The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1871-08-24
The Story Of Old Peter Bufenburg and his
Young Wife.
"A SINGULAR NARRATIVE.

"A SINGULAR NARRATIVE.
On or about the year 1852, in Paint Town
ship, Madison County, Ohio, Peter Bufenburg,
aged seventy years, was married to Angelina
Hutson, whose age at that time has been yarl-
ously stated at from eighteen to twenty-tour.
And thereby hangs very serious taie'
MARRIED, BUT NOT MATED.
Peter Bufenburg although not an educated
man, had acquired, great riches: He was lord
of vast focks and herds. and his domain cover
ed several thousand fertile acres. At the time
of his death his estate was estimated at from
six hundred thousand to seven hundred and
fifty thousand dollars. Angelina Hutson was
the daughter of farmer in moderate circum-
stances in the adjoining township: UP to the
period OF her marriage her education was Inn
tied; but, it is said, that she subsequently i'm
proved her opportunities. She was comely OF
person, however, and if the current talk of the
neighbors is to be believed, was something OF
a rustic coouette There were others, less
lenient, who were of opinion that she carried
her coqnetry to the verge OF imprudences
However this may be, she attracted the REGARDS
of the wealthy old bachelor grazier, Peter But
enburg, and in 1852, or thereabouts, they were
married About year later, greatly 70 the
marvel of the people of the township, son
was born to Peter. After further lapse OF
six years, when Peter was of the age OF seven
ty-seven, another son was born, and then scan
dal gave tongue. In country districts, even
more than in towns, when story once gets
currency, it gains amazingly by repetition.
ANGELINA's "AFFINITY."
Among the friends of Angelina was young
man named Colburn, and the manner IN which
the acquaintance was formed was certainly Gu
rious. After Peter was married he so tar broke
through his customary habits that he consented
to take his young wife on wedding tour at
Cincinnati the pair changed their country ap-
parel for clothes of the better sort, and, whilst
out shopping there, they were served at one OF
the stores BY r. r. Colburn, who was then q
dry goods clerk. Having a soul above the cal
icoes he became after the lapse of years, one
of the war correspondents Of the New York
Tribune, was captured in attempting to run
past the batteries at Vicksburg, and spent, sub
sequentiy, considerable time in Libby Prison.
Whilst waiting on the newly married couple,
in the days of their honeymoon, Colburn ap-.
pears to have been smitten with the charms OF
Mrs. Bufenburg, whom he mistook, or affected
to mistake, for Peters daughter. Of course,
Peter himself was known to young Colburn,
by reputation, as one of the wealthiest of the
rural magnates of Ohio. So, during his stay
in Cincinnati, Colburn was assiduous IN paying
court to the young woman, until she told she
was Peters wife. She then told Peter himself
of the mistake which Colburn had made, and
Peter, laughing at it as good joke, invited the
Young man to visit him at his home in Madison
County. Cclburn does not appear to have
been slow to accept the invitation. He did
visit Peter, not once but often, and thus the
acquaintance ripened into intimacy, and, as
some malicious people say, into something
more than intimacy. There can be no reason
to doubt that the nephews and nieces of Peter
Bufenburg looked upon his young wife as an
interloper, and were disposed to regard her
conduct with a jaundiced eye. The cordial re-
ception given by Mrs. Bufenburg TO Colburn
whenever he visited Madison County the
close accord existing between them, and the
fact that he had special room set apart TOR !3r
him in the new mansion that Bufenburg built
soon after his marriage. added spice to the ru-
mors that Aoated about. But the years wore
on, and Peter Bufenburg continued to tolerate
if he did not wholly approve of the visits OF
the younger man.
THE SECOND MARRIAGE.
In 1865 Peter Bufenburg, then in his eighty
second wear, and in the twelfth of his marriage,
sickened From that time his health began
seriously to decline, and for the year immedi-
ately preceding his death, which took place In
September, 1857, he was confined to his room.
During the long period of his sickness many
of the neighbors declare that Mrs. Bufenburg
was invariably kind and attentive. Others say
very differently, and intimate that Colburn
continued his visits secretly, was in the house
when Peter Bufenburg died, and was also at
the funeral-which others again deny. Peter
went to his two children, subject, of course, to
the wifes right of DOVER About two years
before his death he also made a gift to his wife
of five hundred acres of land, valued at that
time at fully forty five thousand dollars After
Bufenburgs death the intimacy between his
widow and Colburn increased, and, when a
year had elapsed, they were married. Colburn,
who was then in the banking house OF Fisk q
Hatch, at New York, took his wife and the
Bufenburg children to Elizabethtown, New
jersey, where they still reside.
THE Suspicious.
And now comes the most mysterious part OF
this somewhat commonplace, and yet some
what romantic story During the present year,
the hints ard inuendoes that followed the Col,
burns to their New jersey home have acquired
strength and consistency. man named
Thompson, the husband of one of Bufenburg's
relatives, and who would have been one OF the
heirs to his estate if Bufenburg had not mar
ried, has made himself recently, quite notori-
ous in Madison County by his bitter aspersions
of Mrs Colburn's character. He not only ac-
cuses her-whilst Mrs. Rufenburg-of adultery
with Colburn, but also Of comprising Bufen-
burg's death by poison. These terrible accusa-
tions, however, lose much of their force by the
fact that Thompson is man of villanous an
tecedents. He has been arrested several times
for counterfeiting, but escaped punishment by
ioining Colonel Woods detective force; and
once he has been convicted of burglary, but
broke Jail and fled. Singular to say he has not
character of Thompson may be, his accusations
find believers. He has stirred the authorities
Of Madison County to action The body of
Peter Bufenburg was exhumed, short time
since, in the presence of the coroner and the
neighboring farmers The stomach and inter