DASTARDLY DADS FROM THE ARCHIVES (Yorkville, New York - 1893)

Except for the archaic language and period detail, dad JAMES HART doesn't sound that different from a lot of contemporary abusive fathers. Sometimes it's rather astonishing how little things change, especially the victims' fear of testifying openly about the violence they witnessed and experienced.

From the New York Times, November 23, 1893.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9F01E4DB153EEF33A25750C2A9679D94629ED7CF

JAMES HART'S FATAL ASSAULT.

His Wife Escaped Harm, but her Baby is Dead--Another Child in Convulsions.

James Hart, a dissipated-looking man, was taken to the Yorkville Police Court yesterday on a warrant sworn out by hiw wife, who charged him with disorderly conduct and assault. The facts of the case, however, as related by Policeman Bellar, who arrested Hart, showed that the prisoner had not only assaulted his wife, but that his brutality had probably led to the death of his child.

"When I entered the Hart apartments," said Policeman Bellar yesterday, " I saw in one room a little coffin, in which was a dead baby, and in another room was a little girl lying in bed with her clothes on and dying, as nearly as I could judge.

"I saw that something was wrong, and asked Mrs. Hart what the matter was. She replied in a low tone: 'Oh, how can I tell you. I dare not tell.' At this moment another woman, Mrs. Hart's sister, came up and said:

"'We are afraid to say anything, for if he heard us he would kill us. But he killed those children.' As she said this she pointed to the coffin and to the little girl on the bed.

"The sister's husband was also in the room and joined in the conversation. He said:

"'Yes, he did kill them, and if I had my way I would kill that murderer.'

"This made Mrs. Hart hysterical, and beating the air with her arms and crying, she said:

"'Yes, he did kill the children.'

"Then the people told me the story. James Hart, who is an employee of the Street-Cleaning Department, came home on Monday intoxicated. His wife was holding the baby, and he demanded more money to buy more liquor. She refused to give him money, whereupon he seized a chair and tried to strike her with it. In her fright she dropped the child, and it died some time after. The little girl, Ellen, five years old, ran up to her father crying: 'Please, papa, don't kill mamma and baby!'

"The man went to the front room, but soon returned, and again demanded money of his wife. She said she did not have any.

"'Yes you have,' he shouted, with an oath and curse, 'and you'll give it to me too.'

"Then, seizing a butcher's knife, Hart rushed at the poor woman, who stood transfixed with terror. Mrs. Hart's sister and brother-in-law ran to her rescue. They seized Hart and, after a struggle, took the knife from him. Little Ellen, who had already been frightened by the first assault upon her mother, uttered a scream, and fell in convulsions to the floor. The women lifted her and put her in bed, where she has been lying at death's door ever since.

"When the women and the man had told me the story, I asked them where Hart was. They said he was in the front room asleep, and they warned me against going in, because he was a desperate man. I pushed open the door and found Hart in bed. I woke him, and he asked me in a gruff way what I wanted. I told him I had a warrant for his arrest.

"'What for?' he asked.

"'How about your child's death and your assault on your wife and your little daughter's illness!' I replied. 'You had better come along with me and explain it all to the Judge.'

"Hart declared that I would have to take him in an ambulance, but I told him he must dress himself and ride with me in the cars. He looked at me for a few seconds as if calculating what his chances would be if he attacked me. Then he got up and began dressing. After a time he walked toward a large knife, and when I ordered him back he obeyed in a surly manner. Then he called to his wife and asked for a drink of whiskey. She got a flask from a cupboard, and her sister whispered, 'Put some milk in.'

"Hart seemed utterly indifferent to his children. He glanced contemptuously at the little coffin, and in speaking of the sick girl remarked: 'I guess she'll go, too.'

"In court Mrs. Hart and her sister begged me not to repeat what they had told me in the house, but the outrage was too great for me to respect their requests."

The court held Hart to await the action of the coroner.

Later in the day, when a reporter for the New-York Times called at Mrs. Hart's house, she denied that her husband had used any violence at all, and declared that he was a loving father and devoted husband. Her sister, she said, had not business to talk about the matter.