The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-11-02
MRS. JOHN MORR!SSEY.
A Talk With the Widow Of tho uroat Fighter
Now York Letter In saturday. Fhiladelphia


L =
| Records
/ In IA modest little brick house. ncstlinE under
| tho shadow Of tho great brown stone stt,lc-
lures OH West twenty It'll street, III this city,
lives Mrs. John Morrlssey. Her surround
ings give no Ind cation of tho tumliluo tife
her husband led. IInr ife IA ono or retire
ment and quiet Her tim" Ia spent In attend
| ing TO her birds, with her books aud her
| music, and, occasionally entertaining d few
| friends She does not no into society I'm tho
| ordinary aeceptatiun 81 that expression, Us
slle lid III tho days her husband rulnd the Do
litirnl destiny Of N large part Of this city, nor
is she yet y reeuae Her grief for her hus.
bandts loss has not been asaHagnI hy time,
and 1t r. not ilknly ahO will avcr again ra-
sumo her old relations socially Tho his
tory Ut this woman ia vet m llnyrit-
ton chapter. but WHOM 1t Ia told, ~ some
day It must be. there will Ie presented such n
character I'll WpInallhapl IN viii rNrtr nH-
miraton from every falFt-mndod person to
| whom tho story of her husbands career IL
one Of INTEREST. Ona journalistic mission
Como IN contact with Mrs. M"rissoy this
week, and, perhaps 70 better have you appfo-
nate her IL would w we'll to detail iu part thn
features Of the interview Shn ant on q low
sofa dressed IN q flowing black wrapper
diamond solitaire spark"d On her tiugcr. ana
All open luekct, ont nj which entitled tho iea-
lures Of her husband, was suspended about
her neck Having concluded the business
which brought ~ together sAs continued tho
conversation and said II rtA2Aay 90 out now
Whom John was stricken with his last illness
he called me ~ him and said Susie, promise
three things. nm going to die. ] know it,
and that blank side of tho monument up III
Troy will bear my name first. / want you
never to come 70 that grave after
yuu sec my body laid thcro until you
arc brought there ~ hn laid beside me.
hope that will be- many q year from now. |
want you not To wear mourning more than
year for mr. aud want the inscription ON
my gravestcne to be simple and Of few
words. promised him. BIT there are things
tha heart will not allow uta TO do, aud among
them was that should not come 70 hts tomb,
and that should III Il short twelve months
rcnounce my mourning lie has been dead
seventeen months now, aud ] cannot take Off
my black dress. John and | were married
twenty five years ago II was Just after the
Yankee Sullivan fight. VIZ wcrN married
when bo beat 1ohn Hnenan; and, although IN
shose days WHOM he went into tho ring a.
ways sent him from mo with tho injunction
Thought 81 o prize battle. but II was my
great hopeto have him succeed tn life. Ho
came back from California and visited our
house ~ Troy to bring some message from
my brother. whom he had left there. III
three weeks after chat wa were engaged, and
y few months after that wa wnrn married. |
knew John as q ragged lttle hoy about Troy,
hafofooted and beiiRnrent, always looking for
a fight. When We were married. he could not
read Or write, ana, Ia tai tile truth ] was
only u trie better of In the mntter Of eIura-
tional advantages, and told him no must
learn to road aud he said must teach him.
Well. we established lesson hours. Evnry
night before going to bed he devoted himself
to his spelling book. and iii the morning ono
hour to writing In a copybool1. Tho rule OF
study was iuexible We nnde 1t SO. The
morning after he fought John q. Ieenan.
when he was NIL aore and handaged, and
hlud nf one eyo as we'll, ! prnpped htm I'D
with pillows and made him writn's
slow long, Mrs, Morlissey. did you keep
him apupil2"
It'll his fatal Illness. Every night he
stndei something. and | studied during ihe
day that | might be abio to help him. OIL
course, when say studied | don't mean In
the ordinary school "h!......icn's way. After va
tho English branches VIC took un
history, and when he was pretty VOL posted
III thai sfat44A tho living topics VI tiln day
n matter Of investlgatton-.th tho European
news, the speeches Of tho gratt mon. | read
them In the daytime and John would go
through them Mt nightly Then we took NJ |
such books Us De Quincy, the writings Of Car
lyle. and, though John Morrssey WAS u gam
bier, and by his profession made many one-
Ut knowledge Oh many SUBJECTS, independent
~ city politics and horse racing, which would
have put to blush his sternest critics had they
been III competition with him"
did MI MorriRsey follow this linc OF study |
bccaus,s of q natural bent Of mind ("
81 don't think No. He would say: Now
this Is no good for ne. SUSIE but j pressed
him on and he would soon get Interested.
Then he had such an indomitahle pcrsevcr
ance. When he found u thing ho could not
readily understand he would master II out Of
very spite remember once or his throwing |
down his arithmetic, shortly after we were
married, and eSclaimng petttshly: ! don't
care about these fractions; they're only part
Of u thing any wayl What's the lse OF nil
this study, Susie 2 'Juhn,' | said, II you |
don't beat those fractions you Will never 20 tn |
Congress- oh that's your lay out for me. is |
n II Is. indeed, my boy. | replied. Then
lie took Up bis book again and said: Atl
right. my dear, we'll 90 to Congress. And
he dil. /"
] could continue this talk OF Mrs. Morris
scy's throughout the columns of Your paper. |
aud much she said would be OF interest, but |
/ Will only repeat her last remark az | loft |
her ''We had ten children. | sit hcre alone !
to-cay. There are ten little graves and one
large one where all my ambition for my own
lies buried" the tears started TO her eyes as |
she spoke.
Two Valuable Inventions
Virginia Nov Chronicles
The following new inventions by residents |
Of Nevada have been caveated at the Wash |
inItun Patent Office.