The Greene NY Affair - 1845 - Part 2

The Greene Affair

In Justices' Court, Before E.C. Kattel, Esq.

Binghamton Courier, December 17, 1845

The People vs. John Johnson, Examination of Witnesses, Nov. 18 [1845]

Testimony of James Bolt

James Bolt, sworn says:  I am forty-one years of age, reside in Greene, Chenango Co., I have resided in Triangle, Broome Co., moved there the fore part of April, 1844.  Moved there from Greene where I now live.  When I went to Triangle, I had a wife and six children, the oldest, a girl, was about 14 or 15 years of age.  Harvey Hammond, Frederick Burghet and Niram Johnson carried the goods, all the children, but two, one of them, a boy, went with me on foot to drive the cattle, &c, the other, an infant about 20 months old, went with its mother.  I moved on to a place belonging to John Johnson in Triangle, my wife and youngest child rode over with John Johnson, he asked her to ride over with him as there was no convenient place for her to ride on the wagons.  I had worked for John Johnson 7 or 8 years before this; the farm in Triangle is about 14 miles from Greene.  When I got to Triangle, the goods were unloaded and the teams gone.  I met two or three going back.  When I got to Triangle I found no one there except my family.  I thought my wife upon my arrival looked rather down hearted.  She did not say anything much.  She complained of her arms being lame about that time; saw she could not use her arms as she used to, her appearance was different from what it used to be, she did not take hold of business as she used to and kept down and said but very little about anything, She did not rest as well as usual nights, and this increased.

About the fore part of May I called a physician, Dr. Purple of Greene; my wife soon after this made a communication to me, after this communication from my wife, I saw John Johnson at his house in Greene, on the 11th day of May 1844; a man by the name of James Rose came to me and said "Johnson wanted I should come over there and see him," When I went over to Greene to see Johnson, when I met him he said how do you do?  and directly said he wanted me to go out with him, and we went north of the road from Johnson's house, maybe a mile or three-quarters of a mile up to the place I used to live on; we got some 30 or 40 rods, and Johnson asked me "what was the fuss over home?"  I went on and told him what my wife had told me.  I went on and told him that she told me, that after they got over to Triangle, he got out of the wagon and took her child out and she got out and went into the house and sat down on a dye tub she found there sitting in the corner; he went and hitched his  horse or fed him, and then came into the house, and then went out and around the house and brought his buffalo skin out of the wagon into the house, and threw it down onto the floor; then he shut the door and locked it, then he clinched her (with the child in her arms) and threw her down on the buffalo skin, and got the buffalo skin in her mouth, and committed a rape on her, and then told her if she ever told of it he would be the death of her, and made her promise to use him well, as she had used him, or he would be the death of her; he then said to her that I had worked for him a good while, and that he could make me believe anything, and could settle it with me, and that I would clear out and leave her, that if she swore against him he would be allowed his oath, and would be believed before she would.

Mr. Johnson first replied to me that he had done wrong, but that he did not stuff the buffalo in her mouth; he said that over a number of times; he then said he was willing to settle it with me, let it be lands, dollars or cents, just name it.  I told him I could not settle it; he then says if you go to law about it, I have got property and can blow it through to the furthest length, and you know you can't stand any chance.  I then left him and went home.  Johnson had been in my house three times after my removal to Triangle before I made this communication to him.  At this time my wife was deranged, she appeared to want to get away to the woods north of the house; it was Saturday I made this communication to Johnson.  The next day (Sunday) she tried to get away to the woods two or three times, I caught her and brought her back; she was deranged this day more than she had been; after I had done the chores, I tried to find the key to the door, but could not; when I went to go to bed, I rolled in a barrel half full of milk and placed it against the door, I tried to get my wife to eat, but could not, fixed some tansy tea and got her to drink some, and washed her head with some salt and vinegar and then went to bed.

I did not undress me, and my wife was not undressed, she kept begging me to let her go out; after we had been a bed sometime, she got up and went into the room where the children lay.  I got her back to bed again and got into drowse.  She got up again, and as she did so, waked me up.  She went out, and I got up and caught her by the hand and brought her back--shut the door, and put the barrel of milk against it again; then we set up by the fire about an hour, and laid down again--we were there a long time, and I dropped into a drowse--then the first that I heard, I took to be the pulling the door to.  I sprang out of bed and went to the door (which was open enough for a person to come in).  I went out, but could see nothing, nor hear no noise, it was very dark--went around the house to the well, and around the currant bushes, and around the house, and came back and found the children just out of the door; then went up towards the woods, the way she went the day before, and came back.  I staid there till morning, and started for the woods again.  I tried to see tracks, but could see none; went on the road through the woods; I could hear nothing of her.  After I came back I sent my children out to alarm the neighbors.  I searched about to discover tracks but could find none.

There were twenty or thirty men came and we went to searching the woods, searched till noon, and then gave it up till the next day because the woods were so large.  That afternoon I went over to Greene.  The next day there were some two or three hundred persons there to search, we searched the woods all through, searched all day, found nothing of her.  After that, during the week, the ponds about there and the river was searched, the farm in Triangle is about one mile from the Otselic river. The next week on Monday, after my wife's disappearance, I moved with my family to Greene; after this I heard of a crazy woman who was in the Broome co. Poor House, went to see her, it was not my wife; then I went to North Norwich to see a crazy woman, found her, she was not my wife; then I went to Montgomery county to see a crazy woman, found her, she was not Mrs. bolt.  When Mrs. Bolt went away she had on a dark colored calico dress, had her stockings on, but no shoes or bonnet on, no article of clothing was ever missed excepting what she had on.  It was a pretty dark night, the south wind blowed some, with the dress she had on I could not have seen her three rods off that night.  I consulted with Robert B. Monell about my difficulties.  About a week before my wife's disappearance, I went to Monell to prosecute Johnson; the court was to be held at Binghamton the Monday after the Sunday night she went off.

To be continued