Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1857-04-16
EIOpemenf with a Wife and two
Daughters..A Husband in
Search of his Family.

| DaughterS..A Husband in
Search of his Family.
A man named John Cooper, residing in
Sootsville, Monroe Co., New York, arrived
in this city yesterday, in search of his fam
lily; consisting of a wife and two daughters.
of the respective ages of twelve and four
teen years. The substance of the tale was,
that they had eloped with man named
William Story of the same place, who left
behind him wife and three children of
his own. The party had brought with
them their trunks and baggage, and were
we'll provided with all the necessaries in
the way of clothing, DC. The elopement
had been carried into execution on Sunday,
the sth of March, under a plea Of going to
church, the trunks having been privately
taken out of the house the day before with
out his knowledge. 1t was some distance
distance TO church, and the suspicious of the
husband were not aroused by the absence
of the parties over night, as he thought
they might kave remained at neighbor's
house. Their protracted absence aroused
his suspicious, however, and he started in
pursuit, leaving an older daughter at home.
The woman is about fifty years of age.
Upon his arrival here the affair was put
into the hands of officer A. W. Sprague,
who, with his usual alacrity and vigilance,
Immediately set about ferreting out the
matter. He soon found that the parties
had arrived in this city some time since, and
after some trouble and inquiry, satisfacto-
ry trace of them was found in one of the
trunks, left in Murrin's hotel as security for
board bill of s15. Thence they were
traced to the Larned House, where they
owed $3.50, and from there to Johnson's
Hotel. They remained there some days,
and then took their departure for the coun-
try, the man and woman passing as hus-
band and wife. and the girls as their daugh-
ters. Officer Sprague followed their trail,
and found the party at Halls brickyard,
three miles from the city, minus the man,
who, after decoying the three females away
from home, and probably robbing them of
their money, basely deserted them last
Wednesday, and left them penniless and
among strangers, housed in a miserable
shanty. and almost destitute of the neces-
saries of life. The woman is an intelligent
person, far advanced in life, and the daugh-
tiers very interesting and attractive girls, of
good education and pleasing personal exte-
rior What motive could have induced
woman to ruin not only herself, but her
children, by so illadvised and reckless step,
we cannot imagine. Trusting 10 the prom
Use of man who could desert his own wife
and children, was certainly fragile hope,
and one that too soon saw its fulfiliment in
the destruction fall her prospects of peace
or comfort forever, as the sequel will show.
The injured husband, with heart scarce
ly less hard than that of the man who had
wronged him, took his daughters with him,
and repudiatiug the wife who had shared
his bed for twenty years, left her, desolate
and alone, in poverty and destitution, to
wear away the remaining few years that
are allotted her in her old age among
strangers, and thousands of miles from any
friend. Who can tell the anguish that
wrings that heart, bowed down by the
weight of fifty years, the desertion of the
man for whom she sacrificed everything,
and the separation of her only hope-her
children. The shanty that covers her con-
tains her clothing that the stony-hearted
husband took from the trunks, and threw
to her, and nothing else. Even the neces-
saries for the support of life are wanting
A terrible retribution has overtaken her,
and more terrible one awaits the man
who was the cause of it, if there is any JUS
tice to be dealt with in time to come.
The trunks were found to contain every
thing necessary in the shape of clothing,
together with books in abundance, and
many other things, showing that the wo-
man had been accustomed to comfortable
style of living, and could not have left
their home on the plea of poverty or mad
equate support. That their home was
happy one, is a deduction that the conduct
of the father and husband does not seem
to imply. He took the trunks and their
contents, with the exception of his wife's
clothing, home with him. Heaven send
that dire dreams may haunt his pillow till
he relents from his hard hearted decision,
and acts more in accordance with the die
tates of humanity toward his erring, but
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