The interior journal., 1878-03-08

T'''' "ocSf "go thcfo uppcaren NJ
the the Register, "a special Telegram
from sedalia, No., to the Cincinnati
Commercial, entitled, "a Madison
county Romance" in which was givcr
an outline Of romantic affair con
cerning the late Leroy Mitchell. q
this county. To gntify the intere.
aroused by that article, Capt. J. j
Faris, an intelligent neighbor Of tn,
deceased, and who Is thoroughly con
versant with the facts in the case, fur
nishcs us with the following infor,ua
tion:
Leroy Mitchell, the principal char
actcr in the Madison County Ro
nance was my neighbor. | knew
him well for forty.fve years. He wa,
The youngest son Of John Mitchell,
whose wife was Miss Margaret Mitch.
ell (uo kin 10 her husband,) and who
died. the former in 1887. and the lat.
ter in 1857. He was born in 1901,
on the farm adjoining the one where
he lived and died. He lived with his
mother during her twenty years Of
widowhood, and out Of the l75 acres
of land. the stock and negroes held
by her, he made enough money to buy
out the other heirs, except one, and
to buy 1913 acres more, making 303
acres in all. He vas an unusually
robust man. Of fine physique, and pos
sessed strong mind and remarkable
memory. He was 6ne wit and nm
inimitable mimic. His habits were
sober, his economy rigid. and his par
simony unbounded. lie was never
known to give or subscribe in stock,
any thing to a dirt road, turnpike,
railroad, school-house or college; and
never gave to a preacher or church.
He never bought a book or subscrib-
ed for newspaper; yet, he kept with
the greatest care all such things given
him, even to almanacs, which are fled
away as far back as 1908. He al
ways kept well posted in the local
news, and had in his possession hand.
bills and circulars ofall the campaigns
since the campaigns Of Clay, Jack
son, Crawford and Adams. He was
never married; but about the year
1916 or '46, became too familiar with
an orphan niece, and child was the
result of their intimacy. The niece
was then rejected by her relatives, in
cluding the subject of this sketch, and
became a poverty-strickcn outcast.
How the poor child was raised It is
difficult 10 tell. In course Of time she
grew up to he handsome, yet of
course an uneducated woman. She met
and married a widower, an ex-Feder-
al soldier, James Num-. They were
poor. The removed to Missouri, but
poverty followed them. Several chill
dren were born and times grew hard
er. All this while Leroy Mitchell
was growing richer. In fact, he had
now amassed the snug sum Of $685.
900. But various diseases had set in
upon him, and he saw that his lastdays
on earth were not far in the distance.
A radical change seemed to come over
him. He had always been an uncom-
promising Democrat, and could not
look upon Wing, Know Nothing
or a Republican but with distrust.
But now he summoned Republican
physicians; his servants were Repub-
licans; his assistants were Republi-
cans; he turned from his old friends
and looked to comparative strangers.
He made will and provided for dis
tant and unknown relatives against
nearer ones. He sent for his long-lost
and disowned daughter. and had her
and her family brought back, and
gave them 1853 acres of land, worth
about $1,000. He gave them house.
hold and kitchen furniture besides.
These are the facts in this singular
case, to which his relatives and neigh
bors will attest.-fRichmond Register.