Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-02-08
"vOTREs" REMIEIsCENCEs.
A Strange Romance Of the 0lden Time
ia Williamson.
Cor. Nashvine Anerican.l

upon me and says, Wrltel
Many years ago a stranger made hi
appearance upon the waters of SOutl
Harpeth and gave his name as Hark
indeen. He was then a young man
very reticent, and he successfully re
sisted every effort to discover who o.
what he was. He was evidently a mar
of education and formed a strong con.
trast to the rude, unlettered mer
around him. He bought and paiC
cash for a body of three or four hun
bred acres of land, on which he built
a cabin, where he lived solitary anC
alone for many years. At last, how.
ever, he seemed to tire of his loneli-
ness and married a neighhor's daugh.
ter, He raised a family of children
but still told no one his antecedents
not even his wife. He had remained
here about thirty years, never going
off his farm or visiting his nearest
neighbors, when, one day, a citi-
zen saw an advertisement in a
Philadelphia paper making inquiry
for a man named Harkindeen
who had left hal place fifty years
previously, and the attorney said he
would find something to his advantage
by answering the notice. The citizen
thought, from the description and sim
gularity of the name, that it might
be the same man, and answered it,
telling the attorney where Harkin-
deem was, and in a short time the adj
vertiser, accompanied by a man rep
resented as the son Of the lost man,
came to franklin and went to see
him. He proved to be the man sought,
but he received his visitors in a stud
led silence and Indifference, and re-
fused tc impart any information or ac-
company them home. And now a
startling romance became known to
the neighbors. 1t seemed that this
man, now old and decrepid, was a cit
izen of Philadelphia, and was left at
an early age heir to an immense amount
of real estate in the heart of the city.
He married, when quite young, a
young lady, beautiful and accom-
plished, and life opened up to them
under its most fattering auspices.
In a short time after his marriage he
became unaccountably melancholy,
severed himself from society, and
sought the solitude of his palatial res
idence. He refused all intercourse
with his fellows, would not speak to
his wife, and yet there had been no
cause Of difficulty, no quarrel. This
state of affairs continued several
months, until his wife was about
to be confined, when he dis
appeared from the city, and no
amount of inquiry or advertising
could elicit the least knowledge Of his
whereabouts. No cause could ever be
assigned for his singular conduct.
His wife had given birth to a son.
The missing man was a millionaire,
being the owner of some Of the most
valuable property in the city. This
property was, at the time of his depart
ure, for the most part unimproved, and
consequent upon taxes and other ex-
penses his command of money was
limited. But by leases, etc., it had
been improved, and now is valued at
fourteen or fifteen millions of dollars.
The son had never been put in posses
sion of the property, on account of
want of information as to his father s
death, and it was with a view to this
discovery that he was advertised. He
refused to recognize his son, or hold
any communication whatever with
him, the paternal instinct being dead
in the old man. At first he utterly
refused to hold any communication
with the lawyer, asking no question
about his wife, who still lived, and
only looked az them with stolid indif.
ference. These gentlemen spent sew
eral days worrying with this singular
man, aud at last, through
the influence of some of his
neighbors, he agreed to sign a
relinquishment in favor of the son, on
condition he should be allowed to rest
for the future undisturbed. They Of
fered him as much of his money as
he desired, but this he refused to re-
C%eiye, saying he had already suffered
enough for money, and that he had
enough for the wants Of himself and
wife and so they left him and his
unlettered wife, who, though no wife
in lew, had lived with him many years.
She did not seem 10 comprehend the
morality of her relations. nor were
they ever changed as they continued
on the even tenor Of their a seem
ingly undisturbed by the episode.
Their hermit habits were not changed
nor did they seem TO comprehend or
regret that they had given away for
ever a princely fortune. They lived
in their solitude a few years longer.
when the old man died, bequeathine
10 his humble helpmate his farm and
stock. Here she remained until a few
years ago, when she, too, died. The
singular fortunes Of old Harkindeen
are the staple subject Of gossip TO the
stranger who comes among the people
Of that neighborhood.
One more hit at Judge Guild-and
this time as a fnancier. He says in
his interesting book that Judge Camp
bell sold a COW to a settler for $15. and
the man, being unable to raise the
money, let the judge have a cedar
knob for the debt. That cedar knob
is the Capitol Hill, and was sold TO
the State for S30,0OO-a big price for a
COW. Now, if the judge had sued the
man and got his money and placed it
at six per cent. interest, investing the
interest each year, at this time. in
stead Of a cedar knob worth S30.0 900.
he would have had an actual cash Of
S3536Ol7! SO you see Judge Camp
bell made a serious loss in the trans
action. losing 1890. la snug sum.
II also shows that, though small. in.
forest will soon undarmro c