gentlemen of the jury, ruined my life. He ruined my home and my family. I told Mitchell the man ruined his sisters.”

 

“Under Creffield’s influence my little daughter grew so she would have nothing to do with me. She would not talk with me or come near me. I had her removed then to the Boys’ and Girls’ Aid Society. After she had been there a few days she grew tired of it. She sent for me and said she was ready to come back to my home. When she came home I learned from her lips all that had been going on.

 

LITTLE GIRL CONFESSES ALL

 

“Out in our yard, as I held her on my knee, she told me the story. She asked me not to be harsh with my wife, her mother, because she had been among the last to bend to Creffield’s will. When he gave he a command that I will not repeat, my wife refused to obey, my little girl told me. Then Creffield drove my wife to do his bidding. He told her if she refused he would drive her out of the church, and that God would smite her. Then she submitted.

 

At this point the state entered an objection to the witness’ recital of things not directly bearing on the point, claiming that they were irrelevant and immaterial. The point was being argues when the hour for adjournment arrived. Mr. Hurt will conclude his testimony in the morning.

 

BROTHER ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

 

The testimony adduced from other witnesses was of less consequence. Mrs. Starr, when finally brought into court, admitted with reluctance that she was a sister of the defendant. She identified a Creffield letter which is to be put in evidence later, and admitted having known that her brother, Fred, shot himself in Portland about three years ago. Similar testimony was given by Esther Mitchell in response to questions. Both women will probably be given a more protracted examination on the witness stand later on in the trial.

 

Mr. Mills, the other witness, was an old friend of the Mitchell family. It is intended to prove by him and others that young Mitchell inherits peculiarities and eccentricities bearing on religion from his father, Charles Mitchell. In the event this line of testimony is admitted, Mr. Mills will be on the stand again tomorrow.

 

There are about 30 witnesses to be here in Mitchell’s behalf, and it is doubted if the case will be placed in the hands of the jury before the end of the week, or the fore part of next week.

 

SHIPLEY’S OPENING STATEMENT

 

In his opening statement Mr. Shipley said he would not deny the killing and explained that Mitchell’s coolness, on which the state had dwelt, was the result of a fanatic hallucination that he had been ordered by the spirit of his dead mother to kill Creffield.

 

He laid great stress on the fact that the elder Mitchell is a man of strongly religious nature, first Quaker then a Salvation Army follower, and that this morbid religious strain was inherited by the entire family, his son the defendant, being a Spiritualist.

 

After outlining Creffield’s careers from the date of his release from the Oregon state prison up to the time of his second marriage with Maud Hurt at Seattle, Mr. Shipley continued:

“Shortly after this George Mitchell is confined to the hospital in Portland with measles. The doctor who attended him will testify as to his condition at that time and will testify that the sole theme of the defendant’s conversation, even in his delirium, was of his two sisters, and particularly Esther. At this time he claims that his mother had revealed to him that Creffield was again at large and that his influence was again going to be exerted over those two sisters. He asserted that the spirits had revealed the fact that it was going to be given to him to bring this unholy influence of Creffield to a close, the manner not yet being revealed, however.

 

“One night towards the end of April, some time between the close of the day and the ushering in of the morn, Mr. Starr awakes to find that his wife has left him, leaving a note. The next day the defendant calls at the house and reads the note, something to the effect: ‘I cannot wait until daylight because the babies would cry to go with me. I have taken $3.50 of your money, but I guess I have been worth that much to you. It is not enough to pay my fare and I will have to walk to the place I am going.’

 

“This brother, the defendant, reads that letter and takes the motherless babies on his lap, one of seven months, one of three and another of five years, and cries over them. He tells them that his mother has told him that God would reveal to him where their mother had gone--that God was going to tell him and he would bring mamma back to them.”

 

Mr. Shipley concluded along similar lines, showing the belief of Mitchell in spiritualism, and said that several witnesses would testify from the stand as to conversations held with Mitchell in which he had affirmed his revelations given from the spirits, particularly that of his mother, in which he was told that he would remove Creffield from the world.

 

(Article under this Defied By Woman Barber, Washington State Examiners Finally Cause Her Arrest, about a woman being denied a license supposedly because male barbers didn’t want women in the business.)

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