Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1877-08-31

| country. In 1872 he was granted q divorce
from her, on the ground of desertion, and
soon afterwards married again. His second
wife died in 1875. leaving two children. On
the 23d of July last, Myron Pool, one of the
executors of old Mr.. Gates estate, was hand
ed letter addressed to 'Nlr. Uri Gates,
and postmarked Ltchfield, MINI. The letter
was opened by Mr.. Pool, and the following
is what he read
LITCHFELD, MINI, July Is 1877.
iather Il am alone here, sick and wretch
ed with remorse. | know You would pity
and forgive me il you knew what have sui-
fered. | have been wicked enough, but not
as wicked rs you think | am. Let me come
home, if only to be servant. My punish
ment for my recklessness has been great, and
| 1t will be comfort for me to hear from you,
| even il it is to repulse me. | have been
struggling for long time for courage enough
to 60 home and ask your forgiveness and that
of others have wronged. Let me hear from
| you, father. / will await letter with almost
nnbearable anxiety.
Your wretched daughter. ELIZA.
Executor Pool handed the letter to Mr..
Timer. consultation was held between
them, and it WAS decided that they should
| both 60 to Minnesota and learn the condi-
|
the first time in nearly ten years. They
reached Litchfield the last of July. Mr..
Pool undertook the search for Eliza, and
| found her working as n seamstress in a pri-
| vate family under her maiden name. She
| recognized Mr.. Pool on his entrance to the
| room where she was at work, and rose to
greet him, but fell fainting to the floor before
she had spoken word When she was re-
stored to consciousness he told her of her
fathers death, but mentioned nothing about
the will. She WAS greatly greved that her
father had died believing her unrepentant
| and n greater sinner than she really WAS
After she became calm again Mr.. Pool told
| her that Mr.. Timer was in the place, and that
| any communication she desired to make to
him could be made through him (PooD. She
| replied to this that she felt after her suffer-
| ings during the ten years past, although she
knew that she had brought disgrace upon his
name, that she could meet Mr.. Timer herself
and that she should, but only to beg his pity
and forgiveness. Before meeting him, how
ever, she said she should tell the story of her
life since she left home. Her story as told
to Mr.. Pool, and as subsequently told in my
hearing, was as follows
"My elopement was arranged between
Mills and myself the day before went away.
| | was to 60 to Indiana, procure a divorce
from my husband as soon as possible, and
then be Joined by Mills and married to him
| We went together as far as Wheeling, and
when We reached that place he wanted me to
give up the idea of going TO Indiana and ac-
| company him to st. Louis. This | refused
| to do, and We separated to meet when l was
divorced. He went to St. Louis, and went
first to indianapolis and then to Lafayette,
| Ind. / put my case into the hands of law
yer named Bowditch, and he gave me de-
| cree of divorce in two months, charging me
| 500. Mills had given me 5000 and had
| $50 of my own. 1t was some weeks after
got the divorce before | heard from Mills.
Then l received letter from him from Cen
tral City, Col. joined him there, and we
were married 10y an Episcopal minister named
Whitehead.
ave remained in Central City for year.
and during that time Mills treated me very
kindly. He made great deal of money,
| supplying wine stores to the region about
there. At last he acquired habit of gamb-
| ling, and in a few months squandered all the
money he had made. He began TO treat me
cruelty also, and one night, after he had lost
considerable money, he beat me. Shortly
afterward We went to Utah. There Mills
| went to cerking i'll wine store. He was
very steady for several months and treated
me with something of his old kindness but
the life he was leading was not exciting
enough for him, and he resigned his position,
and forced me with threats to accompany
him to Salt Lake City. had always a hor
ror of that place, and | look back on my life
there with a shudder.
Mills never gave me n kind word after we
went TO Salt Lake. In company with min
| er named Bill Olney he started faro bank
and house of ill-fame. He became lost to
l Il. III a.
superintend the kitchen of his horrid estab-
lishment and beat me at the slightest provo
cation. The place was broken up after run
ming year and half, and Olney and Mills
| opened gambling house on a small scale.
| In 1871 Mills, protesting to have joined the
Mormons, married another woman, and in
stalled her in the house. Three days after
he married still another, and brought her TO
his house / determined to fly from him, at
| whatever risk. One night in October, 1871,
/ disguised myself and left Mills house.
lad but little money, but by walking and
working whenever | could, | succeeded in
reaching Denver about the LIST of January.
worked in the City Hotel there for year and
a half as dining-room girl, and Just before
left there read in the Rocky Mountain NecS
the account of the killing of George Mills by
his partner, Bill Olney, in Salt Lake, during
quarrel over The division of some gambling
profits.
"The desire to write home and tell Of my
| sufferings, and beg the forgiveness of those l
had wronged was always strong with me,
but sense of shame and pride prevented me-
"In the summer of 1853, party Of En-
| glish tourists came to Denver, and i went
with them to the Spanish Peaks as waiting
maid for one of the ladies in the party. From
there | accompanied them into New Mexico,
and returned with them to Denver in the
spring of 1874. The party was making a
tour OF the world, and it was only the uncon-
querable desire had of ultimately returning
home that prevented me remaining with the
lady whose waiting maid had been, and 60
ing with the tourists. When they left Den
| started East. At st. Louis | was taken sick
with fever, and for three months was unable
to leave the city. My savings were then used
up. Mrs. Van Alta, young married
| woman from New Jersey. and who was on
her way with her husband to Minnesota for
her health, engaged me in st. Louis as her
| travelling companion. ] went with her to
Minnesota, where she died in 1876, about
one year ago near ltaska Lake.
Left alone again, and failing in health my
self, determined to make my way back
home had sufficient money for the pur-
pose, but in coming from the lake to Brain
|
robbed ofnearly all by half-breed Indian,
| who was fetching me in and who left Inc to
walk nearly thirty miles to Brainerd. For a
year after that ] had been earning liveli-
hood sewing, travelling eastward from time to
time. ! went out of my course TO Litchtieid
to accommodate n lady who had been very
kind to me She advised me TO write to my
father at once, which did. To hear that
he was dead was a bitter blow to me, as l
had yearned to tell him how had suffered,
and to hear him forgive me-
When Mr. Timer was giving the substance
Of the above story by Mr Pool, lie sought an
| interview with his late wife. The result OF
that interview was u proposal from him that
she become his wife again. He was willing
to let bygones be bygones and declared his
belief that she had been more sinned against
than shining. Mr.. Pool returned home and
Timer and the strangely recovered wife were
REMARKED in st. Paul.
A ROMANCE OF THE CARS SIsTER.-On a