The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-05-17
A Wonderful Transformation.

The following remarkable story is
vouched for by eight reliable citizens
of Erie, Pa: VIM. P. Baxter is a
farmer, and had for many years
owned large farm situated between
North East, Pa, and Ripley, n. Y.
He is frequently in Erie. where he
is well known. Near to the Baxter
farm there lives a family by the
name of Fear, highly respected by
their neighbors. About twenty-five
years ago there was born in this
family !. girl, a sweet little cherub
that became the pet of the neigh
borhood. They named her Rosa,
and she grew up a lovely child, and
in due time was sent to school. Here
she distinguished herself by most
extraordinary precocity. Her apti-
tude exceeded that of scholars ten
years older than herself, and in less
than two years she had passed every
other pupil and stood at the head Of
her classes, the holder of all the
honors competed for. At the age of
fourteen she entered the services of
Mrs. Baxter, the first wife of the
farmer referred to. Rosa proved to
be as good a girl for farmhouse
duties as she had been a student,
and the Baxter family liked her so
well that she was treated in every
respect as though she was one of the
family. She continued to live there,
and when she had attained the age
of eighteen her hand was sought in
marriage by a young farmer from a
neighboring village. For some rea-
son, unaccountable at that time to
her friends, Miss Fear declined the
honorable offer, alleging that she had
no desire to quit the roof of her
kind friends. About this time it be-
gan to be noticed hat Rosa's features
were losing their feminine softness,
and that the efleminate contour OF
her hitherto symmetrical form was
vanishing, and giving place to mas
culine angularity. Her hands, that
were once so well shaped, began to
grow large and coarse, and a down
appeared on her upper lip. The
presence of the latter greatly dis
tressed her, and as it continued to
grow in spite of all her efforts to
prevent it, she become so ashamed
that she refused to accompany the
Baxters to the family pew in the
village church, or to mingle in any
of the socials or parties in which she
had once been courted belle. The
family, while deeply regretting the
loss of Rosa's personal attractions,
tiled to laugh her out of her sensi-
tiveness, but the girl appeared to be
consumed with a secret.
About six months after this, Rosa
did not appear as usual one morn
ing. No answer came from her room,
and when it was broken open it was
found to have been unoccupied that
night. All Rosa's clothes were hang
ing up, even to those she was accus-
toned to wear about the house. slr.
Baxter sent his son Charles to look
in the barn, dreading to enterit him.
self, for dreadful suspicion of sui
eide was uppermost in his thoughts.
But Rosa was not in the barn, Meth
er was she on any part of the farm.
At last the searchers found two let
tiers in her trunk. one addressed to
Mrs. Baxter and the other to her
parents. The contents of Mrs. Bax-
ter's letter created the utmost con-
sternation. 1t issaid that the writer
had gone away that it would be
useless to follow her; that her life
had become unbearable because
within a year nature had worked a
complete metamorphosis, unsexing
her, and making it necessary to
change her home and raiment. The
astonished Baxters discovered that
she had left ali her female clothing,