Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-06-25
MY MOTHER.IN-LAW.

"TAKE my advice, - said Uncle Israel to
me, when L told him that pretty Susie
Hoyt had consented to be my wife--'take
my advice, and get as far away from your
mother in-law as possible. | speak from
experience. Taking it up and down, I've
had a fair share of matrimonial happiness,
but the majority of the differences of
opinion between your aunt and myself l
attribute entirely to the influence and in
reference of my mother-in-law. BY the
way, who is Mrs. Hoyt? l don't remem-
Der hearing you speak of her
She ceased to be Mrs. Hoyt when
Susie was five years old, and became Mrs.
Gardiner Hoyt, as far as | can learn,
left her nothing but Susie. Gardiner left
her lawsuit
Oh, widow again?"
g Yes; and, Uncle Israel, she is not one
bit like the traditional mother-in law. She
is little morsel of blue-eyed woman,
as gentle and sweet as Susie herself"
They all are. Butter would scarcely
melt in the mouth of Mrs. Bond before |
married her daughter Julia, and-well,
you have heard her discourse.
had. Cold chills of apprehension
crept over me as l imagined Mrs. Gardiner
assailing me in like fashion. Upon the
strength ofmy uncle's mother -in-law went
at once and secured house at the very
| extremity of the city suburbs-a gem of a
cottage-with whole city between its white
gate and my mOther-in- law elects resi-
dence.
saw her gentle lips quiver when told
her where we were to live, and there was
a pitiful tone in her low voice when she
said: " 1t is very far from here;' but she
made no other remOnstrance, and [ hard
ened my heart and furnished it. Directly
opposite was a handsome residence, with
wide grounds, "a lovely country mansion
within easy distance of my business, for
which lOnged, but waited for fortunes
wheel to give a turn in my favor to pur-
chase it.
After we were married and settled in
our cozy little cottage Susie and | would
often sit upon the porch and talk about
| the happiness of living in the house |
coveted and which was for sale, though
rented and occupied Sometimes Mrs.
| Gardiner would come over TO spend the
| dav, and Susie would tell her of her
castles in the air, when my cotton specula-
| ton made us rich.
was doing small business at that
time in a wholesale leather store, being
| junior partner; but had invested every
spare dollar could command in joining a
company to buy some thousand acres of
cotton in Louisiana, growing. We felt
certain of realizing an immense fortune
when our cotton was ready TO pick and
put into the market, and every letter from
our agents in the South gave us new hope.
So we furnished the new house, in imagi-
nation, and looked forward to owning it
one day.
But in all this time could not truly find
my mother in-law. 1t is true she often
advised me, hurting my married dignity
somewhat by taking the ground that she
who had been my Susie's constant com
| paniOn for nineteen years understood her
disposition and peeuliarities better than l.,
who worshiped the ground upon which
| she trod," etc But honestly | could
never say her advice was not good, and
Susie was quite willing to admit l under
stood her perfectly.
SO nearly year glided by and my blue
eyed mother-in-law was just as lovable
and gentle as before the marriage. My
heart smote me sometimes when she
spoke of the loneliness of her home with
out Susie, but thought of Uncle Israa
and was firm. 1t was in the fall of 1867
when appalling news reach the company
of cotton spectators, and we looked each
other bankly in the face. Instead of the
bales of cotton we had expected coming TO
be coined into gold, we received news
that our agents had employed mex
perienced hands, had irritated the seed
men, who would have been glad to get the
work, and so mismanaged the whole affair
that our cotton was worthless. There was
no one to go but myself, and my home
| affairs held me. Susie was not well and
did not wish to leave her, yet there might
be something saved if a competent agent
went to Louisiana.
While | hesitated and lamented, Mrs.
Gardiner came to the rescue.
" You must go, she said, "and leave
Susie in my care. l will stay here with
her, and you can return as quickly as
possible Hannah will come, too"
Hannah was a family servant who had
been Susie's child nurse. | engaged a
nurse recommended by Mrs. Gardiner,
and with a heavy heart set my face south
ward 1t is not necessary to enter into the
details of my business worries. For a
month was detained, trying TO get some
return of the money we had invested, and
failing utterly Then, heart-sick started
for home In the great cities the yellow
fever ragged, and avoided them in my
route; but on my way from New Orleans
to Memphis, at little place called
Vaughen Station, l was taken i'll.
Put off the train, bag and baggage,
was driven to a wretched little tavern, and
left to die or recover as / saw fit. have
a distinct memory of doctor feeling my
pulse, of dreary certainty of filth and
discomfort all around me, and of burning
thirst, Then followed agonizing dreams
of delnium, with pain in every limb
racking headache, Loneliness, madness.
was fever raeked, with horrible fancies-
now, being sawed apart by medical stu
dents, now beset by wild beasts rending
me limb from limb, now in a sea Of fire
now In a desert, craving water l coulC
hear tingling from near fountain anC
could not reach it.