The Grange advance. [volume] (Red Wing, Minn.) 1873-1877, 1875-09-29
putting into his mouth the countenances
Of the relations must have been curious
to see.
"MLSBEGOTTEN MARGARET'-.HER
a.. i EDITARY TAINTS. =
(Chicago Times


The story of this particular Margaret
,, has been told before. 1t is sad one and
carries it's own moral. It was a member
of the Prison association who first
brought it to light a year ago, and it is
retold by him at tho request of the
United States commissioner Of education.
The member of the Prison association
was first induced to examine the geneal-
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 awaiting trial, or had
been convicted on various charges. A
man, aged fifty-fve, was charged with re.
ceiving stolen goods; his daughter, a
prostitute, aged eighteen, was held as a
witness against him; her uncle, aged
forty-two, was committed for burglary !;
the illegitimate daughter of his wife,
twelve years of age, a slight. creature on
whom he 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 a child by
pushing him over precipice. Here was
an unhappy family gathered under the
roof.tree Of a prison. The humanitarian
became interested in ascertaining who
had begotten the older knaves. whose
blood was thick with crime. He investi'
gated carefully and found they, as well
as numerous other vaga bonds. were all
descended from the wretched heroine of
these lines, the misbegotten Margaret,
and sister equally vicious and neglect
ed. They came of a colony ofvagabonds
VINO had made their habitation in the
backwoods of Ulster county. The people
of this regior held little communication
with the outside world. Huddled to.
gethcr in small houses Of a single apart
ment, persons of both sexes lived and ate
and Slept. They we're guided by neither
civil nor moral law. Their intercourse
had no settled occupation; in all but its
itineracy, leading gypsy life. In such a
place Margaret and her sister grew to
wonanhood. They 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 a mother. She
became prolific in child bearing. and lived
to the age Of sixty-fivc, for though ner
! habits were immoral and vicious, she &C.
! guired robust constitution by the activ-
| ity of her outdoor life. The New York
Times, from which we have condensed
these facts, says further: THE tamily
e y 1o,o CO l1o
| fully searched, and 1874 persons are dis
| tinctly traced, but it is believed that the
| full number of descendants is at least
1000. The number whose fortunes are
most clearly known amount to 7U0--327
males and $40 females remainder IN
known. Of these l00 were illegitimate,
1854 prostitutes, II keepers of houses of
ill-fame, l42 receiving outdoor relief, 81
paupers in alms-houses, and rs were
criminals. The number OF indictable Of
lenses committed by them is lis; the
! number Of years imprisonment they have
suffered, llG; the number Of years indi-
yidual relief, 1874. And Of the whole 100,
only % ever acquired any property, and
Of these lost what they gained"
1t would have 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 well for her
and her descendants if, in her youth,
some portion of the m;sdirected 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. If so, 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.