The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-03-21

AFTER THIRTY YEARS.

AFTER THIRTY YEARS.
a Romance in Real Ohio Life--A Pair of
Lovers, After a Separation of Thirty
Years, Are RecOnciled, and Become Man
and Wife.
j Correspondence of the Chicago Tribunel
CLEVELAND, o., March IA ro-
nance in real life has just had its Sc
quel enacted in an Ohio village not 500
miles from Cleveland. Thirty years
ago William Good was a young black
smith, living in the country town of
H, in Granger County. Anna
Lacy was the young woman whom he
had chosen for his bride. and the day of
the wedding had been fixed for the
balmy May, and the time of which |
speak was February. A Disciple Elder
named Lilly came to the village to hold
a protracted meeting. This was some
thing entirely new to a large class Of
people. They had never before heard
of what was termed the Gospel form of
COMPASSIONATE the ''mourning
bench" or previous prayers, but simply
a confession of faith and immediate
baptism The older denominations,
especially the Methodists, who were
quite strong in the village, made strenu7
Gus opposition to the Evangelist and his
doctrine, but the simplicity of the teach
ing, and the eaTnestness of the preach
er, seemed to make considerable i'm
preston, and number, especially of
the young people, were converted org
Williams parents are strong Method
lists, and of course opposed to the
meetings. He was too busy to attend
the meetings or care very much about
them, except to request Anna not to go,
AT first Anna complied, but finally, yield
ing to the impulse of curiosity, began to
attend the forbidden meetings One
night, soon after, her dearest friend, a
young lady of her own age, started,wh
the Invitation was given to sinners to
come forward, saying: r..l -.-.r ....
q am going, Anna come along with
me.'' lH r".-i Co.,. .Hf1 a7l
1t was irresistible, and the two young
ladies went forward, confessed that they
were sinners, and that very night in the
moonlight went to the creek and were
baptized. ... ....fr... -.,. ......t
William did not hear of this until the
next morning, when he was at work as
usual in his shop. A friend came in,
and, after the usual salutatiOns were
passed, the meeting was casually refer
red to.
THAT consumed preacher is still 60
ing on with his meetings, is he?'' asked
William. ....rr
al should say sou replied the friend!
I" But why do you ask? You must know
all the news, seeing how, Anna Lacey
was dipped last night"
2" What?p asked William, with his
heavy hammer poised in .mid-air over
his red-hot iron. " What's that YOU
savP -
. You express a great surprise; didn'E
you know that it was all over town that
Anna is one Of the converts? But you
needn' t feel so bad about it, added the
friend, 50 seeing that so many of the re-
spectacle people here are going in" n
According TO the tradition of the time,
William threw his hammer across the
shop, INDUCED in a profusion of oaths,
and, washing himself, Immediately start
ed for Annals home He found her in
a pensive state OF mind, such as the pre-
viOus evenings confession and the feel
ing of assurance that past sins were for
given would naturally induce Exactly
what was said and done by the lovers,
of course, it is impossible at this late day
to tell But in general way it is
known that they quarreled. William
said that if he was confident that she
would always hold out faithful to her
profession, he would not desire to mar
~ her, for he could never feel an affini- |
ty for such heterodoxy, although he |
made no profession of faith at al him |
self. She replied that she was glad 10
find out how he felt upon the. subject; |
that if he felt 50 it would be useless to !
talk of their marriage any longer, for |
she should always remain true TO her |
profession. So they parted. ~. -. |
She soon after removed to Illinois, |
where within two years, she married a /
sturdy prairie farmer, and proceeded |
with the work Of raising a family and |
providing for the wants of the house |
hold She became the mother of three /
children, all of whom have grown to /
man and womanhood, and are settled /
comfortably in the West. Last year
Annals husband, who, by the way, was /
a number of years her senior, died, and 1
was gathered to his fathers in a prairie 1
church-yard; and his affairs having /
been settled up so that she could do so, /
Anna, nov woman OF 50, came !, back 4
for the first time TO her Old friends in 1
Ohio on visit. Ii, 81
Now let as. return TO William, and fol- /
low his fortunes in a hasty glance DIR
ing the more than 80 years He very
soon gave up the pursuit of a black /
smith, and, removing to.a neighb9Eing /
city, engaged in the studyo of law. In /
due course he was. admitted to the bar, /
began a practice, which increased with |
the years, became Prosecuting Attorney,
went TO the Legislature term or two, /
and at length found himself wealthy. He /
did not marry for several years, and not |
until he bad assured himself that Anna !
was already the mother OF = family. 1t
was whispered ,by Annals friends here /
that he regretted his rash quarrel with /
her, but he was never heard to express