The daily gazette., 1877-06-28
..he Friday Murder Mystery,

,Ah0 F'rAouy
A ROMANTIC MARRIAGE AND the sAp
FATE OF THE OFFICIATING CLkhSf-
MAN.
HAGERsrowN, MD, June 20, lSu;-
The intelligence In to-day,s sun OF .ho
confession at Hagerstown by one OF tne
mnrderers of the Rev. j. NJ. Friday,
June l, proved highly gratifying to the
MANY friends of the reverend gentleman
in this vicinity, as well as IN FreuericA
City and at Earpers's Ferry.
The locality of the murder was on .ne
MARYLAND side, a few hundred yards
above the railroad bridge from Harpers
Ferry, lonely road by the canal slde
made famous by John Brown at the ume
of his capture by Gen. Lee.
IL seems that the secret marriage
which Mr.. Friday was called upon 10
solemnize grew out of the disposition OF
! a romantic young couple to Indulge IN
fancy for an open-air marriage. me
parties were Mr.. OFT, residing near Hall
! town, jefferson county, and Miss NO.
ward, of Charlestown, West va, VINO
resided with her mother, the widow or
the late Grafton Howard. 1t is not
known that there was any opposition 10
the marriage of the young couple. The
mother of the young lady as well as the
community in general held young OFT IN
| high esteem.
1t was intended that the marriage
/ should not be made known until Septem-
Der. The license was obtained from the
clerk of the Washington County (Md.)
| Court, and the services of the Rev. Mr..
Friday were engaged Mr.. OFT went TO
Charles town in IA buggy for Miss Ho-
ward, and they reached Harpers Ferry
about dusk of the evening. The minis
ter, was found waiting at his post. The
party proceeded nearly to the Maryland
side of the bridge, as prearranged, where
| "A halt was made, and Rev. Mr. Friday
was about to proceed with the marriage
ceremony when he waslnterrupted by the
approach of two persons on foot MT.
| on then drove on to the Maryland side
and up the canal about forty yards, where
! the ceremony was performed, the couple
retaining their seats In the buggy and
Mr.. Friday having position on the
ground in front of the party, the groom
| handing the minister marriage fee,
which was afterwards found in his vest
pocket. Requesting the minister not to
follow him before the expiration of ten
or fifteen m! nutes the groom turned his
horse, crossed the bridge, and then drlv-
ing to Charlestown saluted his new moth
er-in-law incog., spoke of the pleasant
drive the daughter and himself had had,
and then babe his new-made bride good
night. The next day, when Mr. Fridays
death was announced, young OFT quickly
came forward frankly stated the facts
above recited, and was overwhelmed
with sorrow at the tragedy of which his
romantic but innocent action had been
Il the cause.
1t is supposed that neither of the muir
derers had any Intention of knocking
Mr.. Friday into the canal, which indeed
defeated their object of plunder, and find
4 I III - .g.I.I
ran away to Harper's Ferry.
Gardner is said to be native of Wash
ington county and Grove of Virginia.
Both lived in the vicinity of the affair
Grove is a man of family, about fifty
years old. Gardner is unmarried ant
about forty years old The reputation OF
the men has been bad for some time
Grove was confined at Hagerstown il
1860 for murder, and failed TO be convic-
! ted by the disappearance of witness
Gardner is also a noted character arounC
Harper's Ferry.