Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1865-01-06
PARIS, ME-, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6. 1865.

N'"A 'ns on on OCcastunally she bad
eiimPses of brindled far among the branches.
or black bear turned out q her path.
AFRAID q the human form bot no human BE-
ing dad she ever meet. and long. long be.
fore. human voice, had ceAsed 20 call her
name Was she al alone on the earth. and
-as the earth bot one vast wilderness Nth
90; outlet. without clearing or settlements
Had Cod taken away all life bot that of
bruies. and forgotten her. or ordained bef
70 wander foreserY TramPing. tramping.
tramping. with feet bleeding and cracked
a. hrst and Afterwards ealloused. naked or
nearly 50. knowing nothing Of time or place.
she vas fast becoming idiotic. When she
~as hungry she sought for food. bat the
great idea lingering in her mind "a. ,ha,
Of pressing on. Since the l1xuriance of
summer bad 6lled the forest With fern. and
new growth Of bricr and underbrush. there
~as more difficulty in passing through.
Bot she had become accustomed 20 the
rough work. and the frenzy became AZ last
a steady. constant habit; the labor Of lie
% her
One day in October the inhabitants o.
the village Of fChsrlesio~n. .New Hampshire.
were startled into the widest excitement.
By seeing a naked. emaciaied woman. nth
Der hair streaming upon her shoulders.
~Aik With b~-ildered gar along their
street. She told them she vas Robert
Harris's wife and slc "a. lost.
o. Robert IIArri.'s -ifc Who disapnear,d
from the opposite .ide % the river in
April exclaimed the villagers. How
has he crossed The Connectlcuts Where
Las she been all this tines'' Bot she tod
them she had never crossed the Connec,i-
cut. Add she had been lost in the -ooa,
all this time. There -as no lack o. hospit-
atty the wanderrr Wa Immediately clad
ard fsd and cared for 20 the utmost. Vol
uni'"r' Srnt - once and brou-ht her bus
band. for the story of his bereavement u.s
eel known on the Charleston .ide Of n.
river We can only imagine the meeting.
and What tears were she'd az the thought Of
hat little forsAk~n grave BY the uprooted
trre. Bot u Is said thar joy bells were
rung in The village. and ibe poor woman. a
living skeleton. was nursed and petied--
every body vieing With her neighbor 20 law
ish every good thing upon ber-un;il her
weakened mind recovered ifs tone again.
As she constantly asserted .he had never
crossed river. u was supposed sbe wander
ed into Canada. and. going around the Con-
neeticui az its source. or crossing where u
-as trooklei. passed down on the New
liampshire side fill .he reached a location
Just opposite that from Which sbe started.
-h~n she began 90 gro- strong again. her
mind recurrcd continually % the rrave in
The wilderness. She described % her hns-
band its surroundings. and b. vent out 20
look Tor b.. but without success A. soon
a. she vas able. she went out 18th him and
other friends % the search. bot the babv's
grave va never found n ~as though,
very strange thar Mrs.. Harris. in at her
sanderings. never met a rowing Indian.
but 80 70 va. The Indian tribes had. per-
hsps. mostly di.app~ared from New ing
land since the French and Indian var. Dot
hovever that nigh; b.. the frst human be-
ing ~botn sh~ net after tbe burial a her in
fant. strange a. it may seem. ~ss In The
street 81 Charlestown. This singulsr le-
gcud has descended % The writer from an
ancestor q hers. uho va she third ch7d
born IN the to~n Of Rockingham. Vermont.
and ibe story is an undoubted fact.