St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1881-08-13
The End of q So.Called Romantic Mar
riage. =


The Richmond Va.) papers recently con-
tanned an account of a romantic marriage in
that city, of which the following is:the sad
sequel, as given in Richmond dispatch Of
the 29th ult: ::
Society here is in tiutter of excitement
to-day over social sensation, the occasion
for which is the betrayal into marriage of IL
young lady OF Richmond, who moves III the
highest circles. by IL man calling 4limself
Thomas Marvin. The victimzed lady is the
niece o. one Of the most DISTINGUISHED mem
bers of the bar of this state aud gerfe
of the highest social pos ton. She is $50 con-
uected with many other excellent flmitles
here and in other portions of the Stats. She
possesses ar1oble character anii in peEaon she
is AN exceedingly pretty blonde of less than
twenty-fivey OF age: She is grca.sfay or
hosts in Of renas a aoee bo
in the city. Being dependent up1,n her
widowed mother for support. sh. had
for some time before the unhappy unE,n with
Marvin considered the propriety of securing
the position of governesS. About tnree
weeks ago her attention was called to an adj
vertisement in the Hartford GIunc5m2tm pur-
porting to lie from widower in Ohio, *Sho de-
sired to secure the services of a goveSncss to
lake charge OF his little girl, abou; six ca eight
years old. The lady quickly decided p apply
pastor. a weli~known Episcopal ce gStnun in
this city, and also distinguished Jurl:t, from
whom she obtained let ers of recon- nenda
The result Was that Marvin came Oh tp tticn-
mond, having discarded the great number of
applications with which he was heset
satis4ed that he had found the Aly he
desired. He, called upon her at her
mothers residence and here informed
her that he was the ohio widower
mentioned IN the advertisement. Re had sew
erai interviews with her. during one of which
he presented letters of introduction TO many
prominent business men here from men OF
the highest business and social positions in
no Nnrr and ~ rom
that the beirer Of them was II IN IN of ample
fortune, of culture and exec lent social posi-
ton So piausibl" were these letters and
Marvin,s story. that thy were accepted rs
genuine by his victim her famil and fr ends.
Marvin maze prop )sition of marriage to the
lady, which, after consideration by herself
soemnized at the home of her mother by the
pastor of her church. The mar iage wits
very quiet one. The groom, with treat
iberality, had marriage contract Drawn
up by a prominent lawyer, in which he
agreed to beStow $4,000 on his wife after the
marriage. The bridal party left for Niagara
on the afternoon train, Marvin leaving the inn
preston upon the friends OF the bride that
they would remain at that watering place for
several weeks. going from thence to the West,
where they would remain till the fall, and
then sail for Europe The groom represented
that he had large interests In France, where
he had lived for1many years, Not a -piclon
of the truthfulness, OF these representations
were entertained by the bride's friends. the
mans appearance and letters all tended TO
quiet any doubts of his integrity. During his
stay here Marvin called on several of the lead
ing business men and presented his letters
and was kindly received. BY some OF these he
WIS introduced to he First National Bank
where he exhibited letters of credit that gained
for him ready recognition rs rcspnn$ibe
man. Upon the strength of these Marvin
presented Il draft for $500 upon "ell-known
Chicago banking use. which was readily
cashed. Several days elapsed after the dcpaa
ure of the newly married couple before any in
telgence was received from them by the
lady's friends here In the meantime the
First National Bank received notification
wins draft was palpable forgery. This fact
was communicated to the girls friends who
were FORGET to the conclusion that their loved
one had been made the victim of vile impo.
sition. The parties purporting to have given
Marvin letters of Introduction were at once
telegraphed to. White the names of many
were found to be fictitious, the response of
the others came that rhe letters wcr>. wrctched
forgeries. The first Intelligence from the UNI
happy lady was telegram from Albion. New
y DIRK, in which she inquired if the fatal acct
dent to her mother in Salem, Va, reported in
a Northern newspaper, was true. 1t would
seem that Marvin had carried the lady to Al
bion. where he hoped to practice his forgery
scheme upon wealthy friends of hers there,
and in order to get rid of her had manufact-
nred and had pubisn ed the false story OF the
fatal accident to her mother, doubtless hoping
that this would cause her to at once return to
Richmond and thus leave the way clear to him
to desert her. As soon as the friends of the
victim realized Marvn's imposition two Of
them nromotly left here IN ioin her The
bank officers here who had been duped hv the
brideproom MA ed the case in the hands of
a DIRECTIVE who teerraphed to Albion to have
Marvin a,Ieste5 The reDly came back that
there were f,yo men of that name, in that city.
and inouiring which one was wanted. The
imnosrnr' he7rtl,r that the officers we're on
hi track fed, and il sunuosel to have rome
in the direction of Canada. Thelady's friends
fnnnd her at Albion and in order to
avoid all publicity, sac would consent only
here o to-nipnt at I5:45 The man who has
acted such an nnprineipIed part in this af-
spos efhe s the name o he is Nu n
der here belongs to him any more than the
ample fortune OF which ne. pretended to