Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-03-02
A STRANGE COINCIDENCE.
BY GEORGE P. WEBSTER.

write Of Kentucky twenty-five years
ago 1t was a land flowing with milk
and honey. Then blue grass and fat
cattle abounded, and the negroes were
as happy, apparently, and as free from
care as the robins that chirped about
their cabins. That is one view. can
present another: The active abolitionists
had made their way into the State, and
men who owned slaves felt anxious for
their property. On that subject there
was apprehension and anger.
DIR: Fairbanks was an inmate OF the
State prison. A woman had occupied
cell in the same prison, but had been
pardoned out They had been convicted
of stealing slaves The usual mode of
travel was on horseback, and every man,
woman and child had saddle horse.
This was rule to which there were
few exceptions of course. A boy five
years old was at home on his horse. But
commenced with the intention to tell
love story, true one, too, and one that
ended in a fearful tragedy. | assure
you that with the exception Of the names
given, the account is true one.
James Horton lived near the county
seat of Montgomery county, and he loved
Mary Metcalf, the daughter of a widow
lady who lived u few miles distant on her
farm, one of the finest in the county.
Horton met his lady love from time to
time, and was received by her in man
ner that told him he had won her heart.
joyful smiles greeted his coming, and
the hour to say good night always brought
regret and sorrow.
But wealthy widower lived in the
neighborhood, and applied for the hand
of the fair Mary, and while the mother
favored him, the daughter appeared to
remain true to her first love-. Winter
few by; the mother never lost an oppor-
tunity to press the suit of the persistent
widower his broad acres, his droves OF
fat cattle, his troops of negroes, were
convincing arguments to her mind that
he would make most desirable son-in-
! law. Mary must marry him, she de-
clared, and the day was fixed for the
ceremony.
Horton was in despair, for Mary
seemed to waver between love for him
and obedience to her mother.
1t was only for moment, for when
Horton proposed fight and marriage she
assented. At that time Aberdeen, a
small town on the banks of the Ohio op-
posite Maysville, Kentucky town, was
the Gretna Green of Kentucky. A mar
riage in those days in Kentucky without
opposition was next to impossible. If no
one else put in an objection the negroes
would do it, and their displeasure was
no trihing matter; so that a shrewd
lover was careful to secure their friend
ship at the commencement of his suit.
I Runaway matches were not at all un-
common.
Horton made his plans. A young
lady, the friend Of Mary, was to accom-.
pany her. Several friends were to aid
in the escape, and one was to go with
the party, making the number four in
all. They were to be mounted on the
best horses, and the ride of seventy-five
miles was to be accomplished in the
shortest time possible, for the widow had
horses as feet as the heetest, and to be
overtaken would spoil all their hopes.
The day was fixed. The friends were at
the point designated Mary, from the
window. signaled Wait, | will come
soon" and they waited hour after hour.
The sun was sinking in the west; in
fact, was disappearing behind the hills,
when she gave them another signal to
wait The stars came out, aud it was
late when the waiting party left. Next
day Horton heard that Mary had deter
mined to marry the widower.
She did marry him and took her posi-
ton as mistress of bis home. The world
may have thought her happy, for she
smiled on all. But the mother knew, and
at last realized, that the marriage was
like bolt of iron driven into the heart
of her daughter.
Mary made frequent visits to her
home, and her appearance there was al
ways the signal for grief and expostula-
tion. One bright and sunny afternoon
she rode up to the stile and dismounted,
and sad and grief stricken she entered
the house of her mother.
am resolved, she said, never TO
see my husband again.
The mother expostulated, but the
daughter remained determined. In the
morning the subject was resumed, and
after breakfast the mother and daughter
sat by the table, the mother insisting
upon the return Of the daughter to her
husband. A negro woman, house ser
want, stood in the door with dishes IN