The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1867-05-05


Never shall We forget the scene We wit
messed few days SINCE, when 1t Was our
rood fortune to place in the hands OF family
4 dispatch from { son, whom they had long
mourned a dead. saving: 81 will b with
Won TO. morrow p Early in 1862, when the
red hard Of war waa thHAsting thousAnds q
our once happy people from their quiet homes
to become wanderers and fagitives in
strange land and among strangcrs, young
man Sna1sted IN the rs1imsot IN vAseh ~
were serving, from the vicinity OF Cumbsr-
land Gap. He wAs IN exsmplasy soldier,
and soon gained the esteem OF his comrades
and confidence of his officers.
But just after the short but terrible battle
of Cross Lanes, Western Virginia, was
fought, an unfortunate occursnce, imphcA-
ting him in q crime, of which subsequent
events have shown him to have been iunoe
cent. brought him before . court martial, ana
he was sentenced to be shot. His previous
rpod character induced the officers OF his
regiment and the commanding Gensrai TO
netition the President to commute his SEN
teuce to Imprisonment, which petition was
| Granted. and he was accordingly sent on to
we'll known island prison between the coast
| of Florida and Cuba.
| His family, who had been driven from
their homes, were then residents OF ou- city,
and the intelligence of his incarceration Al
most crazed his devoted mother and SISTERS;
But their confidence in his truth, honor ana
goodness of heart never faltered. They tell
| be was innocent, and looked hopefully fof
the revelations of tosmorrow 10 prove II;
| In few months, however, 1t was announced
| in the mortality report Of the PRISON that De
| had died. After repeatedly writing, his
| xoAq
port, and gave him up with g resignation thai
only such circumstances can vouchsafe 10 O
sensitive mother
/" Down her cheeks fowd the round drops;
And as We see the sun shine through the shower
So looked her beauteous eyes,
Casting forth light and tears together.
/ A year passed, and the family moved te
the interior of the State. But what mighty
revolutions does year bring forth. Circum
stances transpired which proved beyond .
doubt that our erroneously reported deac
comrade was innocent Of the crime for which
he had been imprisoned, and he was prompt
~ released. Being without money, hs
stopped in Northern city to work, writing
to his former home for his mother, and thsr
advertising in several of our State papers
but to no avail The only information h
could get of her whereabouts was that sht
was living Somewhere in Kentucky" HI
came to the State, and locating in an adjoin
ing village, continued his exertions to find hi
mothers family, whom be had reason to be
lieve we're in destitute circumstances, wher-
ever they were.
Nov comes the finale. An attempted out
rage on young lady in Eastern Kentucky,
few weeks since, an account of which Wa
published in the Journal, came under tn
notice of our friend. aud the almost victim o
the fendish assault, on investigation, wa
found to be his sister. We were then on busi
ness in that part of the State, and receives
the before mentioned dispatch and placed
in the hands of the mother. She read th
little message, started, looked closer, ant
read couvulsively, and tremblingly gazed in
to our eyes, seemingly searching the depth
of our soul, sank upon her knees, and, will
upturned face, exclaimed, in language tina
will ever reverberate on our brain, Father
thank Thee for to morrow