Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1871-05-06
A Wnman Halter.

chester, IN this State, lives the most SIN
gular specimen of the hermit to be
found, probably, anywhere in all this
country. His single log cabin, sitting
ike "a ragged beggar," about 200 yards
to the right of the turnpike from Win
chester to Boonesborough seldom fails
to attract the eve of the traveller in
those parts. ''Squatted like a toad, as
if trying to bmrow itself under ground
and out of mortal sight, It's low fiat root,
its dumpy, daubed, dirt chimney, its
closely barred single door and eight-by
ten inch window. all seem constructed
with the special view of repelling the
approach Of man. Shut up in his den,
the monarch of all he surveys, another,
and this time voluntary, Alexander
Selkirk, dwellS the hermit son of one
of the wealthieat men in the neighbor
hood-Coalby Quissenberry, Jr
The Quissenberry and the Bush con
nection is the most numerous in Clarke
county. The latter family are descend
ants Of old Captain Billy Bush, who
came to kentucky with Daniel Boone,
and who made such 4 judicious selection
of wild lands that his poSserlty, genera
ton after generation, are content TO
live and die within the limits of the
Bush settlement Of this ancient and
honorable stock comes the genius Of the
whole tiock-''l oung Coaiby, rs he Is
known in that neighborhood.
Many years ago Coalby QuiSsenber-
rv, Jr., drifted out to Texas with the
young men who were seeking fortunes
in that golden land He was then gay,
fond of company, and in every way COM
panionablc. But in 4 few months he
put in an appearance, very unexpected
ly, at home, gloomy, sullen and reticent.
His antipathy to the female sex was SO
strong that he refused to speak to his
mother, or to tolerate her, or any other
woman in his presence. He was deyel-
oped into a thorough misanthropc, with
a peculiar mania against the female sex
generally, both brute and human.
These facts the writer got from
friend few months AGO, as he was rid
ing by the hermit's cabin, and, being
deeply impressed with the character of
the singular subject, suggested that we
should ride by and interview the woman
hater. First ascertain, said he, the
sex of the animal YOU ride 1t is te-
male, Quissenberry would go into hys-
terics on the discovery. He would
burn the gate you rode through, the
tree you hitchcd to, and almost dig up
and haul away the very soil You rode
over in his incloSure.
Finding we were aback of one of the
disfranchiscd animals it was with con
siderable disappointment we were com
PEELED to forego an interview He had
sought this most Secluded spot of the
family lands to build his cabin. His
hair and beard grow in wild protusion
he makes his own garments which hang
loosely and awkwardly about him, tills
his own corn and potato-patch, grinds
his meal on a hand-mill, does his own
cooking, washing, sewing, &c, and
steals out but once 4 month, at night,
to garner up such things rs he is indeb-
ted to the outside world for,and beyond
this will admit of no intercourse with
men. As to whether he conceived his
aversion to ''the sex from a jilting he
received in Texas, or elsewhere, he has
never spoken. In fact he has not been
heard to speak dozen words in as many
years Look there, said our friend,
'do you see that tence-panel entirely
gone ? Well, few dgyS since ancgro
woman passing through the neighbor-
ing farms, crossed QuissenbeTy's fence,
and he burnt every rail of the panel she
climbed over. He will have nothing
female about him. Mares, cows, hens,
pigs, everything, in fact, that is cursef
with ''the female form divine throws
him into perfect state Of frenzy.
Never before were we so solemnly
impressed with the fact that the female
is the source of all light and life and JOY
and sunshine. This secluded spot, cut
off from all communion with the life
givcrs Of the world, IS fit illustration
of what this earth would be if two and
two of all the flesh wherein in is the
breath of life, male and female" had not
found room in the ark. The lines of
Campbell,
The world was sad, the garden was Wild
And man, the hermit, sighed-tll woman
smiled"
were never so fully appreciated as the
dismal spot from which the voices Of
woman, the prattle Of children,the songs
of birds-yea, life itself is banished in
the female form by the irrevocable edict
of this singular and solitary wretch,
melted sadly and gloomily in the dis
tance as We passed.-LouisuIHs COuri-
G-JOuHdL
1t may surprise some readers to know
that the oleander, so popular as house
and garden plant, is extremely poison
GUS An Ohio doctor writes that he