goldfields

Sarah Althea Hill, now Mrs. David S. Terry, along with her attorney-husband, were back on court on September 3, 1888 to hear the decision in one of the appeals. The California Supreme Court had supported the lower state court ruling that the marriage was legitimate, but the federal court had ruled just the opposite — the marriage contract was invalid. Justice Stephen J. Field would now pronounce on the appeal to the federal court’s decision.

Field was the judge who replaced Terry on the California Supreme Court in 1856. In 1863 he was appointed by President Lincoln to the newly created tenth Supreme Court seat. This seat had been added to give balance to the court by bringing in a justice from the Pacific states. (That’s a nice bit of trivia — When were there ever ten supreme court justices?)

At the time, the U.S. supreme court justices also were responsible for the federal circuit courts, and it was in this capacity that Justice Field gave his ruling that the federal judgement would stand. He ordered Mrs. Terry (Allie) to surrender the marriage contract.

Allie was outraged. She had guarded that precious contract as her only means of getting her alimony. She not only refused to give it up, she went further. She accused Justice Field of having been bought off by the “Sharon people.”

Daily Alta California, 4 September 1888

Justice Field was not going to stand for that. He ordered the marshal to remove Mrs. Terry from the courtroom. As she continued to revile the judge, the marshal moved to take her out. Her husband, David Terry, stopped him, declaring “No living man shall touch her!’ and then struck the marshal in the face with his fist. As the marshal dragged Allie screaming out of the courtroom, Terry hastened after, drawing his Bowie knife as he went.

Daily Alta California, 4 September 1888

Terry, struggling to strike a blow with the knife, was overpowered and disarmed. A loaded revolver was found in Allie’s satchel. Screams and shouts filled the courtroom.

The members of the press were having a field day. What a way to sell papers! The headline in the Morning Press was “TERRYFIED.”

But Stephen Field was not cowed or terrified by this display of violence. After the mid-day recess he came back and sentenced David D. Terry, former Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, to six months in jail for contempt of court, and his wife to 30 days.

While in jail, Allie continued to rail against Justice Field, and her husband, Terry, sent the judge several threatening letters. In less than a year, the tragic end of the Sharon-Hill-Terry drama would play out in a railroad depot dining room.

Next: Showdown at the Lathrop Depot

The most famous duel in California history took place in 1859 between David S. Terry, Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, and U.S. Senator David C. Broderick.

David Smith Terry was born in Kentucky in 1823 and moved with his family to Texas as  young boy.  All his life he considered himself a southerner and supported the southern cause. He studied law in Texas and was admitted to the bar in 1845, fought in the Mexican War in 1846, and in 1849 joined the gold rush to California. Like many others, he found riches not in the diggings, but in his professional field. He rose rapidly in the ranks of law and politics and in 1855 he won a seat on the California Supreme Court, supported by the Know-Nothing Party. Other than that, Terry considered himself a Democrat.

At 6 foot 3 inches, Terry was an imposing figure. He was known for his hot temper. In 1856, representing the state government, he went to San Francisco to take on the Vigilance Committee, an extra-legal band of citizens formed to fight crime and corruption. In an altercation he stabbed Sterling A. Hopkins in the neck with a Bowie knife. Terry was jailed, but released when Hopkins survived the attack.

In 1859 Terry failed in his bid to be re-elected to the Supreme Court, and he blamed his loss on fellow Democrat David C. Broderick. Terry was a leader of the southern faction of the party; Broderick represented the northern abolitionist wing. The former friends fell out over their irreconcilable political views (as did the entire Democratic Party soon after).

They traded insults until Terry sent a note demanding a retraction of remarks made by Broderick. His refusal to do so led to their meeting at Lake Merced (just outside San Francisco city limits in Daly City) early on the morning of September 13, 1859. Broderick fell, fatally wounded by a pistol ball. His death made him a hero and martyr in the fight against slavery, and Terry’s political career was ruined.

You can read more about the Broderick-Terry Duel in this Wikipedia article and at this National Park Service site.

The two pillars mark the spots where Terry and Broderick stood to fire

Just then the Civil War came along, and Terry went back to Texas and joined the Confederate Army, rising to the rank of colonel. After the war he returned to California and resumed his legal practice.

In 1884 he became part of the team of lawyers assisting Sarah Althea Hill in her bid to get her marriage to former senator William Sharon validated and then dissolved. In December of the same year Terry’s wife, Charlotte, died. In January 1886 he married his client, Allie. Together, with great determination, they continued to pursue her right to a portion of property belong to millionaire Sharon, who had died in 1885.

Public interest in the case languished for two years, although the lawyers were busy with a few side issues. Then in 1888 drama erupted once again in the courtroom.

Next: “Marshal. put that woman out!”

The trial came to a conclusion on September 16, 1884 and after due consideration, judgement was rendered by Judge J.F. Sullivan on December 24^th. He concluded that under California law a marriage contract such as Sarah Althea Hill claimed she possessed could be valid. He accepted that both the contract and the “Dear Wife” letters were genuine, and he granted her a dissolution of the marriage between her and her husband, William Sharon.

He also believed that both plaintiff (Allie) and defendant (Sharon), as well as many of the witnesses, were guilty of perjury on the stand. Nevertheless, Allie was entitled to alimony and a division of property. Sharon swore that she would not get one cent. He would fight it to the end.

While her attorneys congratulated each other and celebrated their victory, Allie went shopping. A reporter from the Daily Alta California visited her the day after Christmas and found her relaxing “on a richly embroidered lounge,” next to a table “almost covered with glasses and champagne bottles, some empty and others yet to be opened,” evidence that she had been called upon by many well-wishers. He noted some of the purchases she made on Christmas Eve.

Daily Alta California, 26 December 1884

She certainly enjoyed her Christmas. But her ordeal was far from over, and she would never see the money she had worked and schemed so hard for. Senator Sharon appealed the decision and delayed payment with all his considerable craftiness. And then, lurking in the background, was the counter-suit that he had filed in federal court.  Allie would soon find herself once again in the courtroom.