The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1871-01-26
A STRANGE STORY.
Enoch Arden ontdone.


A curious case recently transpired
| in the vicinity of Peoria, Illinois, and
as it has never been in print, send
it to you. In 1862, a man by the name
of John Talbert married young lady
by the name of Rebecca Farmer. Soon
after the celebration of the nuptial
ceremonies, Talbert enlisted in the
Cavalry Regiment and went to
the front. He was at home on fur
Tough in 1868, and returned to his reg
iment i'll few weeks. In one of the
battles in Mississippi he became miss
ing, and the body of a person sup
posed to be Talbert was found and
buried. His friends were informed of
his death, and mourned for him for
many days. When the -- Regi-
ment returned, with flying oolors, his
place was vacant, and his wife looked
at the horsemen as they marched
proudly up the streets of the city, but
looked in vain for Il, form she would
most loved to have seen. 2
Talbert had been good citizens and
had long paid his devotions to the
lady whom he marr:ed. Feeling it
his duty to Join the army, he had mar
ried her before he enlisted that he
might have the right to protect her
when he returned. He was q good
soldier, always doing his duty faith
fully, and when the battle ragged was
in his place unfiinching and deter
mined. When his supposed body was
found not one of his former comrades
but mourned that he had been taken
from their number.
The war closed, and Talbert was al
most forgotten. Not much longer than
a year ago, his wife took of the weeds
of mourning and gave her hand to a
young carpenter in Peoria, by the
name of Simpson. She had borne a
child to Talbert in his absence, and all
her love for its father had centered in
this image of the departed one. f.,..
About three months after Simpson
and Mrs. Talbert were married, the
young carpenter fell from the scaffOld-
ing of a large building he was at work
upon, and his brains were dashed out
upon the ground. Rebecca Farmer
was for the second time a widow, and
| the habiliments of mourning were
again donned. Loving hands buried
| her dead from her sight, and the
world moved on as before, utterly re-
gardless of the twice stricken one. 81
I The child of Talbert had grown in-
to lovely girl of seven summers, and
was the only love and hope of her
mother. Two weeks since the little
one suddenly sickened and died, and
the mother, supposed herself bereft of
all that knew or loved her. ,tt..,.
But now comes the grand denoue-
| ment. While the corpse of the child
| lay in her mothers house, awaiting
burial OH the morrow, a stranger
called at the poor woman's door. A
neighbor lady who had charge of the
mourning house, admitted him, and
he asked to see Mrs. Simpson. The
| lady came down, and found in the
supposed stranger her long lost hus-
band, John Talbert-he for whom she
had ndourned as dead. -.,,.,. sj...,, =. -
He explained his long, absence in
this wise. After the battle in which
| he was supposed to have been killed,
he found himself prisoner in the
1 hands of the rebels. He was hurried
from one post to another, until at last
he was taken to .Andersonville.n In
that prison pen he Ilanguished for
months, until he forgot the passing
time until the intense longing for
homo. completely broke his heart.
! When he was liberated, he says every
| thing was blank 70 him.. He wan
dered to New York City, aud lived
| there more than q year, and then
passed to the great West, where he
| lived until a year ago, He recovered
! his health Of body and mind but for
several Years could not bring himself
| to think of returning to his home.
He said there was an intense yearning
! to see his wife and child, but by some
curious, morbid feeling, he suppressed
! the proinptings of his heart, and re-
mained away from the beings he
| loved, broodine over his curious, self
j imposed condition. A few months
since he was taken with an irresista-
| Bile, longing to return to. Illinois and
and the scenes of his former happiness
but he desired to do so without being
recognized. He came back, much
changed and altered in appearance,
visiting Peoria, and found his wife
married to another man. de,lIev 43d5o
There was fresh agony of mind, and
poignancy was added to the thought
that if he had returned when his inn
prisonment ended, or even after his
faculties had been fully restored, he
would have found his wife still
mourning for him, and could have
gladdened y her heart by showing
her that he was still alive. Now
there was nothing for him to do but
to go away, as Enuch Arden had done
and leave Philip Ray to his happiness,
He could not tear himself completely
from the spot, however He had seen
his child and, it's mother. on the streets
and he felt like going. forward and
claiming his own. So he removed
himself about a hundred miles from
his old home; for to have remained
in Peoria, where he had been pretty
well kno wn, would have betrayed him
finally. The news of the death OF
Simpson did not reach him. Though
he received q paper regularly from
Peoria, this. to him, most important
item of news failed to reach his eye.
But the other dayIhe did see a notice.
of the death of his child, and in less
than five hours he was beside its coffin
Not till then did he learn of the death
of Simpson,. But when his wife, the
girl he had loved and thought he had
lost by one of the strangest works of
Providence, fell into his arms, he re-
allied that he had still something to
live for The wife received the. hus-
band again, in place of the, child she
had lost, and the neighbors rejoiced
at her good fortune, notwithstanding
a few of them felt some indignation
that he, he'd remained away so long af-
ter his Imprisonment ended. ,sa u
rs,a -'e@ SrryuR INT1TAu.