Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-07-18
A REMARKABLY ROMANTIC EXPE.
RIENCE.
A Young Girl Elopes, Marries Her
Lover, Works for Years in Male at
tire, is Abducted by her Relatives,
and is Declared Dead.

-
and is Declared Dead.
In 1861 Miss Maria Matilda Kibbell
lived with her parents, welLto-do neonle.
at Albion, N Y. She was then about
twenty, was prepossessed in appear
ance, rather small in stature, with GER
tain masculine appearance, though not
coarse, which afterward served her
good purpose. Early in the summer
season she was With a party Of excur-
tionists to Niagara Falls, and met acct
dentally with Chauncey N Niles, then
from Cleveland. It was a case of mu-
tual, as well as sudden infatuation, and
resulted in promises to meet again.
Niles was q widower, with one child, a
lad, who, since grown to manhood and
to family, is now a locomotive engineer
on the Lake Shore road, and lives at
375 South street, this city. His name is
Rosalvi d. Niles. The love-sick Niles
soon went to Albion, and aroused by his
visit the serious displeasure of Miss
KibbelPs relatives. They forbade furth-
er attentions to the young lady, under
penalty Of sending her away to a con-
vent. But neither was dismayed nor
dlsheartened They met clandestinely,
and arranged an elopement. And SO,
having given out to friends Of the family
that he would yield to fate and lose his
love, he started homeward with the girls
promise to follow in fourteen hours, to
meet, not at Cleveland, where Niles was
known, but in Toledo. Niles fastened
on at once to this city, where, having
train, and met the train bearing the
I 70, nj ri f.
they were pursued, and stepped off and
were married at once by a justice of
the peace. The next train through
Fremont took her brother to Toledo in
pursuit, but he could get no trace furth-
er than that the couple took a train
for Toledo at Cleveland. Both stayed
at Fremont few days, when Niles went
on to Toledo, and she followed, disguised
in male attire He secured place in
an engine shop, located, he thinks now,
on Erie street, and she, in her boys dis
guise, went to peddling oranges and
cigars on the street, and actually sold
some to her brother on one of his trips
to the city in pursuit.
AS the fall wore on they saw and heard
no more of the searching of friends,
and had settled down to housekeeping,
throwing off disguise, though she went
out but little. The blast of war" was
blowing strong y-how fercely many a
| lonely heart still remembers well. Ad-
vertisements from Cleveland were sent
out for engineers to run government
trains. Niles went there, made an en-
gagement for himself and fireman, and
midwinter found him running a govern
ment engine on Nashville railroad,
with his wife, in her old disguise, as fire
man. This lasted several months On
Buell's famous retreat to Nashville, there
were reports Of train being fired into
by bushwhackers, and number Of per-
sons killed on the train, and many hurt,
including the brave engineer, who paid
no heed to Instructions on the track,
and by bravely pulling through saved
the government a valuable train of cot
ton. This was Niles. He was badly
wounded, and on being stopped at Tul-
lahoma, where the road was blockaded,
was removed to Murfreesboro in an
ambulance, and thence to Northern
hospital, with his wife-freman for hos
pital nurse.
In 1865, the war over, the couple found
themselves In Cleveland. Niles got the
gold fever, and leaving his wife in that
city, left for the west He returned at
the close of the season, however, dis
heartened with the wet, which had made
the mining season failure. They lived
at Cleveland, in Toledo and Chicago, al
ternately, both doing what they could
for support, living together last at the
former city. In 1872, leaving her there,
he went to Chicago to attend to some
business connected with the demise of
his first wife's brother, named Fits. On
his arrival, he found q telegram that his
wife in Cleveland was suddenly i'll, and
might not live, though they would in
/ form him if she got worse. He staid
four days, when he reached the Cleve-
land clearinghouse was stricken with
the tidings of her death and burial The
landlord showed her clothes and effects,
and took him to the grave, whose fresh
covering was too plain proof of his Sc
we're loss. He gathered up the keep
sakes and gave up his place, and has
since lived here and there, earning what
he could Here in Toledo he may be
remembered as a skillful letterer of
windows and painter of signs.
But it is the denouement which is the
oU1dllStot ptIt VI Ills 1lStOIy, WHICH, 10,
the discovery that his wife is not dead,
but was discovered by her friends, and
by the deceit reclaimed from her wan
behring's and is now living at her old home
with the friends of her youth. Niles,
who has himself told these facts, de-
clares his intention of retaining his
lawful wife, and is sure he will succeed
in doing so.-1oledo Journal
The reduction of toll upon the New
York canals, it is feared is not going to
prove as beneficial as was anticipated.
Of the workings of the new system so
far this year the New York World says:
The low-toll policy is undergoing a
hard test The revenue receipts at
the canal auditors office for the
month of June were 800, 943 40, as
N--a