Merrill v. Post Pub. Co.

• Decision Date: 14 January 1908
• Citation: 197 Mass. 185,83 N.E. 419
• Parties: MERRILL v. POST PUB. CO.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

197 Mass. 185

83 N.E. 419

MERRILL v. POST PUB. CO.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Essex.

January 14, 1908

The following is the alleged libelous article referred to in the opinion:

'Blood relatives and co-heirs, living together in the house jointly owned for over twenty years, and not having spoken to each other for over ten long years, is the strange story of Salem's divided house, of which Miss Sophie Merrill now out on bail in connection with thefts from the Salem post office, is a member.

'She and her father, William H. Merrill, occupying and owning half of the house 12 Liberty street, and her cousin, John Barker, occupying and owning the other half, have lived under the same roof, used the same entrances and the same yard, have passed each other in the entries of the house day in and day out, and have never exchanged even a syllable in all that long ten years.

'Many residents of Salem are not to-day aware of this peculiar household arrangement, which seems a matter of mutual consent on the part of the Merrill-Barker heirs.

'Relatives yet Strangers.

'Even the neighbors are not all aware of the condition of things; for it is a reserved and reticent family, and the full explanation of the ten years' silence, which looks as though it might continue to the grave, probably never has been or never will be told.

'Jonathan Merrill, grandfather of Miss Sophie Merrill and her brother, W. Harvey Merrill, the present postmaster of the city, of John Barker and of Charles Barker, his brother, who died a few years ago, was a cooper, who had a place of business on Derby street, and there amassed a goodly fortune.

'He had three children, William H., who succeeded him in business, the father of Postmaster W. H. Merrill and Miss Sophie Merrill, and Sarah and Mary, his two daughters, who married brothers by the name of Barker.

'Sarah married Charles Barker and moved to California, and Mary married Nathan Barker, father of John and of the late Charles Barker, who died only a few days ago.

'Forty-four years ago Jonathan Merrill died, leaving his various pieces of property, among them the old house at 12 Liberty street jointly to his son and daughter, Mrs. Nathan Barker.

'The latter, however, had moved away from Salem, and the Merrill and Barker children grew up, the Merrills occupying the home in Salem, and the Barkers their farm in New Hampshire. Everything then was on a friendly footing, and nothing gave promise of the strange life of the future.

'Now a Recluse.

'Harvey Merrill, the present postmaster, and his sister Sophie now a recluse, under the cloud of shame and disgrace, often visited their boy cousins on the New Hampshire farm, and fruits and vegetables were often shipped by the Barker boys to their Salem cousins.

'Then Nathan Barker died twenty odd years ago, and his widow moved to Salem and went to live in her half of the homestead on Liberty street.

'Still everything was pleasant, and the relations harmonious indeed. Mrs. Merrill and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Barker, were both fine women, and nothing of a serious nature occurred to disturb the family happiness.

'Both, however, died, and but a short time after the death of Mrs. Barker there began the ten years' silence that up to the present time has never been broken, not even at the time of the latest family trouble, the sensational arrest last winter of Miss Sophie Merrill, the postmaster's little old maid sister, for stealing letters.

'After his mother's death John Barker, a bachelor of forty odd, and a well-known figure about town, with the housekeeper who kept house for both him and his mother during the latter part of her life, has lived in half of the house, and his cousin, Sophie Merrill, and her aged father have lived in the other half, as utter strangers.

'The Family Feud.

'The family feud also included Charles Barker, John's older brother, who up to his death a few days ago lived with his wife on Boardman street. Neither of the Barker brothers ever spoke or had anything at all to do with Sophie Merrill or her father, but were and are, nevertheless, on good terms with Postmaster Harvey Merrill and all his family, who live in South Salem.

'Some folks said it was a dispute over the homestead, and others said that it was a woman's war, and that the long feud of the blood relations had its origin in a dispute between Miss Merrill and the Barkers' housekeeper.

'However that may be, no one actually knows excepting those directly concerned; but certain it is that in all this time they have never broken the vow of silence, which was taken, at least mentally, after the death of the sisters-in-law, Mrs. Merrill and Mrs. Barker.

'The nephew, a sturdy figure of a man, passes in and out, to and fro, four or five times a day, going and coming from work and meal hours, yet he never speaks, no matter how often he meets his aged uncle or his cousin, in or out of the house.

'They, on the other hand, follow the same custom, and never has either side of the house been betrayed into the slightest forgetfulness or deviation from the rule.

'When Charles Barker died, only a few days ago, as has already been stated, the fact was whispered about that a part at least of the ten years' silence was due to some Boston property which the Grandfather Merrill had left jointly to the Merrills and Barkers, as he had the Salem house.

'At the time of his death Charles Barker and his brother John were engaged in trying to recover their share or its equivalent in a house on Webster street, East Boston, which, after the arrest of Miss Merrill, it was discovered had passed out of their hands unknowingly.

'A lawyer had been engaged to see if he could not straighten out the matter, and trouble and worriment of mind incidental to this unexpected property tangle is believed to have aggravated Mr. Barker's illness, and possibly hastened his death.

'After the death of Mrs. Barker it is claimed that Miss Merrill collected the rents, and that the Barker brothers were given to understand, from time to time, that the house was untenanted, that they received but a trivial amount of money after their mother's death as their share of the income.

'After Miss Merrill's arrest--in anticipation of a need for money--her brother is said to have proposed to his cousins selling the property in East Boston.

'They agreed, and then it was suddenly discovered that the house which they still supposed was theirs, had gone into other hands, having been sold for taxes, which they supposed had been paid all along.

'Consternation is said to have reigned supreme at this discovery. The Barkers blamed themselves for having been so easy as to allow the family feud to keep them from looking into the matter, and sought at once to take what legal steps were possible.

'Added Bitterness.

'The discovery of the passing of this property, and the subsequent discovery which it is claimed they made that the property had not been untenanted for many years, is further said to have added intensity to the feud of this divided house.

'Ever since Miss Merrill, to the great surprise of all who knew her, was arrested, charged with the theft of mail matter from the post office, of which her brother is the official head, many sensational stories have been afloat.

'While her face and form was a familiar one to nearly all of the inhabitants of the city, her personal acquaintance was not large.

'Since the arrest, and her subsequent selfimposed imprisonment in her home, which she has never left since the day of her arrest, some of those who comprised the small circle of this reticent little woman's friends have deserted her in her hour of trouble and misfortune.

'Veil of Mystery.

'The veil of mystery seems to surround the strange case of Sophie Merrill, who, on an income of $900 a year, was, it is alleged, forced to steal in order to live.

'It has been predicted, hundreds of times, that Sophie Merrill, the little maiden woman, with worn face and large sympathetic eyes, who dressed shabbily, rather than as if she earned a good salary, would never be tried.

'Such a thing would surprise no one and would relieve many; for, while there are always people to raise an argument on both sides, and while she herself is little known, Postmaster Merrill's friends are legion, and there is great sympathy for him, in view of what was to him a great and unexpected blow.

'After his sister's arrest he or his wife, to whom the property belonged, sold five houses in South Salem at a sacrifice, for the same reason, it is said, that he desired to turn the East Boston house into cash.

'For a long time after his sister's arrest Mr. Merrill called every day to see her, and, although John Barker in passing in and out of his own half of the house, never spoke to the woman, whom he blames for the present curious condition of tenants who are living together as enemies, and have been for ten years, he always spoke to his cousin, the postmaster, in whose trouble he sympathized.

'A Complicated Affair.

'Speaking to one cousin, and not the other, seems a curious and complicated state of affairs, but the mystery of Salem's divided house is great, and has many complications.

'There is the mystery of the origin of the enduring vow of silence, which no one will ever know.

'There is the mystery which a curious public never tires discussing, and that is, 'Where did Sophie Merrill's money go to?'

'About this little old maid--older than her gray-haired brother, the postmaster, who used to be noted for his happy, genial smile, his debonair little air, but who is now ill with disease and worn with care--endless romances have been woven.

'It was asserted, after the arrest, that Sophie Merrill had a lover.

'The...