Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1880-04-23
MALEDICTION FULFILLED.
True and Romantic Incident of the In

...-.-.. Civil War. -
u. W. Avery, Colonel Fourth Georgia Cavalry,
in Cincinnati Enquirer.
In the domain of fiction the use. OF q
verified malediction is a tavorite arti6ce
OF dramatic effect. Upon the stage, that
scene Of simulated passion, we find it
used with impressive influence In the
realm of the real, history recalls NO we'll
authenticated instance Of realized curse.
The following Is literal case that &C.
cured during the war, under the personal
knowledge of the writer, and has been The
theme OF much speculation. Whether it
was mere coincidence, happening with
out real connection, or whether it was
one Of those mysterious matters Of mex
plicable romance that break the current
OF staid prosaic facts, must ever remain
an unsolved problem. I will vouch
for the details alone. The reader must
exercise his own judgement upon them :
OLD AUNT RACHEL STONE.
The incident began in the curly part
of 1868. The writer commanded a
regiment Of Georgia cavalry. Most of
the members Of this regiment came from
Whitfield and the adjoining counties in
the northern part OF the State of Georgia
Among the soldiers was a youth named
Stone, who enlisted in the company
raised in Murray county by Capt. Reu-
ben Keith. The mother Of young Stone
was very notable character. She was
called Old Aunt Rachel Stc,ne. Her hus-
band was dead and she was, still widow
supporting her family on small farm.
She was woman Of marked and pecu-
liar appearance, very large, erect, mas
culine creature, with the frame, muscles
and stride OF a man. She was over six
feet high. broad should cred, massive,
sinewy, Of immense physical vigor and
strength, performing manual labor on
her farm with the power and readiness
OF man, plougbing. splitting rails and
such other work requiring force and en-
durance. She had face, clear, open, de-
cided, OF remarkably positive expression,
large, bright blue eye, of piercing pene-
tration, nose OF character, a broad thin
Tipped mouth, firm set, conforma-
ton of jaw full of will and power.
a broad high brow, and unkempt
blonde hair that was often hanging loosely
on her shoulders and which, when s.,
tluttering around her expressive counte-
nance and heavy frame, gave an effective
individuality to her appearance. The
most impressive thing at least about Der
was her manner of talking She had a
deep, clear voice, and an oracular way OF
uttering her words that were singularly
fcrcible. She spoke with dcl1berat1on
precision, a. measured emphasis and a
ringing earnestncss that ALWAYS held the
attention. She was naturally oratorical
IN her manner and utterances. A public
speaker might have learn ed something
from her. She expressed herself with un-
usual directness and u sort Of dramatic
flavor that lost nothing from the fact
that it was couched in rude words and
uncultured idiom. There was always,
also, an originality in her opinions and
expressions that interested u nearer. Her
mind was bold and independent, though
uneducated, and her intelligence strong
and picturesque, though unframed.
She took her toddy at times, and even
exceeded prudent ration OF spirits on
extra occasions. But there was never
anything against her chastity, and
she prided herself very much upon her
unblemished character. Said she once to
the writer in her peculiar manner, with
an added ring to her earnest voice, and
dwelling with her ora cular emphasis upon
each distinct syllable-
"Mebbe you think. am a drab. But
I amt! I am one cf Jeff Davis daugh
tcrs.'
She prided herself very much upon
being good, worthy subject of the con-
federacy, which she hs bituaIly epitomiz
ed under the name Of ~'Jeff Dav 49, Take
her all IN all, with her strong sense, her
original intelligence, her decj sive meth
DDS, her keen penetration, her impress
slve expressions, her shrewd observation
of public matters and her rough, but
picturesque individuality, q nd she was
very remarkable character, and to nc
a study of considerable inte rest.
CAPT. REUBEN XXI 1rH.
The other leading charac ter in this I'm.
common and tragical afa II was Capt.
Reuben Keith, one of the ,est officers in
my regiment. He was a yell-to-d well
educated farmer of Murrs county, aged
somewhere between th,rt! five and forty
a man of high character and standing
He was conservative, straightforward,
practical citizen and sold Ter, universally
respected, his just, deli berate, decided
methods carrying gr eat weight and
influence. His app sarance was
an index of the MAJ !. He was q
stout, well proportional, sturdy-lookina
gentleman, erect and soi lid, with fine
open face, full of inteW gence and will
and good temper. He looked the Anglo.
Saxon all over, with his fair skin, rudy
color, light hair and fin, blue eyes, sc
clear and direct in their gaze. He had
an unusually clear judi gment, and was
noted for his truth anil integrity. He
had the quality of reliability to an
uncommon degree He was brave and
skillful officer and an e: kcellent discipln
arian. His comp aand was thoroughly
within his grasp. His final destiny wal
a puzzling and ILL ,gical sequence of hii
character and car Ger. It violated every
antecedent and ex perience Of the man
and, connected as it was and interviewer
with the little incident I shall nar1ate, ir
which old Rachel Stone figured. so d,a
matically, it has affled philosophical con
sideration.
TIE WRONG.
My regiment was encamped near Win
chester, Tennessee. Mrs. Stone came
from Georgia to Tennessee to endeavor tt
get her young son discharged from ser.
vice. he was not of age, and while she
had given her consent to his enlisting
her maternal solicitudc had gs,tten the
better of her patriotism, and she, wished
to regain him home away from the perils
of the Battlefield. She spent nearly q
week in the vicinity of the camp plead
ing with Capt. Keith and myself to "a
voa the discharge Of her son. 7 frankly
told the old lady that I could not ap-