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Emily Harold

Emily Wright Harold (c. May 29, 1820 – May 8, 1872) was a 19th-century American wife and mother who lived most of her life in Greeneville, Tennessee. In 1872, Harold was accused (in an anonymous letter) of engaging in an extramarital affair with her neighbor, former U.S. President Andrew Johnson. She subsequently committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound. Johnson was a candidate for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that year. The alleged sexual relationship, Mrs. Harold's suicide, and an ensuing libel trial all made national headlines.

Emily Harold
Born
Emily Wright

(1820-05-29)May 29, 1820 (approximated)
Tennessee, U.S.
DiedMay 8, 1872(1872-05-08) (aged 51)
Tennessee, U.S.
Other namesMrs. James W. Harold; last name frequently misspelled Herold, Harrold or Herrold[1][a]
OccupationHousewife
Known forAccused by anonymous poison-pen letter of conducting an extramarital affair with former U.S. President Andrew Johnson, subsequently committed suicide

Background edit

Andrew Johnson's personal life is generally poorly attested in the historical record.[2] The tragic case of Mrs. Harold is no exception; she appears not at all in Robert W. Winston's 1928 biography of Johnson, and warrants but a scant paragraph (in which her name is misspelled) in Hans L. Trefousse's 1989 bio; when that book was published American Heritage magazine noted that "Trefousse resists the temptation to moralize. He puts no credence in the rumors of Johnson's alcoholism...and dismisses stories about Johnson's relationships with women other than his wife, Eliza. Instead, Trefousse lets the facts paint their own unflattering portrait of one of history's least respected Presidents."[3] In her 2011 survey of Johnson's life, Annette Gordon-Reed did not delve into the Harold story but did observe, "Throughout a good part of their near-five-decade marriage, Eliza was not a real presence in her husband's public life. There were rumors of infidelity on Andrew's part, which he denied, but they did not live together much as husband and wife."[4] An illuminating primary source about the state of their marriage may be a letter written by a Confederate soldier charged with removing the Johnson family from occupied Tennessee; he wrote of Eliza, "She is very anxious to remain here with her children and is not at all desirous to go the bosom of 'Andy.'"[5] In a 2001 article about Johnson's troubled son Robert Johnson, historian Paul Bergeron observed that the Johnson family was seemingly "marked by tension and possible antipathy between the parents."[6]

Early life and family edit

Emily Wright was born about May 29, 1820 in Tennessee.[7] According to FamilySearch.org, her parents may have been John and Martha (Powell) Wright.[8][9] According to newspaper reports at the time of her death, her mother was known as Mrs. Heiskell and lived in Rhea County.[10][11]

 
James W. Harold and Emily Wright marriage bond, November 2, 1837

Emily Wright married "Jas. W. Harrold" on November 2, 1837, in Greene County, Tennessee,[12] when she was about 17 years old; James W. Harold was about five years her senior and had been born in Virginia.[7] James W. Harold worked as a tailor in Greeneville in 1850,[7] 1860,[13] and 1870.[14] They had four children who survived infancy:[7][9][13][14]

  • John W. Harold (born approximately 1838, when Emily was about 18), later studied law[13] and served in the United States Army during the American Civil War.[15]
  • Mary E. Harold (born approximately 1846, when Emily was 26)
  • Charles Harold (born 1856, when Emily was about 36)
  • Jessie Harold (born 1863, when Emily was about 43)

James W. Harold was appointed postmaster of Greeneville beginning April 1, 1869.[16] His annual salary for this work in 1871 was $690.[17]

Mrs. Harold had been a member of the First Presbyterian Church (Greeneville, Tennessee) for more than 30 years and after her death was described by prominent citizens of Greeneville as "an earnest and consistent Christian, a chaste and faithful wife, a kind and dutiful mother, a charitable neighbor, and a true and noble woman, respected and esteemed by all in the community."[18] She was said to have had the "entire confidence and deep love" of her husband.[19]

Scandal edit

After 50 years of unremarkable provincial life in East Tennessee, Mrs. James W. Harold became nationally infamous in 1872 for accusations that she was involved in an extramarital affair with former U.S. President Andrew Johnson. Johnson had nominally retired from politics following the end of his term of office, and had returned to Greeneville, Tennessee (the place where he had begun his career, where he owned a home and other real estate, and where his wife Eliza McCardle Johnson and daughter Martha Johnson Patterson usually lived). By 1872 Johnson was said to be bored with small-town life and was attempting to re-enter politics,[20] despite a failed United States Senate bid in 1869.[21]

 
Andrew Johnson's old tailor shop in Greeneville: Originally published as a stereoscopic view, this photograph was taken by L.W. Keen in 1875

In any case, according to Knoxville newspaper accounts, one Sunday in late April 1872, the Greeneville town postmaster, a merchant and tailor named James W. Harold, received an anonymous letter that asserted that his wife of 35 years had been seduced by Johnson.[10] By one telling, Andrew Johnson and Emily Harold had "had improper intercourse with each other for some time."[19] Their assignations were said to take place in Johnson's library, which was adjacent to his old tailor shop, which was, in turn, adjacent to the home of the Harolds.[10] The Johnsons and the Harolds lived "for many years past, within a few steps of each other."[18] In addition to being neighbors, Harold and Johnson had apparently had once been a business partners during Johnson's tailoring days.[22] According to one account, "Mr. Harold and Mr. Johnson had been personal and warm friends for more than 30 years."[10] Emily Wright Harold was also said to have been a close friend of Johnson's wife, Eliza McCardle Johnson.[23]

According to an 1865 description of Greeneville by Rev. Randall Ross of the 15th Ohio, "Up street [from the main Andrew Johnson house] stands his former tailor shop, with the old sign still on it; and in an old store-room up street is the remains of his library. At present it consists of law books and public documents, most of his more valuable books having been destroyed by the rebel soldiery."[24] In 1878 at the time of the dedication of the Johnson monument at what is now Andrew Johnson National Cemetery a writer from Brooklyn reported, "His library after his return to Greeneville in 1868 [sic] was separate from the house and was a large lofty room filled with his papers and law-books. Here he spent a large portion of his time and particularly would he be found poring over some work or engaged in writing long after everybody in town was asleep."[25]

Per a Knoxville paper, after receiving the letter Mr. Harold caught Mrs. Harold leaving the library "late at night" with a blanket shawl covering her head and face; she then attempted to slip into their home through the back door. There was reportedly a confrontation between the couple, who exchanged "high words," and their dispute was loud enough to be overheard.[10] Months later neighbors testified under oath that they had neither seen nor heard anything that was suggestive of infidelity.[26] Another version told in the same newspaper account states that Mr. Harold received the letter, showed it to his church-going wife and told her he disbelieved the accusations contained therein. Mrs. Harold was nonetheless said to be "so indignant she could hardly contain herself" and "almost crazy with excitement...with a gun in her hand, declaring she intended to shoot her traducers."[10] As for the former president:

Mr. Johnson declared the lady had never been in his library. He said she had been a friend of Mrs. Johnson's for half a lifetime, but that he had not spoken to her for a week or at the time of the alleged visit to his library.[10]

In all versions of the initial disclosure, the "idle gossips" of Greeneville (a town of about 3,000 people) both believe and spread "half a dozen or more" versions of the Harold–Johnson affair, and generally assign responsibility to Johnson. Harold is typically described as a victim of "seduction" and/or "atrocious calumny."[18] The most pointed and public version, published in an Indianapolis newspaper 10 days after Harold's death, was entitled "Andy Johnson as Seducer" and claimed that "Great indignation is expressed among the citizens of Greeneville at the ex-President, and many of the best citizens refuse to speak to him on the street."[27] By the end of May the story was widespread enough that, in a letter to Johnson, one Thomas W. Dick Bullock offered his sympathy in regard to the "base and malicious slander perpetrated by some designing persons".[28]

Regarding Johnson's overall reputation in East Tennessee, and the claims and denials of "great indignation" in 1872, it may be germane that when Andrew Johnson returned to Greeneville three years prior (back in March 1869, after the end of his presidency), the mayor of Greeneville refused to participate in the welcome-home ceremony and procession. Per a newspaper report published March 21, 1869:[29]

The entire affair passed off very successfully, and but one trivial incident occurred in the arrangement of the order of exercises...the Mayor of Greeneville peremptorily refused to participate in the ceremonies—making some absurd allegation that ex-President Johnson had gotten himself into an awkward predicament, or something to that effect, and he would have nothing to do with it, but would resign in favor of someone else. The Mayor's refusal was regarded as a piece of ill-mannered boorishness...and did not reflect the feelings of the citizens of Greeneville, who delight to honor men of Mr. Johnson's independence and patriotism.

— "Andrew Johnson's Return to Tennessee" in Republican Banner, March 21, 1869[29]

Suicide edit

As one thesis paper on Johnson's post-Presidential return to politics described events subsequent to the letter to James Harold, "Whether the accusation was true or not has not been established, but its venom was so damaging that Harold committed suicide."[30] There is some conflict about the details, but according to most accounts, Emily Harold died early in the morning of May 8, 1872, in Sweetwater, Tennessee,[31] while visiting her sickly mother, by a gunshot fired from a pistol that belonged to her son.[11][19] The son, John W. Harold, was an U.S. Army officer described as a man of "high character and excellent traits." He was visiting his family on a leave of absence from the military and had been told nothing of rumors surrounding his parents and Andrew Johnson.[19][11]

Initial accounts had it that Emily Harold's family heard three gunshots, and that she died from a shot to the heart and/or a chest wound. In these tellings, the top of her dress caught fire from proximity to the gunpowder and heat.[10] Later newspaper accounts had it that she shot herself in the head.[32] Emily Wright Harold was 51 years, 11 months, and nine days old at the time of her death.[9]

 
"Andy Johnson as Seducer, Suicide of His Victim". Indianapolis Journal. Vol. 1, no. 206. May 18, 1872. p. 1.

According to an extensive Knoxville newspaper report about the whole saga, her mother saw Emily Harold take her son's "small pistol" from his satchel; the mother presumed she was taking it to deliver to the son. Harold then went out into a "thicket" about 200 yd (180 m)[11] beyond the house, from which three shots rang out. She was found to have shot herself through the heart and left breast. She was past saving when she was found; the first shot was thought to be the fatal one and her clothes were on fire when she was discovered. She was brought into the house but died therein, without speaking any last words.[10] The son did not know why his mother had taken her own life until, at the funeral, Rev. S. V. McCorkle, the minister of the Greeneville Presbyterian church where Harold had worshipped for decades, "very justly and properly referred in severe language to the terrible lesson the event had afforded the idle slanderers who had brought about the trouble."[10] The most widely distributed account of her death stated, "She was the wife of a warm friend of Johnson's and an exemplary Christian...the cruel and unfounded report of her seduction drove her to suicide in a moment of temporary insanity."[33] This comment on the matter was printed in the New York Times, among other outlets.[34] That the Times—noted to be a publication "hostile" to Johnson—declared it "cruel and unfounded" was considered a strong statement against the overall veracity of the infidelity accusations.[34] Another newspaper wrote "in an hour of mental derangement with a burning consciousness of innocence and without power to resist the temptation she took her life."[19] According to a widely republished post hoc report entitled "An Atrocious Calumny" that was devoted to absolving the parties of infidelity charges, and laying all blame on the "cold-blooded villain who invented the slander," the existence of the report had "fallen with crushing weight" on the "innocent heart" of Mrs. Harold.[18]

"Men of prominence in both political parties" in Greeneville circulated a letter "unsolicited and without consulting either of the injured families" denouncing the infidelity report as false.[18] One of the signatories, a lawyer and judge named H. H. Ingersoll, also wrote to the Indianapolis Journal with a point-by-point denial/refutation of the "Andy Johnson as Seducer" report.[35] The men of prominence, all said to be citizens of Greeneville:[36]

 
A 20th-century transcription of the Greene County marriage records shows that the Harold–Wright wedding ceremony was officiated by a McCorkle, and the marriage was recorded by Valentine Sevier, father of David Sevier
  • D. R. Britton, Clerk, Circuit Court
  • Jas. A. Galbraith, former Internal Revenue Collector
  • Henry Hurlbert "H. H." Ingersoll, a lawyer
  • Robert McCorkle
  • S. V. McCorkle, First Presbyterian Church (Greeneville, Tennessee) § Clergy
  • Robert M. McKee, a mayor of Greeneville
  • Samuel Milligan, Judge U. S. Court of Claims
  • Augustus Herman "A.H." Pettibone, assistant U. S. District Attorney
  • A. M. Piper, deputy internal revenue collector
  • Felix A. Reeve, attorney
  • Elbert Clay "E.C." Reeves, editor of the Sentinel[b]
  • James H. Robinson, attorney
  • Lewis F. Self, former Tennessee state senator
  • David Sevier, "twenty-seven years C. & M." [Greene County Clerk & Master][c]
  • S. E. Snapp, a mayor of Greeneville
  • A. W. Walker, Sheriff of Greene County

An account of Harold's death in a 21st-century online magazine found three shots to be a suspicious form of suicide and outlined the complexity of firing what was likely a Colt service revolver,[39] perhaps the Colt Army Model 1860.

State of Tennessee vs. R. C. Horn edit

In late July 1872, as Andrew Johnson was stumping through the state in hopes of winning a seat in the 1872–73 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee, Emily Harold's widower, James W. Harold, and his allies had dedicated themselves to identifying the author of the poison-pen letter that had initially triggered the crisis back in April.[40] A man named R. C. Horn was brought before a panel of three magistrates in Greeneville and charged with libel.[40][41] Horn was represented by four lawyers, who published a letter requesting a media blackout for the duration; "counsel for one party request that all publication of any matter prejudicial to the prosecution, or the defendant, or anyone implicated, be suspended till the conclusion of the trial. And then if the rights of either party should require it, a full and accurate transcript of the evidence in the case will be furnished for publication, Respectfully and truly, Felix A. Reeve, J. G. Deaderick, John Allison Jr., A. B Wilson, Counsel for the Defendants."[42] Nonetheless, some scraps of news about the trial emerged: each side had four lawyers, and there were roughly 40 planned witnesses.[26]

The defendant's name is R. C. Harne. The proof as to the handwriting of the anonymous letter was of a circumstantial character, and based partly on the opinion of experts who compared it with specimens of Harne's handwriting. But the evidence, as is usual before magistrates, was not kept pertinent to the issue. A wide range was taken, and a general investigation of the merits of the case gone into. The truth of the charges against Johnson and Mrs. Harold was investigated, and some swearing done, of rather a plain character, as is reported, by two negroes and a white man. Just what, they swore has not been made public, but it was of a sufficiently atrocious character to cause the arrest for perjury of all three of the witnesses. The trial proper and the trial for perjury promises to involve many residents of the place in the examination, and produce much bitterness and strife, and send a thousand stories traveling through the land. As a fresh complication, the parties arrested for perjury have sued their prosecutors for $10,000 damages. Harne has four lawyers, enough to sadly tangle any case...[40]

 
The State v. Horn trial was held at the original Greene County Courthouse building, which stood from the 1820s until 1916

Among the three men charged with perjury was James G. Haynes, "principal witness for the defense in the effort at justification," who was committed to jail on August 2.[43] Haynes was a 40-year-old white resident of Greeneville; circa 1870 he lived with his aged father—both men listed their occupations as house carpenters—his wife Sarah, and his three children, Josephine, Landon and Cicero.[44][d] Apparently this witness began some part of his testimony with a 10-minute-long extemporaneous speech "in which he explained his position generally in regard to the parties, the case and his conduct regarding process of attachment, and hiding in the woods."[26] The two unnamed "colored witnesses," apparently, "as soon as they were deposed and before a warrant could be executed, evaded the officers and fled toward North Carolina."[26] On August 8, it was reported that "the witness arrested for perjury...sued his prosecutor for damages for false imprisonment. The defense have closed their testimony on justification, and are now endeavoring to shift the authorship of the libel."[47]

Horn was acquitted.[48] Per a Nashville newspaper account, "The examination was long and exciting and to a great extent went into the merits of the case. The case was heard by three magistrates and their judgment was that the proof was not sufficient to show that Harne had written the anonymous letter. Their opinion as we understand does not reach the truth or falsity of the charges against Mrs. Harold, but simply go to the question of the author of the libel."[48]

 
Photograph of Elder R. C. Horn published in a Texas newspaper in 1912

The man accused of libel may have been Robert Cannon Horn, a preacher and defeated Confederate. Horn, who had been married in Trousdale County, Tennessee, in 1870, and worked as a minister around Hartsville, Tennessee in 1871, had moved to Texas in the second half of that year.[49] Horn's daughter Mrs. John W. Thomas ended up living in Greeneville, Tennessee, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century.[49]

Aftermath edit

Andrew Johnson seemingly referenced Emily Harold in a speech he made in Brownsville, Tennessee, on October 17, 1872, eliding her as a Mrs. Somebody Else: "You have heard a great deal said about Mrs. Surratt, and about Mrs. Somebody else..."[50] In this formulation, Johnson aligns her with an innkeeper who had been convicted of conspiring to assassinate Abraham Lincoln and subsequently hanged, suggesting that he was unfairly accused of wronging both women. (The question of whether Johnson had unjustly condemned Mary Surratt in 1865 without reviewing the evidence against her or reasonably considering her pleas for clemency was debated for the duration of Johnson's life and career.)[51] Johnson suffered a punishing defeat in the November 5, 1872[52] balloting for the state's at-large seat in the House, placing third of three behind Radical Republican Congressman Horace Maynard and Democratic candidate and former Confederate general Benjamin F. Cheatham, despite "crisscrossing Tennessee employing the stump-speaking style that had catapulted him to national office many years before."[53][54] As a practical matter, Johnson's candidacy—and his grandstanding speeches railing against what he claimed was an ex-Confederate-military cabal attempting to dominate the state—had weakened the Democratic position, "broke the power of the Cheatham Ring and the Bourbon Democrats,"[55] and swung the election to Maynard.[54] Per Gordon-Reed, despite the loss he "did himself enough good that he and his supporters felt this was a real step toward eventual electoral success."[53][e]

 
Carte de visite of Andrew Johnson, made in Nashville around 1864,[57] when he was military governor of Tennessee

In 1873, James W. Harold requested compensation from the Southern Claims Commission for 50 locustwood fence rails and 15 cords of firewood that he stated were taken from him by Gen. F. J. Woods, Hospital Division, in April 1865. He testified that he had remained loyal to the Union and voted against secession.[15] The firewood-and-fence-rails compensation claim was denied by the commission.[15] James W. Harold (born February 8, 1815) died April 20, 1873,[58] less than a year after the death of his wife.[9] He prepared a will the month before he died, naming his oldest son John executor, and legal guardian of his minor children, Charles Harold, age 17, and Jessie Harold, age 10.[59] Emily Wright Harold, James W. Harold, and their daughter Mary E. Harold (who had died at about age nine in 1855), are buried together in a family plot at Old Harmony Graveyard [Wikidata], Greeneville's historic Presbyterian cemetery.[9]

Andrew Johnson died in 1875; his wife Eliza McCardle Johnson died in 1876. Both are buried at the top of a hill in the Johnson family burial ground at what is now Andrew Johnson National Cemetery. John W. Harold served in the U.S. Army until his death in 1879; he left a two-thirds of his personal estate to his brother Charles and one-third to his sister Jessie.[60] Charles Harold moved to New York City where he lived, married in 1881, worked, and died in the Bronx in 1940.[61] Jessie Caldwell moved to Montana where she lived, married in 1884, and raised several children. She died in Corvallis, Oregon in 1941.[62]

 
Emily Harold's youngest child died in 1941 at age 78, just two years before Andrew Johnson's youngest slave William Andrew Johnson died in 1943 at age 85 (Corvallis Gazette-Times)

In 1891, almost 20 years after the 1872 scandal, someone by the name of M. V. Moore wrote a scathing retrospective biography of Andrew Johnson that was published in the Philadelphia Weekly Times and reprinted in the Memphis Public Ledger. The tale of Mrs. Harold resurfaced and Moore wrote that the neighbors even charged the late Andrew Johnson "with violating the chastity of his neighbor's wife":[63]

A stranger visiting Greeneville, Tenn., the old home of Mr. Johnson, and investigating facts, will be surprised to find in what open and pronounced detestation the morals and memory of the man are held there. I knew Mr. Johnson personally quite well for a number of years; but in the meantime I had imbibed many of the popular delusions about him, and I had kept so aloof from discussion of his private life that I was not at all prepared to hear and believe all that has been told to me during a recent sojourn of a few days in Greeneville and surrounding neighborhood since Johnson's death. One soon learns that the man had no regard whatever for morality or religion. He is even charged with violating the chastity of his neighbor's wife. A notorious instance was cited where the victim was the wife of a life-long friend and co-laborer in politics. When the vile and painful slander became publicly known, the woman, in the endeavor to escape the disgrace and shame brought to her own household, ended her career in a sudden and horrible suicide. But her seducer, the distinguished man, appeared utterly indifferent to the shameful and tragic events which produced a profound and shocking sensation in East Tennessee, where the parties are known.[63]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Mrs. Harold's name is listed incorrectly as Emily Harrell in Hans Trefousse's 1989 biography of Johnson.
  2. ^ Reeves' son LeRoy Reeves designed the Tennessee state flag.[37]
  3. ^ David Deaderick Sevier was a grandnephew of Tennessee "founding father" John Sevier.[38]
  4. ^ Haynes was likely Presbyterian, like Emily Harold, because when he died on the Fourth of July 1873, he was buried at Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Tusculum, Greene County.[45] Eliza and Martha Johnson were Methodists, while Andrew Johnson himself apparently fell somewhere between Baptist and unchurched.[46]
  5. ^ Johnson had previously lost a Senate bid in 1869, immediately following the end of his Presidency, and would narrowly regain a Senate seat in 1875, but, after having appeared in the chamber just once, Johnson died at age 66 after experiencing multiple strokes at his daughter's home in Elizabethton.[56]

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ "Andrew Johnson Willing to Run for Congress—A Cruel Slander Refuted". Portland Press Herald. Portland, Maine. May 25, 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Frantz, Edward O. (March 24, 2014). "Chapter One: Andrew Johnson Before the Presidency". A Companion to the Reconstruction Presidents, 1865 - 1881. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-60775-6.
  3. ^ "Book review of Trefousse biography of Andrew Johnson". American Heritage. Vol. 40, no. 5. July–August 1989. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  4. ^ Gordon-Reed (2011), p. 135.
  5. ^ MacLean, Maggie (January 8, 2022). "Union Women of Northeast Tennessee Exiled in the Civil War". Northeast Tennessee Civil War. Retrieved 2023-06-24.
  6. ^ Bergeron, Paul H. (2001). "Robert Johnson: The President's Troubled and Troubling Son". Journal of East Tennessee History. 73. Knoxville, TN: East Tennessee Historical Society: 1–22. ISSN 1058-2126. OCLC 760067571.
  7. ^ a b c d "Emely Harold in household of Jas W Harold, Greeneville, Greene, Tennessee, United States", United States Census, 1850, 2020 – via FamilySearch
  8. ^ "Emily Wright Harold". familysearch.org. LR7C-SQ8. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
  9. ^ a b c d e Burgner, Goldene; Gregg, Carolyn S. (2001) [1965]. "Old Harmony Cemetery (First Presbyterian Cemetery) Greeneville, Tennessee". USGenWeb Archives. from the original on 2023-03-25. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Greenville, Tenn. Scandal: A Libel on Ex-President Johnson". New York Daily Herald. May 29, 1872. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b c d "Suicide of Mrs. Harold, the Funeral". Nashville Union and American. Nashville, Tennessee. May 11, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Jas W Harrold and Emily Wright, 02 Nov 1837", Tennessee, County Marriages, 1790-1950, 2021, FHL microfilm 1,148,738 – via FamilySearch, Citing Greene, Tennessee, United States, Marriage, p. 4031, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties
  13. ^ a b c "Emily Harrold in entry for Jas W Harrold, 1860", United States Census, 1860, 2021 – via FamilySearch
  14. ^ a b "Emely Herold in entry for James W Herold, 1870", United States Census, 1870, 2021 – via FamilySearch
  15. ^ a b c Mills, Gary B., U.S., Southern Claims Commission Master Index, 1871-1880, Ancestry.com & "James W. Harold transcript". U.S., Southern Claims Commission, Disallowed and Barred Claims, 1871-1880. Ancestry.com.
  16. ^ "I. W. Harold, 30 Sep 1869, Greene, Tennessee, USA". U.S., Register of Civil, Military, and Naval Service, 1863-1959. 1869. p. 668 – via Ancestry.com.
  17. ^ "James W. Harold". U.S., Register of Civil, Military, and Naval Service, 1863-1959. 1871. p. 815 – via Ancestry.com.
  18. ^ a b c d e "An Atrocious Calumny". Daily Press and Herald. Knoxville, Tennessee. May 24, 1872. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ a b c d e "The Johnson-Harold Scandal: How It Started and Its Terrible Results". Knoxville Weekly Chronicle. Knoxville, Tennessee. May 29, 1872. p. 5. ISSN 2166-5958. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Chronicling America (Library of Congress).
  20. ^ Trefousse (1989), pp. 360–361.
  21. ^ Crawford (2002), pp. 25–33.
  22. ^ "Socal [sic] Assassination: The Work of Andrew Johnson's Enemies". Albany Democrat. June 28, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Donhardt (2007), p. 152.
  24. ^ "The Home of Andrew Johnson". The Delaware Gazette. July 21, 1865. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ n.a., but possibly written by Laura C. Holloway (April 24, 1878). "The Johnson Monument". The Tennessean. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-07-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ a b c d "The Greeneville Letter - The Libel Suit - Defendant's Testimony". Daily Press and Herald. July 28, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Andy Johnson as Seducer, Suicide of His Victim". Indianapolis Journal. Vol. 1, no. 206. May 18, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  28. ^ Johnson (2000), p. 304.
  29. ^ a b "Andrew Johnson's Return to Tennessee". Republican Banner. March 21, 1869. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-08.
  30. ^ Crawford (2002), p. 47.
  31. ^ "A Lady Commits Suicide: The Wife of the Greeneville Postmaster Shoots Herself". Knoxville Daily Chronicle. May 9, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "A Slander Refuted; Indignant Denial by Prominent Citizens". Knoxville Weekly Chronicle. May 29, 1872. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-06-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ "ANDREW JOHNSON.; He is Willing to be a Candidate for Congress An Unfounded Scandal". New York Times. May 25, 1872. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
  34. ^ a b Trefousse (1989), p. 361.
  35. ^ Ingersoll, H.H. (May 28, 1872). "The Andrew Johnson Scandal". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "Men of prominence". Alton Telegraph. Alton, Illinois. May 31, 1872. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-06-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ "Reeves, Le Roy, 1876-1960". ETSU Archives. from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  38. ^ Armstrong, Zella (1918). Notable Southern Families. Vol. I. Chattanooga, Tennessee: The Lookout Publishing Company. p. 184. LCCN 18019145. OCLC 14399373. OL 25903350M.
  39. ^ Anderson, Delonda (August 17, 2021). "Hidden Scandal: a Woman, a Gun, and a President". Appalachia Bare. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
  40. ^ a b c "Tennessee Correspondence of the Cincinnati Commercial". The Kansas City Times. August 16, 1872. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ^ "The Andrew Johnson Scandal". The St. Joseph Weekly Gazette. August 22, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ "The Johnson-Harold Scandal: The Case Being Investigated in Court". Knoxville Weekly Chronicle. July 31, 1872. p. 5. ISSN 2166-5958. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Chronicling America (Library of Congress).
  43. ^ "From Greeneville". Knoxville Daily Chronicle. August 3, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  44. ^ "James Haynes, 1870", United States Census, 1870, 2021 – via FamilySearch
  45. ^ "Landon C. Haynes in Biographical Sketches, Greene County". History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present: together with an historical and a biographical sketch of from twenty-five to thirty counties of east Tennessee (East Tennessee ed.). Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Company. 1887. pp. 1246–1247. OCLC 894876543. OL 25939249M. Retrieved 2023-06-12 – via HathiTrust.
  46. ^ Winston (1928), pp. 100–102.
  47. ^ "Johnson-Harold Scandal". Alexandria Gazette. August 8, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
  48. ^ a b "State vs. Harne". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. August 4, 1872. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-06-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  49. ^ a b Harp, Scott (2020). "Robert Cannon Horn (1844-1936) - Texas". History of the Restoration Movement. from the original on 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
  50. ^ Johnson (2000), pp. 383, 393, 399.
  51. ^ Winston (1928), pp. 277–291.
  52. ^ "Our Campaigns - TN - At-Large Race - Nov 05, 1872". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  53. ^ a b Gordon-Reed (2011), p. 147.
  54. ^ a b Binning (1981).
  55. ^ Rothera (2020).
  56. ^ Gordon-Reed (2011), p. 158.
  57. ^ "Seated pose facing left". Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  58. ^ "Burials at Greenville, Tennessee". Genealogy: A Journal of American Ancestry. X (5). New York, N.Y.: 41–42 October 1921.
  59. ^ "Greene County Wills, Vol 1-2, 1828-1897", Tennessee, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008, pp. 3–4, Image 443 of 710 – via Ancestry.com
  60. ^ John Harold in the Tennessee, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008 - Miscellaneous County Court Records (Greene County, Tennessee), 1851-1915; Author: Tennessee County Court (Greene County); Probate Place: Greene, Tennessee - Ancestry.com. Tennessee, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1779-2008
  61. ^ M-M-1881-0003948 - Name: Amelia Hoffstetter - Soundex: H123 - Name: Charles Harold - Soundex: H643 - Type: Marriage Certificate - Borough: Manhattan - Date: 1881-07-05 - Certificate: 3948 - Name: Charles Harold - Soundex: H643 - Age: 83 y - Type: Death Certificate - Borough: Bronx - Date: 1940-09-08 - Certificate: 8494 - https://a860-historicalvitalrecords.nyc.gov/
  62. ^ Oregon State Archives; Salem, Oregon; Oregon, Death Records, 1864-1967, Ancestry.com. Oregon, U.S., State Deaths, 1864-1971 Jessie Harold Caldwell, Female, White, 77, 1863, 29 Sep 1941, Corvallis, Benton, Oregon, USA, Father: James W. Harold, Mother: Emily Harold, Spouse: W. A. Caldwell, Certificate Number 139
  63. ^ a b "A. Johnson, Tailor - The Curtain Raises and Delusions as to His Real Character Dispelled". Public Ledger. Vol. 26. Memphis, Tenn. August 17, 1891. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-10 – via Newspapers.com.

Sources edit

  • Binning, F. Wayne (1981). "The Tennessee Republicans in Decline, 1869-1876: Part II". Tennessee Historical Quarterly. 40 (1): 68–84. ISSN 0040-3261. JSTOR 42626156.
  • Crawford, Aaron Scott (May 2, 2002). The Resurrection of Andrew Johnson: His Return to Tennessee Politics (PDF) (Master of Arts thesis). Blacksburg, Virginia: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of History.
  • Donhardt, Gary L. (2007). In the Shadow of the Great Rebellion: The Life of Andrew Johnson, Seventeenth President of the United States (1808-1875). Nova Publishers. ISBN 978-1-60021-086-0.
  • Gordon-Reed, Annette (2011). Andrew Johnson. The American presidents series. New York: Times Books/Henry Holt. ISBN 978-0-8050-6948-8. LCCN 2010032595. OCLC 154806758.
  • Johnson, Andrew (2000) [1967]. Graf, LeRoy P.; Haskins, Ralph W.; Bergeron, Paul H. (eds.). The Papers of Andrew Johnson. Vol. 16 (May 1869-July 1875). University of Tennessee Press. ISBN 9781572330917.
  • Rothera, Evan (January 27, 2020). ""Moses in Retirement": Andrew Johnson, 1869-1876". The Gettysburg Historical Journal. 7 (1). ISSN 2327-3917.
  • Trefousse, Hans L. (1989). Andrew Johnson: A Biography (1st ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 0393026736. LCCN 88028295. OCLC 463084977.
  • Winston, Robert W. (1928). Andrew Johnson, Plebeian and Patriot. New York: Henry Holt & Company. LCCN 28007534. OCLC 475518. OL 6712742M – via HathiTrust.

emily, harold, emily, wright, harold, 1820, 1872, 19th, century, american, wife, mother, lived, most, life, greeneville, tennessee, 1872, harold, accused, anonymous, letter, engaging, extramarital, affair, with, neighbor, former, president, andrew, johnson, su. Emily Wright Harold c May 29 1820 May 8 1872 was a 19th century American wife and mother who lived most of her life in Greeneville Tennessee In 1872 Harold was accused in an anonymous letter of engaging in an extramarital affair with her neighbor former U S President Andrew Johnson She subsequently committed suicide by self inflicted gunshot wound Johnson was a candidate for a seat in the U S House of Representatives that year The alleged sexual relationship Mrs Harold s suicide and an ensuing libel trial all made national headlines Emily HaroldBornEmily Wright 1820 05 29 May 29 1820 approximated Tennessee U S DiedMay 8 1872 1872 05 08 aged 51 Tennessee U S Other namesMrs James W Harold last name frequently misspelled Herold Harrold or Herrold 1 a OccupationHousewifeKnown forAccused by anonymous poison pen letter of conducting an extramarital affair with former U S President Andrew Johnson subsequently committed suicide Contents 1 Background 2 Early life and family 3 Scandal 4 Suicide 5 State of Tennessee vs R C Horn 6 Aftermath 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 9 1 Citations 9 2 SourcesBackground editAndrew Johnson s personal life is generally poorly attested in the historical record 2 The tragic case of Mrs Harold is no exception she appears not at all in Robert W Winston s 1928 biography of Johnson and warrants but a scant paragraph in which her name is misspelled in Hans L Trefousse s 1989 bio when that book was published American Heritage magazine noted that Trefousse resists the temptation to moralize He puts no credence in the rumors of Johnson s alcoholism and dismisses stories about Johnson s relationships with women other than his wife Eliza Instead Trefousse lets the facts paint their own unflattering portrait of one of history s least respected Presidents 3 In her 2011 survey of Johnson s life Annette Gordon Reed did not delve into the Harold story but did observe Throughout a good part of their near five decade marriage Eliza was not a real presence in her husband s public life There were rumors of infidelity on Andrew s part which he denied but they did not live together much as husband and wife 4 An illuminating primary source about the state of their marriage may be a letter written by a Confederate soldier charged with removing the Johnson family from occupied Tennessee he wrote of Eliza She is very anxious to remain here with her children and is not at all desirous to go the bosom of Andy 5 In a 2001 article about Johnson s troubled son Robert Johnson historian Paul Bergeron observed that the Johnson family was seemingly marked by tension and possible antipathy between the parents 6 Early life and family editEmily Wright was born about May 29 1820 in Tennessee 7 According to FamilySearch org her parents may have been John and Martha Powell Wright 8 9 According to newspaper reports at the time of her death her mother was known as Mrs Heiskell and lived in Rhea County 10 11 nbsp James W Harold and Emily Wright marriage bond November 2 1837Emily Wright married Jas W Harrold on November 2 1837 in Greene County Tennessee 12 when she was about 17 years old James W Harold was about five years her senior and had been born in Virginia 7 James W Harold worked as a tailor in Greeneville in 1850 7 1860 13 and 1870 14 They had four children who survived infancy 7 9 13 14 John W Harold born approximately 1838 when Emily was about 18 later studied law 13 and served in the United States Army during the American Civil War 15 Mary E Harold born approximately 1846 when Emily was 26 Charles Harold born 1856 when Emily was about 36 Jessie Harold born 1863 when Emily was about 43 James W Harold was appointed postmaster of Greeneville beginning April 1 1869 16 His annual salary for this work in 1871 was 690 17 Mrs Harold had been a member of the First Presbyterian Church Greeneville Tennessee for more than 30 years and after her death was described by prominent citizens of Greeneville as an earnest and consistent Christian a chaste and faithful wife a kind and dutiful mother a charitable neighbor and a true and noble woman respected and esteemed by all in the community 18 She was said to have had the entire confidence and deep love of her husband 19 Scandal editAfter 50 years of unremarkable provincial life in East Tennessee Mrs James W Harold became nationally infamous in 1872 for accusations that she was involved in an extramarital affair with former U S President Andrew Johnson Johnson had nominally retired from politics following the end of his term of office and had returned to Greeneville Tennessee the place where he had begun his career where he owned a home and other real estate and where his wife Eliza McCardle Johnson and daughter Martha Johnson Patterson usually lived By 1872 Johnson was said to be bored with small town life and was attempting to re enter politics 20 despite a failed United States Senate bid in 1869 21 nbsp Andrew Johnson s old tailor shop in Greeneville Originally published as a stereoscopic view this photograph was taken by L W Keen in 1875In any case according to Knoxville newspaper accounts one Sunday in late April 1872 the Greeneville town postmaster a merchant and tailor named James W Harold received an anonymous letter that asserted that his wife of 35 years had been seduced by Johnson 10 By one telling Andrew Johnson and Emily Harold had had improper intercourse with each other for some time 19 Their assignations were said to take place in Johnson s library which was adjacent to his old tailor shop which was in turn adjacent to the home of the Harolds 10 The Johnsons and the Harolds lived for many years past within a few steps of each other 18 In addition to being neighbors Harold and Johnson had apparently had once been a business partners during Johnson s tailoring days 22 According to one account Mr Harold and Mr Johnson had been personal and warm friends for more than 30 years 10 Emily Wright Harold was also said to have been a close friend of Johnson s wife Eliza McCardle Johnson 23 According to an 1865 description of Greeneville by Rev Randall Ross of the 15th Ohio Up street from the main Andrew Johnson house stands his former tailor shop with the old sign still on it and in an old store room up street is the remains of his library At present it consists of law books and public documents most of his more valuable books having been destroyed by the rebel soldiery 24 In 1878 at the time of the dedication of the Johnson monument at what is now Andrew Johnson National Cemetery a writer from Brooklyn reported His library after his return to Greeneville in 1868 sic was separate from the house and was a large lofty room filled with his papers and law books Here he spent a large portion of his time and particularly would he be found poring over some work or engaged in writing long after everybody in town was asleep 25 Per a Knoxville paper after receiving the letter Mr Harold caught Mrs Harold leaving the library late at night with a blanket shawl covering her head and face she then attempted to slip into their home through the back door There was reportedly a confrontation between the couple who exchanged high words and their dispute was loud enough to be overheard 10 Months later neighbors testified under oath that they had neither seen nor heard anything that was suggestive of infidelity 26 Another version told in the same newspaper account states that Mr Harold received the letter showed it to his church going wife and told her he disbelieved the accusations contained therein Mrs Harold was nonetheless said to be so indignant she could hardly contain herself and almost crazy with excitement with a gun in her hand declaring she intended to shoot her traducers 10 As for the former president Mr Johnson declared the lady had never been in his library He said she had been a friend of Mrs Johnson s for half a lifetime but that he had not spoken to her for a week or at the time of the alleged visit to his library 10 In all versions of the initial disclosure the idle gossips of Greeneville a town of about 3 000 people both believe and spread half a dozen or more versions of the Harold Johnson affair and generally assign responsibility to Johnson Harold is typically described as a victim of seduction and or atrocious calumny 18 The most pointed and public version published in an Indianapolis newspaper 10 days after Harold s death was entitled Andy Johnson as Seducer and claimed that Great indignation is expressed among the citizens of Greeneville at the ex President and many of the best citizens refuse to speak to him on the street 27 By the end of May the story was widespread enough that in a letter to Johnson one Thomas W Dick Bullock offered his sympathy in regard to the base and malicious slander perpetrated by some designing persons 28 Regarding Johnson s overall reputation in East Tennessee and the claims and denials of great indignation in 1872 it may be germane that when Andrew Johnson returned to Greeneville three years prior back in March 1869 after the end of his presidency the mayor of Greeneville refused to participate in the welcome home ceremony and procession Per a newspaper report published March 21 1869 29 The entire affair passed off very successfully and but one trivial incident occurred in the arrangement of the order of exercises the Mayor of Greeneville peremptorily refused to participate in the ceremonies making some absurd allegation that ex President Johnson had gotten himself into an awkward predicament or something to that effect and he would have nothing to do with it but would resign in favor of someone else The Mayor s refusal was regarded as a piece of ill mannered boorishness and did not reflect the feelings of the citizens of Greeneville who delight to honor men of Mr Johnson s independence and patriotism Andrew Johnson s Return to Tennessee in Republican Banner March 21 1869 29 Suicide editAs one thesis paper on Johnson s post Presidential return to politics described events subsequent to the letter to James Harold Whether the accusation was true or not has not been established but its venom was so damaging that Harold committed suicide 30 There is some conflict about the details but according to most accounts Emily Harold died early in the morning of May 8 1872 in Sweetwater Tennessee 31 while visiting her sickly mother by a gunshot fired from a pistol that belonged to her son 11 19 The son John W Harold was an U S Army officer described as a man of high character and excellent traits He was visiting his family on a leave of absence from the military and had been told nothing of rumors surrounding his parents and Andrew Johnson 19 11 Initial accounts had it that Emily Harold s family heard three gunshots and that she died from a shot to the heart and or a chest wound In these tellings the top of her dress caught fire from proximity to the gunpowder and heat 10 Later newspaper accounts had it that she shot herself in the head 32 Emily Wright Harold was 51 years 11 months and nine days old at the time of her death 9 nbsp Andy Johnson as Seducer Suicide of His Victim Indianapolis Journal Vol 1 no 206 May 18 1872 p 1 According to an extensive Knoxville newspaper report about the whole saga her mother saw Emily Harold take her son s small pistol from his satchel the mother presumed she was taking it to deliver to the son Harold then went out into a thicket about 200 yd 180 m 11 beyond the house from which three shots rang out She was found to have shot herself through the heart and left breast She was past saving when she was found the first shot was thought to be the fatal one and her clothes were on fire when she was discovered She was brought into the house but died therein without speaking any last words 10 The son did not know why his mother had taken her own life until at the funeral Rev S V McCorkle the minister of the Greeneville Presbyterian church where Harold had worshipped for decades very justly and properly referred in severe language to the terrible lesson the event had afforded the idle slanderers who had brought about the trouble 10 The most widely distributed account of her death stated She was the wife of a warm friend of Johnson s and an exemplary Christian the cruel and unfounded report of her seduction drove her to suicide in a moment of temporary insanity 33 This comment on the matter was printed in the New York Times among other outlets 34 That the Times noted to be a publication hostile to Johnson declared it cruel and unfounded was considered a strong statement against the overall veracity of the infidelity accusations 34 Another newspaper wrote in an hour of mental derangement with a burning consciousness of innocence and without power to resist the temptation she took her life 19 According to a widely republished post hoc report entitled An Atrocious Calumny that was devoted to absolving the parties of infidelity charges and laying all blame on the cold blooded villain who invented the slander the existence of the report had fallen with crushing weight on the innocent heart of Mrs Harold 18 Men of prominence in both political parties in Greeneville circulated a letter unsolicited and without consulting either of the injured families denouncing the infidelity report as false 18 One of the signatories a lawyer and judge named H H Ingersoll also wrote to the Indianapolis Journal with a point by point denial refutation of the Andy Johnson as Seducer report 35 The men of prominence all said to be citizens of Greeneville 36 nbsp A 20th century transcription of the Greene County marriage records shows that the Harold Wright wedding ceremony was officiated by a McCorkle and the marriage was recorded by Valentine Sevier father of David SevierD R Britton Clerk Circuit Court Jas A Galbraith former Internal Revenue Collector Henry Hurlbert H H Ingersoll a lawyer Robert McCorkle S V McCorkle First Presbyterian Church Greeneville Tennessee Clergy Robert M McKee a mayor of Greeneville Samuel Milligan Judge U S Court of Claims Augustus Herman A H Pettibone assistant U S District Attorney A M Piper deputy internal revenue collector Felix A Reeve attorney Elbert Clay E C Reeves editor of the Sentinel b James H Robinson attorney Lewis F Self former Tennessee state senator David Sevier twenty seven years C amp M Greene County Clerk amp Master c S E Snapp a mayor of Greeneville A W Walker Sheriff of Greene CountyAn account of Harold s death in a 21st century online magazine found three shots to be a suspicious form of suicide and outlined the complexity of firing what was likely a Colt service revolver 39 perhaps the Colt Army Model 1860 State of Tennessee vs R C Horn editIn late July 1872 as Andrew Johnson was stumping through the state in hopes of winning a seat in the 1872 73 United States House of Representatives elections in Tennessee Emily Harold s widower James W Harold and his allies had dedicated themselves to identifying the author of the poison pen letter that had initially triggered the crisis back in April 40 A man named R C Horn was brought before a panel of three magistrates in Greeneville and charged with libel 40 41 Horn was represented by four lawyers who published a letter requesting a media blackout for the duration counsel for one party request that all publication of any matter prejudicial to the prosecution or the defendant or anyone implicated be suspended till the conclusion of the trial And then if the rights of either party should require it a full and accurate transcript of the evidence in the case will be furnished for publication Respectfully and truly Felix A Reeve J G Deaderick John Allison Jr A B Wilson Counsel for the Defendants 42 Nonetheless some scraps of news about the trial emerged each side had four lawyers and there were roughly 40 planned witnesses 26 The defendant s name is R C Harne The proof as to the handwriting of the anonymous letter was of a circumstantial character and based partly on the opinion of experts who compared it with specimens of Harne s handwriting But the evidence as is usual before magistrates was not kept pertinent to the issue A wide range was taken and a general investigation of the merits of the case gone into The truth of the charges against Johnson and Mrs Harold was investigated and some swearing done of rather a plain character as is reported by two negroes and a white man Just what they swore has not been made public but it was of a sufficiently atrocious character to cause the arrest for perjury of all three of the witnesses The trial proper and the trial for perjury promises to involve many residents of the place in the examination and produce much bitterness and strife and send a thousand stories traveling through the land As a fresh complication the parties arrested for perjury have sued their prosecutors for 10 000 damages Harne has four lawyers enough to sadly tangle any case 40 nbsp The State v Horn trial was held at the original Greene County Courthouse building which stood from the 1820s until 1916Among the three men charged with perjury was James G Haynes principal witness for the defense in the effort at justification who was committed to jail on August 2 43 Haynes was a 40 year old white resident of Greeneville circa 1870 he lived with his aged father both men listed their occupations as house carpenters his wife Sarah and his three children Josephine Landon and Cicero 44 d Apparently this witness began some part of his testimony with a 10 minute long extemporaneous speech in which he explained his position generally in regard to the parties the case and his conduct regarding process of attachment and hiding in the woods 26 The two unnamed colored witnesses apparently as soon as they were deposed and before a warrant could be executed evaded the officers and fled toward North Carolina 26 On August 8 it was reported that the witness arrested for perjury sued his prosecutor for damages for false imprisonment The defense have closed their testimony on justification and are now endeavoring to shift the authorship of the libel 47 Horn was acquitted 48 Per a Nashville newspaper account The examination was long and exciting and to a great extent went into the merits of the case The case was heard by three magistrates and their judgment was that the proof was not sufficient to show that Harne had written the anonymous letter Their opinion as we understand does not reach the truth or falsity of the charges against Mrs Harold but simply go to the question of the author of the libel 48 nbsp Photograph of Elder R C Horn published in a Texas newspaper in 1912The man accused of libel may have been Robert Cannon Horn a preacher and defeated Confederate Horn who had been married in Trousdale County Tennessee in 1870 and worked as a minister around Hartsville Tennessee in 1871 had moved to Texas in the second half of that year 49 Horn s daughter Mrs John W Thomas ended up living in Greeneville Tennessee sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century 49 Aftermath editAndrew Johnson seemingly referenced Emily Harold in a speech he made in Brownsville Tennessee on October 17 1872 eliding her as a Mrs Somebody Else You have heard a great deal said about Mrs Surratt and about Mrs Somebody else 50 In this formulation Johnson aligns her with an innkeeper who had been convicted of conspiring to assassinate Abraham Lincoln and subsequently hanged suggesting that he was unfairly accused of wronging both women The question of whether Johnson had unjustly condemned Mary Surratt in 1865 without reviewing the evidence against her or reasonably considering her pleas for clemency was debated for the duration of Johnson s life and career 51 Johnson suffered a punishing defeat in the November 5 1872 52 balloting for the state s at large seat in the House placing third of three behind Radical Republican Congressman Horace Maynard and Democratic candidate and former Confederate general Benjamin F Cheatham despite crisscrossing Tennessee employing the stump speaking style that had catapulted him to national office many years before 53 54 As a practical matter Johnson s candidacy and his grandstanding speeches railing against what he claimed was an ex Confederate military cabal attempting to dominate the state had weakened the Democratic position broke the power of the Cheatham Ring and the Bourbon Democrats 55 and swung the election to Maynard 54 Per Gordon Reed despite the loss he did himself enough good that he and his supporters felt this was a real step toward eventual electoral success 53 e nbsp Carte de visite of Andrew Johnson made in Nashville around 1864 57 when he was military governor of TennesseeIn 1873 James W Harold requested compensation from the Southern Claims Commission for 50 locustwood fence rails and 15 cords of firewood that he stated were taken from him by Gen F J Woods Hospital Division in April 1865 He testified that he had remained loyal to the Union and voted against secession 15 The firewood and fence rails compensation claim was denied by the commission 15 James W Harold born February 8 1815 died April 20 1873 58 less than a year after the death of his wife 9 He prepared a will the month before he died naming his oldest son John executor and legal guardian of his minor children Charles Harold age 17 and Jessie Harold age 10 59 Emily Wright Harold James W Harold and their daughter Mary E Harold who had died at about age nine in 1855 are buried together in a family plot at Old Harmony Graveyard Wikidata Greeneville s historic Presbyterian cemetery 9 Andrew Johnson died in 1875 his wife Eliza McCardle Johnson died in 1876 Both are buried at the top of a hill in the Johnson family burial ground at what is now Andrew Johnson National Cemetery John W Harold served in the U S Army until his death in 1879 he left a two thirds of his personal estate to his brother Charles and one third to his sister Jessie 60 Charles Harold moved to New York City where he lived married in 1881 worked and died in the Bronx in 1940 61 Jessie Caldwell moved to Montana where she lived married in 1884 and raised several children She died in Corvallis Oregon in 1941 62 nbsp Emily Harold s youngest child died in 1941 at age 78 just two years before Andrew Johnson s youngest slave William Andrew Johnson died in 1943 at age 85 Corvallis Gazette Times In 1891 almost 20 years after the 1872 scandal someone by the name of M V Moore wrote a scathing retrospective biography of Andrew Johnson that was published in the Philadelphia Weekly Times and reprinted in the Memphis Public Ledger The tale of Mrs Harold resurfaced and Moore wrote that the neighbors even charged the late Andrew Johnson with violating the chastity of his neighbor s wife 63 A stranger visiting Greeneville Tenn the old home of Mr Johnson and investigating facts will be surprised to find in what open and pronounced detestation the morals and memory of the man are held there I knew Mr Johnson personally quite well for a number of years but in the meantime I had imbibed many of the popular delusions about him and I had kept so aloof from discussion of his private life that I was not at all prepared to hear and believe all that has been told to me during a recent sojourn of a few days in Greeneville and surrounding neighborhood since Johnson s death One soon learns that the man had no regard whatever for morality or religion He is even charged with violating the chastity of his neighbor s wife A notorious instance was cited where the victim was the wife of a life long friend and co laborer in politics When the vile and painful slander became publicly known the woman in the endeavor to escape the disgrace and shame brought to her own household ended her career in a sudden and horrible suicide But her seducer the distinguished man appeared utterly indifferent to the shameful and tragic events which produced a profound and shocking sensation in East Tennessee where the parties are known 63 See also editSuicide prevention Suicide intervention Dolly Johnson Formerly enslaved Tennessean 1820s 1890s Greeneville Historic District Greeneville Tennessee Bibliography of Andrew JohnsonNotes edit Mrs Harold s name is listed incorrectly as Emily Harrell in Hans Trefousse s 1989 biography of Johnson Reeves son LeRoy Reeves designed the Tennessee state flag 37 David Deaderick Sevier was a grandnephew of Tennessee founding father John Sevier 38 Haynes was likely Presbyterian like Emily Harold because when he died on the Fourth of July 1873 he was buried at Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Tusculum Greene County 45 Eliza and Martha Johnson were Methodists while Andrew Johnson himself apparently fell somewhere between Baptist and unchurched 46 Johnson had previously lost a Senate bid in 1869 immediately following the end of his Presidency and would narrowly regain a Senate seat in 1875 but after having appeared in the chamber just once Johnson died at age 66 after experiencing multiple strokes at his daughter s home in Elizabethton 56 References editCitations edit Andrew Johnson Willing to Run for Congress A Cruel Slander Refuted Portland Press Herald Portland Maine May 25 1872 p 2 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com Frantz Edward O March 24 2014 Chapter One Andrew Johnson Before the Presidency A Companion to the Reconstruction Presidents 1865 1881 John Wiley amp Sons ISBN 978 1 118 60775 6 Book review of Trefousse biography of Andrew Johnson American Heritage Vol 40 no 5 July August 1989 Retrieved 2023 07 09 Gordon Reed 2011 p 135 MacLean Maggie January 8 2022 Union Women of Northeast Tennessee Exiled in the Civil War Northeast Tennessee Civil War Retrieved 2023 06 24 Bergeron Paul H 2001 Robert Johnson The President s Troubled and Troubling Son Journal of East Tennessee History 73 Knoxville TN East Tennessee Historical Society 1 22 ISSN 1058 2126 OCLC 760067571 a b c d Emely Harold in household of Jas W Harold Greeneville Greene Tennessee United States United States Census 1850 2020 via FamilySearch Emily Wright Harold familysearch org LR7C SQ8 Retrieved 2023 06 11 a b c d e Burgner Goldene Gregg Carolyn S 2001 1965 Old Harmony Cemetery First Presbyterian Cemetery Greeneville Tennessee USGenWeb Archives Archived from the original on 2023 03 25 Retrieved 2023 06 12 a b c d e f g h i j The Greenville Tenn Scandal A Libel on Ex President Johnson New York Daily Herald May 29 1872 p 7 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com a b c d Suicide of Mrs Harold the Funeral Nashville Union and American Nashville Tennessee May 11 1872 p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com Jas W Harrold and Emily Wright 02 Nov 1837 Tennessee County Marriages 1790 1950 2021 FHL microfilm 1 148 738 via FamilySearch Citing Greene Tennessee United States Marriage p 4031 Tennessee State Library and Archives Nashville and county clerk offices from various counties a b c Emily Harrold in entry for Jas W Harrold 1860 United States Census 1860 2021 via FamilySearch a b Emely Herold in entry for James W Herold 1870 United States Census 1870 2021 via FamilySearch a b c Mills Gary B U S Southern Claims Commission Master Index 1871 1880 Ancestry com amp James W Harold transcript U S Southern Claims Commission Disallowed and Barred Claims 1871 1880 Ancestry com I W Harold 30 Sep 1869 Greene Tennessee USA U S Register of Civil Military and Naval Service 1863 1959 1869 p 668 via Ancestry com James W Harold U S Register of Civil Military and Naval Service 1863 1959 1871 p 815 via Ancestry com a b c d e An Atrocious Calumny Daily Press and Herald Knoxville Tennessee May 24 1872 p 4 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com a b c d e The Johnson Harold Scandal How It Started and Its Terrible Results Knoxville Weekly Chronicle Knoxville Tennessee May 29 1872 p 5 ISSN 2166 5958 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Chronicling America Library of Congress Trefousse 1989 pp 360 361 Crawford 2002 pp 25 33 Socal sic Assassination The Work of Andrew Johnson s Enemies Albany Democrat June 28 1872 p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com Donhardt 2007 p 152 The Home of Andrew Johnson The Delaware Gazette July 21 1865 p 1 Retrieved 2023 07 05 via Newspapers com n a but possibly written by Laura C Holloway April 24 1878 The Johnson Monument The Tennessean p 2 Retrieved 2023 07 09 via Newspapers com a b c d The Greeneville Letter The Libel Suit Defendant s Testimony Daily Press and Herald July 28 1872 p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 12 via Newspapers com Andy Johnson as Seducer Suicide of His Victim Indianapolis Journal Vol 1 no 206 May 18 1872 p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Hoosier State Chronicles Johnson 2000 p 304 a b Andrew Johnson s Return to Tennessee Republican Banner March 21 1869 p 1 Retrieved 2023 07 08 Crawford 2002 p 47 A Lady Commits Suicide The Wife of the Greeneville Postmaster Shoots Herself Knoxville Daily Chronicle May 9 1872 p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com A Slander Refuted Indignant Denial by Prominent Citizens Knoxville Weekly Chronicle May 29 1872 p 5 Retrieved 2023 06 12 via Newspapers com ANDREW JOHNSON He is Willing to be a Candidate for Congress An Unfounded Scandal New York Times May 25 1872 p 1 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2023 06 11 a b Trefousse 1989 p 361 Ingersoll H H May 28 1872 The Andrew Johnson Scandal The Tennessean Nashville Tennessee p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com Men of prominence Alton Telegraph Alton Illinois May 31 1872 p 3 Retrieved 2023 06 12 via Newspapers com Reeves Le Roy 1876 1960 ETSU Archives Archived from the original on 2023 04 09 Retrieved 2023 06 12 Armstrong Zella 1918 Notable Southern Families Vol I Chattanooga Tennessee The Lookout Publishing Company p 184 LCCN 18019145 OCLC 14399373 OL 25903350M Anderson Delonda August 17 2021 Hidden Scandal a Woman a Gun and a President Appalachia Bare Retrieved 2023 06 11 a b c Tennessee Correspondence of the Cincinnati Commercial The Kansas City Times August 16 1872 p 2 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com The Andrew Johnson Scandal The St Joseph Weekly Gazette August 22 1872 p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com The Johnson Harold Scandal The Case Being Investigated in Court Knoxville Weekly Chronicle July 31 1872 p 5 ISSN 2166 5958 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Chronicling America Library of Congress From Greeneville Knoxville Daily Chronicle August 3 1872 p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com James Haynes 1870 United States Census 1870 2021 via FamilySearch Landon C Haynes in Biographical Sketches Greene County History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present together with an historical and a biographical sketch of from twenty five to thirty counties of east Tennessee East Tennessee ed Chicago Goodspeed Publishing Company 1887 pp 1246 1247 OCLC 894876543 OL 25939249M Retrieved 2023 06 12 via HathiTrust Winston 1928 pp 100 102 Johnson Harold Scandal Alexandria Gazette August 8 1872 p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 11 a b State vs Harne The Tennessean Nashville Tennessee August 4 1872 p 1 Retrieved 2023 06 11 via Newspapers com a b Harp Scott 2020 Robert Cannon Horn 1844 1936 Texas History of the Restoration Movement Archived from the original on 2023 02 02 Retrieved 2023 06 11 Johnson 2000 pp 383 393 399 Winston 1928 pp 277 291 Our Campaigns TN At Large Race Nov 05 1872 www ourcampaigns com Retrieved 2023 06 13 a b Gordon Reed 2011 p 147 a b Binning 1981 Rothera 2020 Gordon Reed 2011 p 158 Seated pose facing left Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Retrieved 2023 06 13 Burials at Greenville Tennessee Genealogy A Journal of American Ancestry X 5 New York N Y 41 42 October 1921 Greene County Wills Vol 1 2 1828 1897 Tennessee U S Wills and Probate Records 1779 2008 pp 3 4 Image 443 of 710 via Ancestry com John Harold in the Tennessee U S Wills and Probate Records 1779 2008 Miscellaneous County Court Records Greene County Tennessee 1851 1915 Author Tennessee County Court Greene County Probate Place Greene Tennessee Ancestry com Tennessee U S Wills and Probate Records 1779 2008 M M 1881 0003948 Name Amelia Hoffstetter Soundex H123 Name Charles Harold Soundex H643 Type Marriage Certificate Borough Manhattan Date 1881 07 05 Certificate 3948 Name Charles Harold Soundex H643 Age 83 y Type Death Certificate Borough Bronx Date 1940 09 08 Certificate 8494 https a860 historicalvitalrecords nyc gov Oregon State Archives Salem Oregon Oregon Death Records 1864 1967 Ancestry com Oregon U S State Deaths 1864 1971 Jessie Harold Caldwell Female White 77 1863 29 Sep 1941 Corvallis Benton Oregon USA Father James W Harold Mother Emily Harold Spouse W A Caldwell Certificate Number 139 a b A Johnson Tailor The Curtain Raises and Delusions as to His Real Character Dispelled Public Ledger Vol 26 Memphis Tenn August 17 1891 p 1 Retrieved 2023 07 10 via Newspapers com Sources edit Binning F Wayne 1981 The Tennessee Republicans in Decline 1869 1876 Part II Tennessee Historical Quarterly 40 1 68 84 ISSN 0040 3261 JSTOR 42626156 Crawford Aaron Scott May 2 2002 The Resurrection of Andrew Johnson His Return to Tennessee Politics PDF Master of Arts thesis Blacksburg Virginia Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of History Donhardt Gary L 2007 In the Shadow of the Great Rebellion The Life of Andrew Johnson Seventeenth President of the United States 1808 1875 Nova Publishers ISBN 978 1 60021 086 0 Gordon Reed Annette 2011 Andrew Johnson The American presidents series New York Times Books Henry Holt ISBN 978 0 8050 6948 8 LCCN 2010032595 OCLC 154806758 Johnson Andrew 2000 1967 Graf LeRoy P Haskins Ralph W Bergeron Paul H eds The Papers of Andrew Johnson Vol 16 May 1869 July 1875 University of Tennessee Press ISBN 9781572330917 Rothera Evan January 27 2020 Moses in Retirement Andrew Johnson 1869 1876 The Gettysburg Historical Journal 7 1 ISSN 2327 3917 Trefousse Hans L 1989 Andrew Johnson A Biography 1st ed New York W W Norton ISBN 0393026736 LCCN 88028295 OCLC 463084977 Winston Robert W 1928 Andrew Johnson Plebeian and Patriot New York Henry Holt amp Company LCCN 28007534 OCLC 475518 OL 6712742M via HathiTrust nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Emily Wright Harold Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Emily Harold amp oldid 1194813473, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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