Bridgeton pioneer., 1884-09-25
MR.. BLAINE'S MARRIAGE

Hon. Walter Phelps takes the re-
sponsibility of giving to the public the
following private letter addressed to
him nearly two weeks ago:
AUGUSTA, Sept. 9th 1884.
MY DEAR MIR. PHELPs:-I have your
favor OF the 4th, advising me that ''the
continuous invention and wide circula-
ton OF evil reports render it advisable
Gin your judgment) not to wait the
slow process of the law, but to speak
directly to the public in my own vindi-
cation" In this opinion many others
on whose judgment rely concur.
shrink instinctively from the sug-
gestion: although feel sure l could
strengthen the confidence of all who
feel friendly to me, by bringing to view
the simple thread of truth which is con
cealed in the endless tissue of false
hood. You can imagine how inexpress-
IDLY painful it must be to discuss ones
domestic life in the press, although 1
think with you that under the circum-
stances l could count upon the gener-
osity of the public to justify a state
ment which otherwise might seem OBJ
Jectionable. can, in any event, safely
commit the facts to you for personal
communication to those friends who
have taken so delicate and so consider
ate an interest in my affairs. The
leisure hours of to-day, when our cam
palgn is ended and we wait only for
the election, give me the opportunity
for this prompt reply and for the fol-
lowing essential details:
At Georgetown, Kentucky, in the
spring OF 194S, when l was but eighteen
years of age, l first met the lady who
for more than thirty-four years has
been my wife. Our acquaintance re-
suited, at the end of six months, in an
engagement, which, without the pros
pect OF speedy marriage, we naturally
sought to keep to ourselves. Two
years later in the spring of 1850, when
was maturing plans to leave my pro-
fesslon in Kentucky and establish my
self elsewhere, l was suddenly sum
moned to Pennsylvania by the death of
my father. 1t being very doubtful if
l could return to Kentucky, 1 was
threatened with an indefinite separa-
ton from her who possessed my entire
devotion. My one wish was to secure
her to myself by an indissoluble tie
against every possible contingency in
life, and, on the 3Oth day of June, 1850,
lucky, we were, in the presence of
chosen and trusted friends, united by
what l knew was, in my native State
OF Pennsylvania, perfectly legal form
of marriage.
On reaching home I found that nv
family and especially my bereaved
mother, strongly discountenanced my
business plans, as involving too long a
separation from home and kindred.
l complied with her wish that I should
resume, at least for a time, my occupa-
ton in Kentucky, whittier l returned
in the latter part of August.
During the ensuing winter, induced
by misgivings under new responsible
ties-misgivings which were increased
by legal consultations-I became
alarmed lest doubt might be thrown
upon the validity of our marriage by
reason of noncompliance with the law
of the State where it had occurred; for
l had learned that the laws of Ken
lucky made a license certified by the
Clerk of the County Court an indispen-
sable requisite of legal marriage. At
ter much deliberation and with an anX-
ious desire to guard in the most effect
ual manner against possible embar-
rassment resulting from our position
for which | alone was responsible
we decided that the simplest and at the
same time the surest way was to re-
pair to Pennsylvania and have another
marriage service performed. This was
done in the presence of witnesses, in
the City of Pittsburg in the month of
March, 1851, but was not otherwise
made public for obvious reasons. 1t
was solemnized only to secure an indis-
putable validity-the first marriage be-
ing by my wife and myself always held
sacred At the mature age of fifty
four | do not defend the wisdom or
prudence of secret marriage sug.
gested by the ardor and the ineXper1-
ence of youth, but its honor and its
purity were inviolate, as | believe, in
the sight of God, and cannot be made
to appear otherwise by the wicked de-
vices of men. 1t brought to me a COM
panionship which has been my chief
happiness from boyhood's years to this
hour, and has crowned me with what
ever of success l have attained in my
life.
My eldest child, son, was born in
his grand-mother's house on the 18th
day of June, 1851, in the City of Angus
ia, Maine, and died in her arms three
years later. His ashes repose in the
cemetry of his native city. beneath a
stone which recorded his name and the
limits of his innocent life That stone,
generation, has been recently defaced
by brutal and sacrilegious hands.
AS candidate for the Presidency L
knew that | should encounter many
forms of calumny and personal defa-
nation, but l confess did not expect
to be called upon to defend the name
of beloved and honored wife, who Is
a mother and grandmother, nor did
l expect that the grave of my little
child would be cruelty desecrated.
Against such gross forms of wrong
the law gives no adequate redress, ana
know that in the end my most effect
i've appeal against the unspeakaole
outrages which l resist must be TO the
noble manhood and the noble woman
hood of America.
Your friend, very sincerely,
JAMES G. BLAINE