The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-11-29
AFTER MANY YEARS.
a AApPY THANKSGIVING REUNION
OF West Virginia Fanily-A story Of Separation,
Inprlsonmsnt. Grief aad joy sOt Eqsallsd By
the Pen Of the ROnaneIst- strange piseor.
err ofa son and Aothsr Supposed Dead.

Imprlsonment. Grief aad JOY aot Eqsalied By
the Pen Of the RoulncIst-S -Strauso plseoI.
err ofa son snd Aothsr Supposed Dead.
CINCINNATI, o., November 28.-The Com
mrcial Gasete prints the following The
story, as given below, was related by one
OF the principal parties while seated around
4 a cosy fire in the ladies salon Of one off the
magnificent steamers that ply the waters
Of the Upper Ohio, and Is given Just as
told without any embellishments what
ever.
Twenty.one years ago, in beautiful
valley Of Greenbrier county, West Virginia,
at the foot Of the Cumberland mountains,
in that loyeliest Of oil picturesque regions,
the headwaters Of the Great Kanawha,
there lived q young farmer named Good
man. He was born and had grown to man,
hood in, that region. and had, by; hisin-
domitable industry and energy, acquired
the title To es fine q farm as any that
dotted the little valley. Some two years
previous to the opening OF the story be
had married buxom mountain lassie
and settled down to enjoy the haPpiness OF
married life. ft
Time passed on, and baby son came to
increase their happiness. With the birth OF
the son came the news that Fort Sumter had
fallen, and the tocsin Of civil war had been
sounded. Although q Southern born,
Goodman was bitter opPoser Of slavery,
and It had even been said OF him that he
had individually aided many q runaway
slave to haven OF refuge over the mysteri-
Gus Underground Railway" When the
first rumors Of war reached the quiet val
ley, Goodman bade farewell to his family,
and, accompanied by four Of his neighbors
whose sympathies were with the cause Of
the Union they secretly left the valley that
came night, and rode northwsrd. They
proceeded to Cincinnati by boat, where
they enlisted, and In course OF time were
transferred to the Army oil the Cumberland.
TAKEN PRISONER.
In the dark days Ct September, 1868,
after the battle OF Chickamauga, and in the
retreat to Chattanooga in one Of the innu-
merable skirmishes during the retreat.
Goodman was captured and shortly after
ward sent to Andersonville Prison.
Through comrade came few brief lines
to the mountain home In Virginia, that
Goodman had been captured and sent
South, and few months later came the
sad intelligence that he had died q linger-
ing death in the Southern prison pen.
Close upon the heels Of the awful Rews
came the awakening on dark night with
the proof Of her home ablszs BY the incen.
diary's torch, applied by q marauding band
|of Coniederates.
TIE WIFE A wAEDgRRR,
Crushed by the double loss, and having
no relatives near 10 whom she could apply
for refuge, Mrs. Goodman made her way
to Cincinnati, where she expected to find
home with an uncle, whom she had
visited once in childhood; but upon reach.
ing the city; her hopes were doomed 10
disappointment as he had left for the
West some years before, and his present
residence was unknown. Her limited sup.
ply OF money becoming rapidly reduced
she was forced to place her child in an
orphan asylum, and through an advertise
ment in q daily paper she obtained EN-.
ployment in a great establishment on
Fourth street.
a SORRY RETURN.
The report Of Goodman's death at Ander-
sonville proved to be false, and after weary
months Of Imprisonment he was exchanged
in the fall oils64, with some two hundred
others, and sent North. He heard no news
from home in all that time, and the scene
that met his gaze after q long and tiresome
journey was heartrendering. Ruin, desola.
ton and woe on every hand, wife and
child wanderers Of the earth, was enough TO
crush even stronger spirit than his, weak.
ened by a long siege Of imprisonment. He
hesrd that his vile had gone to Cincinnati
and in q few days he was in the city, but O
thorough search by detectives and repeated
advertisements In the daily papers failed to
find any trace OF the loving object OF his
search. Alter some weeks' faithful and
persistent inquiries, he was forced to the
conclusion that his vile and child were
both dead.
At this time the silver excitement In
Nevada was at its highest, and having
nothing to retard him, Goodman went
West 10 the hope OF forgetting bis great sor.
row in the dizzy whirl Of the mining camp.
Here success crowned all his undertake
ings. In 1876 he moved to San Francisco
and became senior partner in o banking
firm.
A LOST SON FOUND.
One morning, in answer to an advertise
ment for book.keepers, young man pre-.
ssnted himseli in his private Office, who,
by his striking resemblance to Goodman,
led to inquiries and investigation. To
make long story short, the young man
proved to bsthe long.lost SON Of Goodman.
He had been adopted from the orphan
asylum at Cincinnati, by wealthy and
childless couplecf Dayton, Ohio, raised in
luxury and given good education. Flnan.
cial reverses and the death Of both his
beneiaciors threw the young man on his
own resources, and he had. finally drifted
to the West, carried thither by the fiatter-
ing reports Of the new Eldorado. Henry,
for such was the yonng mans name, was
Immediately installed as junior partner, Of
the firm. 5s.,tsT 2 e7H :
In October last, gentleman named
Warren, an old nsighbor Of Goodman in
his Virginia home, and, by the way, one Of
the comrades that went ont with him from
the quiet valley to battle in the war Of the
Union, was in San Francisco; and, having
q draft to negotiate, he stepped into. Good.
mans bank to transact bis business. While
the money was being paid over to him by
the elder Goodman, Warren casually re.
marked that he (Goodman) very much re.
sembled an old friend whom, he knew
years ago in West Virginia. Goodman
stated be was from Greenbrier county; ex.
planation followed, the identity Of each dis
closed, and Warren was invited to the