Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-02-16
A STRANGE srosY.
Nearly Forty Years of Masqueradna IN Fs.
g np0he AffJre. ~ st 81
Winchester, Va, Dispatch

Al t aHtl
Nearly Forty Years of Masqueradlna IN r
m1fs Attire. ~ 81 l
Winchester, Va, Dispatch.
i Mr.. Jas! P. Riley, clerk Of ii
county court here, was astounded
: few days ago by the application (
y Miss Elizabeth Rebecca Payne,
n well-known lady living near thi
e city, for a. license to marry a Mis-
Hinton. Mr.. Riley thought tn
. lady was joking, and treated tn
matter lightly at first, but when h
: discovered that she was i'm earnes
e I.ia her application he gravely infor
J med her that the law of Virgini;
would not permit one lady to Inar
fy- another. She then almost paral
! yzed him by stating that she was
/, not woman but man. He, al
!, well as all Winchester and very
large slice of the Valley of Virgins
had known her. as. Il woman fol
many years, and it is natural tc
: suppose that her unsexing was 4
great surprise to him and the entire
community. However the upshOt
OF the affair was that Miss Payne
until she had her given name chang.
ed by due process of law to more
masculine one. Previous to the APP
plicationifor license, Miss Payne, il
is stated, had informed two or three
gentlemen in her neighborh0od that
she intended to marry Miss Hinton,
accompanying the information with
the further revelation of her true
4 sex. This astonishing news had
become spread about the neighbor.
hood of her home, little hamlet
called Rest about seven miles south
of Winchester, before the applica-
tiOn for license was made, and some
cautious whispers OF it had reached
Winchester, but no one openly
spoke of it on the street. When it
became known, however that the
person whom every body had know
as Miss Elizabeth Rebecca Payne
for many years, for it is said she is
on the shady side of thirty-eight
years, had openly avowed herself Il
man and announced her determina-
| tion to take unto herself a wife, the
| tongues of the people were loosed
and the strange affair was upon
every ones lips. Nothing since the
great battle of the late war had crea-
ted so decided sensation in the
Interesting and historic little city
OF Winchester and up and down
the rich and beautiful Shenandoah
valley.
The people marveled and laugh
ed almost at the same breath. 1t
was all SO strange, and yet SO irresis-
tibly funny. The community, as
every other, has it wiseacres, who
began to shake their heads when
they heard the news, and purse up
their mouths to say: 81 told you
So" like the traditional old woman
when told by her waggish husband
that the COW had swallowed the
grind stone, but it was no use They
were good -naturedly laughed down
and the whole valley acknowledge
genuine surprise. They had seen
Miss PayEe ride INTO Winchester
for years on her horse as lady, and
bowed to her, respected her, admir-
ed her some what naseuling grace
id managing her spirited animal, 1
was tinged with grty, no doubt |
recall some gallant little speeches,
just dashed with tenderness, they'd
uttered in bowing over her hand in
past years. Perhaps a few of them
remembered the time at some even
ing gentertainmeRt when they had
lquOted poetry to her, or while walk
ing beneath the whispering trees
in summer time with the moon
flooding the beautiinl valley, alfs-
ter on in life they recalled her aS
the acknow lftlged9hesld OF her far
lily, II woman Df spirit, wit yinttili-Ja
gence und decided business grit,
managing her affairs in an adnira-
bic way and conducting in addition
thereof successful store and Uni.
tel States post-office at Rest. Win
chester and the valley Of Virginia
remembered all this, and wondered
and laughed and wondered agaih,
and although the affair was nearly
a week old when your correspond
ent began to enquire into il to day il
was still fresh enough to set all tom
CUES wagging with pleasant exciet-
ment. Mr.J oseph A.NultOn, clerk of
the circuit court, said that Miss Payne
was a member of one of the most re-
spectacle families in the Valley of
Virginia, her father was Mr.. Joseph ;
Payne, popular and good-natured
who lived and died upon I
the farm now operated by the indi-
vidual who has created such sensa T,
ton in this valley. There were four
Or five daughters living when the
father died. They continued to re- {
side upon the farm. Several Of ]
them were well educated and high {
" cultivated, and charmed all by
heir personal attractions and ele-
CANT manners. All were ladies OF
ine sense, and mingled in the first
social circles. Two Of the sisters
we're married some years ago TO
gentlemen whose social status is
equal TO the best in the State.
Miss Rebecca was more masculine r
both in physique and mind, than ,
yerses took placein the family for {
une she came tb the front and SO s
the property AS to increase Fl
is productiveness and rapidly i'm q
,rove the family income, She then O
in merchandise, and was J..
appointed post-mistress at Rest. b
Ter business prospered and the r,
arm improved apace. She also en- 81
.aged in buying and selling stock, p
u which she soon became expert, il
nd has since had a large dealings h
With and is we'll known among a "
arge number of stock dealers. She el
vas successful in all her business r.
'entures ard had succeeded in q
rnasing a snug fortune. She had "
ever mingled freely with either of e,
he sexes, but turned her attention cl
to business. Dressed as J..
woman, she always looked mas Il
uline, and when on horseback at T,
lacted attention everywhere she "
vent. Her auburn hair was always
yorn cropped and falling down her tc
eek a trifie lower than may be h
cen on many of the valley farmers. a
Ter eyes are brown and her com ii
lexion little bronzed, like one q
1ho is much exposed to the sun. o.
he never had the sign of a beard, A
nd her voice was not unfemihine. bi
70 one ever suspected her being a ii
nan. She was born and raised al
pom the farm at Rest. AS Virgin st
1 law requires her to change her IL
iven name to one which will iiudi- ii
ate her sex before she can be recog- o.