Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1872-12-18
Gates Alar,

during recent temporary absence
Of Colonel W. J. Dougherty, War
den of the State Prison of Mis-
souri,, at jefferson City, the deputy
whom he had left in charge of the
post, Mr.. Walter by name, received
in his behalf a propositions of no Or
dinary character. The proposcr,
who mailed his communication from
Sedalia. aud gave his name as Joseph
Silvers, desired to be informed if, as
he had heard, one of the convicts in
the prison was woman, whose life
sentsnee for murder was to be. an
nulled in the event of her marriage.
Should such bc the truth, Mr.. Silvers
proposed 70 refforlii an act of ideal
heroism and appeasc the exacting
law by marrying the gentle criminal
Believing that here WAS an original
character worthy his facctious culti-
vation, and knowing that the prison
did actually contain q young woman
under life-ssntence for capital Of
fence. the deputy warden did not
hesitate to answer this astonishing !
cpistlc in spirit worthy its possible
folly. "Sir,' wrote he, "your val
ucd epistle comes to hand in the alb
sence of the warden. to whom, in per-
son, you should address all your tu-
ture letters. would say, however,
that there really is lady here for
life, to be released upon marriage.
Enclosed you will find her picture.
She 10 handsome and intelligent.
Don't know her relations. She |
shows she has been we'll educated.
and, | think, would make a good
wife. She Acknowledges having n
stepmother, and that is supposed to
be the reason why she committed tho
crimc.' AS a result of this cOnces-
sion of official information, the pris-
on was visited 4 few days ago by a
tall, decently-drcssed, earnest-looE-
ing man, apparently about thirty
years old, who INTRODUCED hiInselfto
the warden as Mr.. Silvcrs, cf Sedalia,
and presented the deputy's letter i'll
explanation of his visit. He was
honest, he said, in his desire to de-
liver the prisoner from her dreadful
sentence by marriage, if she would
accept him, and wished to be made
known to her at once for the pros
ccntion Of his mission. Curious to
witness the further possibilities of
the affair himself, Colonel Doughcrty
conducted his queer guest to the
matron's room, whittier he present
ly brought the prisoner for life. The
latter, comely of aspect, and in no
way appearing like n vicious clarac
ter, heard the immediate and straight
forward proposition of her strange
visitor with natural surprise. Sill
vers represented that he was apoor.
plain man, anxious that some great,
good act shall be recorded to his
credit above, and frankly asked her
if she would purchase her release
. from n life of infamous captivity by
becoming his wife. lie was thor
eughly in earnest, ready to bc.r any
possible consequence of lis Froroscd
act, and believed that the virtue of
the deed itself would secure heaven 5
blessing for it. Seeming convinced
ut once that he was all that no ap-
pearcd, and soberly meant all that he
said. the woman reuliod, after a
short pause, that she accepted the
proposition and would be a good
wife to her dcliverer. Not anticipat-
ing such speedy settlement of the
t question as this the warden had al
lowed the interview to take its
course, but now, with some prccipi-
tation, he assured Mr.. Silvers that he
had been misinformcd as to the ten
ure of the prisoners sentence, which
really could not be removed under
any circumstances without the par
| don of the Governor of the State.
The man from Scdalia, however, was
, not to be discouraged by this impor-
tant correction, and bidding the pris-
oner to depend upon him and main
. tain good heart, avowed his inten-
ton to make immediate application
, to Governor Gratz Brown for the
. executive clemcncy required. Leav-
| ing the Jail fGf hotel, he did indeed
+ write dispatch to said chief OF
, the State to that effect. Gas there
is in prison in this city," wrote he to
| the Governor, "a young woman
| whom desire to marty, l make this
, letter Il reason for asking you top par
don her. Ihavc aceu her; and loved
| her at first sight. A poor, plain.
: working-man myself, with no pride
: except in good actions, | believe that
your prisoner will be good woman
as my wife, if you do not refuse my
prayer. Acting first upon moral
:. principle simply, am now so deep
ly interested In this woman that to
leave her still in q convict's cell must
break the heart Of your humble
petitioner and fellow Christian, Jo
. seph Silvcrs." The correspondent OF
the ST. Louis Democrat, who relate.
the whole story, and vouches for it:
= truth in every particular, adds, tha
> this most practical of missionarie'
still remains at Jefferson City await
i, ing the Governors reply; as earncs
;, aud singlc-hearted in his mingled ia
= naticism and infatuation as ever wa
lover or martyr Of romance or his
tory.
o An effort ia making to unite Den
r mark, Sweden and Norway unde
e ono common head. At the presen
e time the people Of the above nance
o countries favor the project, and it il