The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1875-10-01
"1IISBEGOTTEN MARGARET'-HER
EDITARY TAlNTS,
lChicago Times

lCMcago Times.
The story OF this particular Margaret
has been told before. It is sad one and
carries its own moral. 1t was member
of the Prison association who first
brought it to light year ago, and it is
retold by him at the request Of the
United States commissioner Of education.
The member Of the Prison association
was first induced to examine the gcncal-
ogy Of Margaret's family BY finding in
the Jail of Ulster county, New York. a
number Of persons nearly related to one
another who were awaitin: trial, or had
been convicted on various charges. A
man. aged tifty.tive, was charged with re
ceiving stolen goods; his daughter, a
prostitute, ngcd eighteen, was held as
witness against him; her uncle, agsd
forty.two. was committed for burglary;
the Legitimate daughter OF his wife,
twelve years of age, a slight creature On
whom lie had attempted an indecent as
sault, was held for vagrancy; two broth.
ers Of hers, aged nineteen and fourteen,
were charged with attempting murder,
they having nearly killed child by
pushing him over II precipicc. Here was
an unhappy family gathered under the
roof.tree OF prison. The humanitarian
became interested in ascertaining who
had bcgottcn the older knaves. whose
blood Was thick with crime. He investi.
gated carefully and found they, as well
as numerous other vagabonds. were all
descended from the wretched heroine Of
these lines, the misbegotten Margaret,
and sister equally vicious and neglect
ed. They came Of colony Of vaga bonds
who had made their habitation in the
backwoods Of Ulster county. The people
Of this regio" held little communication
with the outside world. Huddled TO-
gether in small houses of a single apart
ment, persons Of both sexes lived and ate
and slept. They were guided by neither
was promiscuous and unrestraincd. They
had noesettlcd occupation; in all but its
itineracy, leading gip:y life. In such a
place Margaret and her sister grew to
womanhood. Trey were without &C.
knowledged parents. They could neither
read nor write. They knew nothing Of
God or religion. The missionary societies
had sent their agents to Ormus and to
Ind, not to the backwoods Of Ulster
county. That was too near Before her
maturity Margaret was mother. She
became prolific in child bear ing and lived
to the age Of sixty.tivc, for though her
habits were immoral and vicious, she ac-
quircd robust constitution by the activ-
ity Of her outdoor life. The New York
Times, from which We have condensed
these facts, says further: ''Thc family
line Of her and her sisters has been care
fully searched, and 834 persons arc dis.
tinctly traced, but it is believed that the
full number of descendants is at least
1900. The number whose fortunes are
most clearly known amount to 7O0-327
males and $40 females; remainder un.
known. OF these LOG were illegitimatc,
l64 prostitutes, II keepers OF houses Of
ill'fame, l42 receiving outdoor relief, 81
paupers in al,ns-houscs, and IS were
criminals. The number Of indictablc Of.
lenses committed by them is lis; the
number Of years imprisonment they have
suffered, ll6; tic number of years indi.
yidua' relief, 734. And Of the whole 100,
only q ever acquired any property, aud
Of these lost what they gained
1t would hive been happy thing for
Margaret as we'll as for posterity if she
had died in her youth or had never been
born. 1t might have been we'll for her
and her descendants If, in her youth,
some portion Of the m:sdire"tcd mission.
airy effort Of the land had led her to the
knowledge and practice Of morals. The
crime Of her children was perhaps as
much the result of ignorance as OF vic.
iousness. lfso, it might have been pre-.
vented, and prevention is better than
punishment. There are many Margarets
in this broad land, and they are the
heather whom VIC should first seek tc
convert