Still, Sarah Bell’s certificates and the contradictory Virginia register created a question the court could no longer dismiss without examining the records.
Rebecca secured lodging for witnesses near the courthouse, while Miriam organized food and transport so that testimony would not depend on a wealthy patron’s convenience.
The first morning Sarah wore a plain blue dress and carried her son’s photograph wrapped in cloth.
She sat beside Frances Carter as counsel presented the records of James’s birth and the account of his seizure.
The opposing attorney called her confused about dates and suggested she had mistaken another boy for her son.
Sarah answered each question steadily.
She explained where James was born, the name of the minister who witnessed his parents’ marriage, and the scar on the boy’s left knee from falling beside a kitchen stove.
When asked why she had pursued him so far, she replied, “Because he is my child, and no man had the right to take him.” The words were simple, but the courtroom grew quiet.
Sutter attempted to defend the false document as an administrative correction.
Alden placed the tax receipt bearing the same seal number beside it.
The clerk said the number had been reused in error.
Alden then showed three other forms with dates written in different inks, each claiming authority over a person not named in the original registry.
Sutter’s explanation became less certain with every page.
The judge ordered the records preserved and demanded that the county office produce its full register for inspection.
Outside the courtroom, Sutter refused to answer questions and hurried into a waiting carriage.
Lydia testified next, describing how she had copied names during her confinement and hidden the original ledger inside the cellar.
She identified Fane’s routes and explained the symbols used to mark people considered troublesome.
The opposing lawyer asked why she had concealed her identity and worked under false names.
Lydia answered that honest identification had led to confinement and threats, while secrecy had allowed her to survive long enough to tell the truth.
The lawyer suggested that her resentment toward her brother-in-law made her unreliable.
Lydia said resentment did not create freight bills or forge signatures.
“Examine the dates,” she told the court.
“The names do not change because you dislike the person reading them.”
Catherine watched from the rear of the room.
She wanted to stand beside Lydia, but she knew her sister had to be more than an extension of the Whitmore family’s quarrel.
When the session ended she approached cautiously.
