Union and Advertiser
October 31, 1896, page 12
Rochester, NY
BREACH OF PROMISE
Charles P. Lee the Defendant in the Suit.
A Young Swedish Girl Accuses the Colored Politician of Breaking His Tryst.
Had Just Returned from a Honeymoon--Claims it is an Attempt at Blackmail.
Charles P. LEE, the popular young colored politician and lawyer of this city, is
the defendant in an action for breach of promise. The summons and
complaint were served on him yesterday in which $10,000 damages are demanded as
a balm for the wounded affections of Miss Ida CREDREN, a pretty Swedish girl,
who lives at 37 Elm street.
(picture of Lee)
Miss CREDREN is a working girl, who came to this country from Sweden six months
ago. She hadn't been here long before she met LEE, who is said to have
been captivated by her charms. This resulted, according to her side of the
story, in a proposal of marriage on the part of LEE, which was promptly
accepted.
Be that as it may, the ex-secretary of the civil service board, took a flying
trip to Nashville, Tenn., about three weeks ago and a few days later the
announcement was received in this city of his marriage to a bright and talented
colored girl of the south. The marriage it was said, had taken place
several months before, and "Charlie" was now spending his honeymoon.
He returned to this city a few days ago when his troubles began.
This was in shape of a threatened breach of promise suit from the Swedish girl,
who claims to have been shocked and humiliated by the announcement of LEE's
marriage to another. Some attempts were made, it is said, for a
settlement, but these falling through, the action was commenced by Miss
CREDREN's lawyer, Stephen C. TRUESDALE.
LEE denies the truth of the woman's claim and says the whole thing is an attempt
at blackmail; that she is only a catspaw in the hands of some of his enemies,
who are taking this opportunity to avenge themselves upon him.
The defendant in this action at one time was quite prominent in local politics.
He trained with the Curran faction of the Republican party last fall, and when
the party leaders decided to refuse Dr. CURRAN the nomination of mayor, LEE was
requested to resign from his position as secretary of the civil service board.
He complied with this request and since has not been so prominently identified
with politics. He was born at Elmira and is 31 years of age. He came
to this city in 1886 and began the study of law in the office of Anson S. MCNAB,
being admitted to the bar two years later. He has since occupied the
position of librarian in the Powers law library. He is a graduate of a
southern college, a gifted orator and (didn't get the rest).
WHALES SCARCE
Fair Sex Will be Interested in Their Decadence.
The Demand for Whalbone Lessened Somewhat by the Advent of the Bicycle.
The Small Supply Has Resulted in Increased Prices, However,--Efforts to Obtain a
Substitute.
The women of Rochester, as well as other places, will be interested in late news
from Hudson bay and other whaling waters, to the effect that the sperm whale is
becoming almost as rare as the American buffalo. It may be asked why the
fair sex should bother its pretty head abut the big mammoth, anyway. Many
a woman, in fact, doesn't seem to care a rap for bone and blubber, sperm and
ambergris. Yet, think of the ingratitude when one reflects how much the
leviathan of the deep does toward making woman perfect, if not in health, at
least in shapeliness.
Among a group of travelers in the Powers Hotel the other day the
conversation turned on the fact that for six months or more nearly every vessel
that has returned has given a tale of poor luck, and some have made scarcely
enough of a catch to pay for the hard tack stowed away by the ever-ready-to-eat
tars.
One of the travelers showed a letter which he had received from a New Bedford
whaling captain. "The sperm whale of the rolling forties is as scarce
as hen's teeth," this mariner writes. "They have all been hunted
out. There are any number of right whales, or bowheads, among the seal
islands in the frozen Arctic, but they are hard to get at. We struck any
number of them last summer, but for every one we took we struck fifty, and for
every one we struck, we saw a thousand.
psm