Sharon/Hill Divorce And Terry/Field Affair: 1883-1885 & 1887-1890

The examiner's work was completed in August 1885, and his 1,723-page report was sent to Judges Sawyer and Deady. (By this time, Field had returned to Washington, D.C.) Further arguments were made directly to the justices and a decision was to be issued on November 15, but Senator Sharon died on that very day. Ill and in great pain, the senator one week before his death left instructions that the representatives of his estate were to continue the legal battle against Hill.

When the court finally convened on December 26, Sawyer and Deady declared that the marriage contract was a forgery. They also ordered Hill to surrender the document and prohibited her from ever alleging that it was valid and from using it to support any claim (such as her demand for alimony). The court's decision further included this astounding insight as to how the judges weighed the conflicting testimony and evidence from Sharon and Hill:

… the sin of incontinence in a man is compatible with the virtue of veracity, while in the case of a woman, common opinion is otherwise.…

…it must also be remembered that the plaintiff is a person of long standing and commanding position in this community, of large fortune and manifold business and social relations, and is therefore so far, and by all that these imply, specially bound to speak the truth… On the other hand, the defendant is a comparatively obscure and unimportant person, without property or position in the world.… And by this nothing more is meant than that, while a poor and obscure person may be naturally and at heart as truthful as a rich and prominent one, and even more so, nevertheless, other things being equal, property and position are in themselves some certain guaranty of truth in their possessor, for the reason, if none other, that he is thereby rendered more liable and vulnerable to attack on account of any public moral delinquency, and has more to lose if found or thought guilty thereof than one wholly wanting in these particulars.

Twelve days after Sawyer and Deady issued their decision, Terry and Althea Hill were married. It is not known when their romance began, but the union was controversial and it destroyed Terry's standing in California's social circles. When Terry realized this, he became very defensive of his bride. "They shall not brand my wife a strumpet," he repeatedly said.

For two years, the Terrys lived a happy life. The couple believed that the federal court order was not legally binding in light of Sharon's death, so it was neither appealed nor obeyed. In the meantime, Sharon's children continued the appeal of Judge Sullivan's divorce decree. On January 31, 1888, the California Supreme Court, in a 4-3 vote, reaffirmed Sullivan's decisions regarding the marriage and divorce, but reduced the alimony to $500 a month and eliminated the attorneys' fees. (The three dissenting judges concluded that there was no valid marriage to begin with.)

As a consequence of the supreme court's decision, Sharon's family did three things. First, they filed a petition for a retrial of the divorce. When Judge Sullivan denied that petition, they appealed again to the California Supreme Court. Second, the family started to spend enormous amounts to elect some new supreme court judges to ensure a more favorable decision from that bench. Third, they filed a petition in federal court, known as a bill of revivor, to make Sawyer's and Deady's earlier ruling final. Terry filed an objection to that petition and the matter was again before the federal courts.