River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-04-24
LoNGFELLOw,s MARRIAGE.
A WaYtcard Nephetr of the Poet Making
an Irish Girl His Bride.

A WaY,card Nephetc of the Poet Making
Irish Girl His Bride.
Boston Cor New York SUM-
Stephen Longfellew, who was married in
Jersey City on Friday night to Ann j. Hen
nessey, of Charlestown, Mass, is a nephew
of Henry w. Longfellow, and was born at
the homestead of General Wordsworth, of
revolutionary fame, in Portland nearly forty
five years ago. His bride was q saleswaman
in the dry good store of B. III. White j. Co.,
and is comely Irish girl of less than seven
teen years. Stephen Longfellow has for
many years been employed in the United
States coast survey service, as was his brother
Henry W., who died some years ago. These
brothers were reputed to be two of the most
talented engineers in the service. Stephen
has held important positions, and his stations
have been scattered along the Atlantic coast
and on the great lakes. He has a wife and
children in Philadelphia, and it is rumored
that the wife obtained q divorce some time
ago on account of his dissipation. Some of
his friends deny this, and aver that he IS
still bound by the ties of marriage. He has
been in Boston for several months, but has
never lived in Cambridge, which place he
gave as his residence when married to Miss
Hennessy.
Some time previous to Thanksgiving Day
he formed the acquaintance of the Hennessy
girl. On Thanksgiving Day he broke his
leg by fall, and subsequently suffered
amputation at the Massachusetts, general
hospital. Miss Hennessy had left the en-
ploy of White & Co. previous to this, and
during his confinement she frequently
visited him at the hospital, giving her
mother various excuses for her absence from
home. Whenever she neglected to visit him
he invariably sent a note to her, which she
told her mother was from friend who was
trying to get her position in some store III
town, or from the proprietor of shop who
had sent for her. After he had recovered
so as to be able to leave the hospital, she
absented herself from her home for whole
week. telling her mother that she was on a
visit to friend. the daughter of DIR. Wor-
den, of the navy, who lived in Sommerville,
which was proved to be untrue. The two
apparently became infatuated with each
other, and were together as much as possible.
One evening in February they came with
another couple to the fremont House late
at night and entered the ladies' parlor. The
other young man, who is unknown, applied
to the clerk, MIR. Wilson, for justice of the
peace to perform marriage ceremony. No
such magistrate being i'll the house, MI. Wilson
went in quest of one, and found one III the
Parker house. Upon returning to the Ire
mont, however, it was ascertained that Long
fellow and not his male companion, was the
candidate for marital rites; but the justice
| refused to perform the marriage ceremony
| for two reasons-that the would-be bride
groom was drunk, and, besides, gentleman
present who knew Longfellow expressed his
| belief that he already had family. The
woman was, doubtless, Miss Hennessy.
| Shortly after this Mr.. Longfellow's friends
sought to break up the match. They invok-
ed the aid of the Charlestown police, and
asked that Miss Hennessy be arrested, in
order that she may be frightened into re-
turning the jewelry, money and other pres
ents, which thoy alleged he had given her, to
the value of $500 or 5000. Most of this
money, they said. he had borrowed from ac-
quaintances. Be this as it may, it is sure
that he had quite large sum of money in
| his possession on the night of the
| fremont house adventure. His friends told
the officers that he had been on protracted
spree. and they thought he was not respon-
sible for his acts. The girl, however, kept
out of the way of the officers and escaped
arrest. The police speak rather slightingly
of the girl, but make no specific accusation
against her.
The home of the Hennessys is of the
humblest sort. The house is an old wooden
rookery, standing on Chelsea street, in the
Charlsstown district, directly opposite the
navy yard barracks. The main room, &C.
cupied by the family, is in the basement,
and by descending the four or five steps
from the street, and STOPPING, one can enter
the apartment and stand erect. The walls
and ceiling of the room are of rough wood,
covered with coating of whitewash. The
rude chimney stands out from the wall, and
behind it is a bed Shelves around the side of
the room contain the few ar
ticles necessary for use in the1
culinary department and for the
dining table, which, with two or three chairs,
forms the furniture of the room. A stair
way without railing leads to the two little
rooms above use1 for bed-chambers. Not
withstanding the appearance of poverty,
everything in view was scrupulously neat.
The mother, a buxom, honest-faced woman,
showed unmistakable grief at the conduct of
her daughter.
81 don't know where she is" she said 81
didn't know she was going to be married
God bless her. She was silly girl, because
he's fine gentleman, and it won't be long
he will keep the likes of her, poor girl. I'm
afraid he deceived her. Maybe he's got an
other wife somewhere in the world. Do you
know him yourself? Oh, Anna was as good
girl as ever a mother raised"
And thus the mother ran on, telling how
her husband had died nine years ago, leav
ing her with four children, and how she had
struggled to bring them up how Annals So
week helped them along, and how she
hoped no harm would come to her child.