The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-07-11
THE DAILY GAZETTE.
HOW FREMONT RUN OFF WITH
OLD BULLION'S DAUGHTER


OLD BULLION'S DAUGHTER.
100 1T JESSIE"
Col. Tom Benton is great man,
sir. He always has been a great
man since he has been anyman atall.
he was a great man, and Senator
from Missouri, with house at Wash
ington, when John G.. Fremont was
poor draughtsman and mapist. FIRE.
mont would not have dared topropose
| to Col. Benton to run away with him.
Such thing would not have occurred
| to him, for he regarded Col. Benton
| with becoming awe. BntCol. Benton
had daughter, n sweet and alniable
girl, Of whom young Fremont was
not at all in awe. He had passed
many an evening in her company,
and the oftener he saw her the oItener
he wished to- see her. Love oyercame
timidity, until one day he found him
sell, hat in hand, with heated breath,
in the presence ofthe great Tom Ben
ton, asking him for his danghter.
But Tom Benton would not do it.
He was inexorable, and he refused to
do what in few days afterwards he
was ready to do-Tom refused to
"give him Jessie" He also forbade
Fremont the House; but that the
draughtsman cared little for, because
it was not the house he wanted.-#
Finding all persuasion useless, the
youngcouple edetermined to be married.
clandestinely, and so they set about
the preliminaries. They found the
Protestant clergy oyer-awed by the
awful dignity Of Col. Benton, and
afraid to oact, but they found a Catholic
priest, who stood in no such fear, and
the knot was tied. Just before the
decisive step was taken, and while her
last step fingered upan the paternal
threshold. the sweet daughters heart
yearned for the mother, who she was
thus abruptly leaving, perhaps, forever,
and she hung her head and sobbed,
the carriage-door stood open, the ~
horses pranced, another moment and
all might have been lost. SEQ it Jes9k
sic" was the word from the bridegroom
the bound was made from Benton to
Fremont, Ia great leap at that time,)
the horses tore the pavement in their
fight; the night wore on; ssaa-,1 saI
They'll have hes, .teets who foioss,s- p .as4
thought the young draughtsman, as
his arm encircled Jessie, and he Look
ed at the moon under which so many
strange things have transpired. Cei.-
Benton walked in the morning. descena
ded to the breakfast table. but found 10
no Jessie Her room was explored. i
but no Jessie was found, and her bed
had not even been occupied. Then
was the great Col. in a great rage.
sir. He frothed and foamed, and
roared and ranted. perhaps he swore..
He promised he'd give the rascal a.
cowhiding--he'd give him six years
in the penitentiary--he give him
-" Houhad5etter gire ham Jessie
was the quiet suggestion ofthe mother
perhaps she was above half right.
One of the grossest accusations
brought against Col. Fremont is the
| running away with Tom Benton's
daughter; yet, after all, there is much
to be said in extenuation. He admir-
! ed the family, and felt that he must
have a member Of it. To have run
away with the old lady would have
created great scandal; and to run
away with the Colonel himself was,
out of the question--he took the only
one OF the family he could get
Old Cardinal Richelieu said to
Louis Kill, when that monarch fell
in love Julia De Mortimer niece OF
the Cardinal. ''if yon must love someat
body, Sire, Tore me-" Benton was
still more unreasonable-he shnt his
doors against Fremont, and forbade
him to love any the family. What
could he do then but what he did!
Every pro-slavery newspaper from
s'y4 40 or fight down to 1920, pa
rades before its readers the damning
fact, that Fremont had the audacity
to runaway with Col Benton's daugh-
ter in order to be married to her,
That he told her to SEQ it JESSIE at
the very moment Of her departure.
This fact is mentioned with an air of
decisiveness, as ifhe had runaway
with Bol. Benton's pocket book, or ia.
vorite racehorse. mthis country, SO
ciety, the laws and public opinion, all
make a broad distinction, and so it
stands, in respect to all their tribunals,
that Col. Fremont is neither more nor
less fit to be President of the United
States upon that account; and his
is neither more nor less fit to dispense
hospitalities ofthe Executive mansiony
He willnot receive vote less because
of the fact, which is of snch unchal-b
lenged notoriety that denial is useless