Sharp County record., 1881-03-03
How George Peabody Was "Cut Out'
81 Funny COurtship.

might have been changed and Il Fea-
body and Johns Hopkins had married,
then had Baltimore lacked the two mu-
nifceut riffs which. more than all the
rest Of her possessions, give ner an IN
dividuaIitv as Z city. How very near
Peabody came to marrying a very re-
markable giri with the substantial name
of Sarah Ann Brown is not generally
known. but the story is worth the tell
. mo because Of the very unique way in
which PeabOdy's rival won the young
woman.
If the reader viii consult the Encv-
aloDnIia Biographical OF the State Of
. MARYLAND he will ind an article devoted
to one G. c.. q" retired merchant and
manufacturer. who is mentioned IS the
/ first person in the United states to man
ufactre cotton duck. He was at the
time Of his rivalry with Peabody very
wealthy man. while Peabody was poor.
But with all his money, his mind had
/ been so occupied with business that il
. had never seriously occurred to him to
ret married. until one day a friend sug-
rested To lim that he would be much
happier and far more comfortable II ne
had @ wife The notion seems to have
. impressed MIN very thoroughly. and 10
. at once began to look about MIN for
wife with the same sort Of energy and
/ interest that he applied to his business
. ENTERPRISES. 1t occurred to him that j
very pretty giri who, with her grand.
mother. So old Mrs. Brown had been
. in his store a week or so before. and mad
/ been weighed. might suit him. He had
/ some acquaintance with the grandmOth-
. or. and with a trivial excuse ne Ventured
/ to call upon her that same day. He was
so fortunate in bis visit that he met the
Young lady, fell in love with her on the
spot, and racGed his brain rs he was
| leaving for an excuse to call again.
The gods Of good fortune attended him.
for he had the grace to ask her about
/ her reading-had she read such a book?
No. but she very much wished to. Then
he would bring her COPY and he eft
her. feeling that he would procure the
book for her if he had to gallOp on
horseback all the way to New York to
get it.
Those were aute-raiIrOad days, when
ardent lovers had room for heroic en-
/ deavOrs. such as steam cars. telegraphs
and telephones have dissipated. But
he found the book in his own library,
and all unskilled aS he was in the arts
Of love, he presented himself the fol-
lowing evening with the desired book
in his hand. But the servant, who ad-
mitted him. informed him that Miss
Brown was engaged with llr. Peabody.
Would Mr. G. call again? etc. Mr.. G.
was too infuriated for courtesy; he left
the book and the house in great anger,
feeling that all hope for him was lost,
and venting his wrath uDOn the studiOus
and Door Young Mr.. Peabody, who be
! felt sure was in possession Of the heart
Of the bright-eyed Sarah Ann. That
he was in a fair way to possess both her
affections and her hand there is much
/ reason to believe, if the richest 20 IL
factu er in Baltimore had not chanced
. to cross his path that memorable night.
While Mr.. Peabody WIS pushing his
suit in the pleasant parlOr, the irate Mr..
c. was walking around the city Of
Baltimore at a 0reak-neck pace, walk
. ing to ease off his grand passion. About
/ eleven o. clock he found himself again
in the neighbOrhoOd of the Brown man
sion and rs ne drew nearer he esDied
two people on the front porch, one OF
whom soon descended the steps, and
whom he recognized as Mr.. Peabody.
Ia rlr I,rr
lady lingering on the pOrch-it was il
the mildness Of the early autUmn-Le
was seized with species Of
frenzy, which he always after
ward declared ne could never account
for, and mounting the steps ike
winged Mercury he seized the aston
ished girl in his arms, and kissing her
with the fury Of a mailman he ran away
as fast as his LEGS could carry him. He
had not gone far before a sense of what
he had done came over him with over
whelming shame and humiliation, and
he could scarcely wait until the evening
OF the following day to 90 and beg par
don for his incOmprehensibIe act. But
next night. after he had made ample
apology to Miss Brown for MS behavior
and felt himself in a way reInstated in
her good graces, he suddenly turned
and embraced her again as on the pre-
/ cedinr evening. The novel and ardent
wOOing. or whatever it might be called,
won the dav for him, strange as it may
seem, and the wedding took place soon
afterward, but not until the triumphant
manufacturer had prepared home for
his bride furnished from cellar to attic
with every conceivable article that
could be needed in a house. Much Of
the furnishing Of that house is still in
use by the descendants Of the family,
and the grandchildren Of to-day distin-
guish the grandmother that Sarah Ann
. eventually became from all the other
grandmothers by speaking Of her as
- Grandma Brown
She lived TO see the fortunes OF her
husband diminish, as she saw that OF
Peabody increase, but whether she re-
gretted her choice or not she was an eX-
cellent wife and a most brave and resO-
lutte woman. She has a little grand
daughter in Baltimore now who is the
image of what she was that autumn
evening many year ago, when young
Mr.. Peabody feasted his eyes on her
face-a flashing black-eYed little girl,
who will grow to be tall as was her
ora N u mother and with a coD1 14,iaviOn