Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-09-28

affair. Miss Nellie was the flower of the
family, and had every accomplishment.
A fine linguist, she was clever musician
and vocalist, and had toyed with the arts
sufficiently to have more than a super
fetal knowledge of them. She was tall,
of shapely figure, and of a blonde type.
AS the youngest of the family she had
been petted, and her Whlms had been
gratifed in every way. She had but just
made her debut in the society of the capi-
tai city when Frederick Shepard was en-
gagged by Gov. Hubbard as cOachman. He
was good looking man of about 2S, and
was an American. For few years pre-
viOus to his entering the employ of Gov.
Hubbard he was hackman in Hartford,
and his associates had always been of a
common class, and he was sadly Hitter
ate.
One of his duties as coaehman was to
take the three Misses Hubbard for drive
every pleasant afternoon. Miss Nellie,
being the youngest, always sat on the seat
with Shepard, and it was during these
daily drives that she began to take an in
terest in the good looking coachman. After
a time she began to improve the young
cOachman's mind by giving him easy les
sons in reading and arithmetic, and she
seemed to find more pleasure in helping
him in his studies than in receiving callers
in the parlor. She had large calling list,
and every evening the parlors of the Hub
bard residence swarmed with young gen.
tlemen callers, among whom Trinity Col
lege students figured very prominently.
But Miss Nellie was Indifferent to the .rr
Establishments and she at last reH,6zed
that she had lost her heart to the coach.
man. Finally she told him oS her love Sor
him, and on March IL, 7.1a dIIring the
absence Of her fam 20 sbo 1o,t - Wost Ssto
field, Mass, VIII sba and S6nDepd yvoro
Iaal, Inarrieu W village clergyman. They
aGIul aL1 I'd Immediately to Hartford. Their
"oSence had not been noticed.
The fact of the marriage was carefully
! guarded and it was not until March %
that the inevitable explosion came.
While Miss Nellie-or Mrs. Shepard, as
she really was-was in her apartments
secretly planning to fly with her husband,
a messenger rang the door bell. He had
an envelope addressed to the Ex-Governor,
who, when it reached his hands, open
ed it, little realizing the shock that was
to follow. The envelope contained the
marriage certificate, sent by the parents
of the groom. The heart-brOken father
went to his daughters room, and she can
didly declared that the certificate was
genuine, and, with the enthusiasm Of
I woman In love, she proclaimed that her
husband was fully worthy Of her. She at
once left the house and joined her hus-
band at the home of his parents in back
street From that time Nellie's name
was a forbidden word with Gov. Hub
bard. His heart was turned to stone,
and he disOwned the girl who had been
his favorite child and the sunshine of his
home. He positively refused to receive
any communication from her or her hus-
band.
After the sensation caused by her mar
riage had died away, Mrs. Shepard fell
quietly out of sight of her former aristO-
cratic friends. She remained in Hartford
a year or more with her husband, who
had found employment in the shoe store
of an enterprising merchant, who saw a
good advertisement in the son-in-law of
the Ex-Governor. Mrs. Shepard had plenty
Of money at this time, some that was hers
in her own right, and more, it Is said, from
the purses of her heart-broken mother |
and two sisters, who could not suppress |
all love for her, even if the stern ex-GOv- |
ernOr commandedit.
Two years after the marriage a daugh- |
ter was born to the Shepards. About that |
time they moved to New Haven. Shep- |
ards tastes ran to horses, and he was un- |
easy unless he had something to do with |
horses. So livery stable was purchased |
on State street with money furnished by |
his wife and some of his own friends. The /
business prospered and the Shepards |
lived in cozy cottage on pleasant |
street, and for time all went well. But |
the domestic peace was to be shat |
tered in the Elm City. Mrs. Shepard be-
came tired of her unlettered husband, and |
they began to find that their tastes were
Numerically opposite. Shepard attended |
closely to business, and his wife, chafing
under her ostracism from gay society, in |
which she had been belle, soon began to
drive about New Haven in a gaudy viii
lage cart drawn by a stylish cob. She
naturally attracted many admirers,
among whom were two plutOcratic stu
dents at Yale, wealthy man ufacturer of
New Haven, and scion of well known
New York family whose name is familiar
in club and running-horse circles. Shep-
ard became jealous of his wife and a sep
aratiOn was the result.
When the breach came Shepard went
to live at a hotel and Mrs. Shepard con-
tinued to live with her child in the cot
tage. He called frequently to see the
child. and on such occasions his wife al
ways left them alone. The breach between
husband and wife constantly increased,
although it was apparent that he had lost
none of his love for her. Finally the little
cottage was given up, and Mrs. Shepard
went to board at the Selden House, and a
month or two later she applied to the Su-
perior Court for a divorce. Shepard
could hardly realize that his wife was in
earnest in the application, and when
friends spoke with him on the subject he
would give way to tears. In due time the
divorce was granted, the charge being
abandonment, Shepard making no cOun-
ter charges. Great efforts were made to
keep the fact that a divorce had been
granted secret, and the Judge and law
yers did all in their power to conceal the
record from the public.
For six months or more Mrs. Shepard
continued to live in New Haven, and
among her acquaintance was Clark l..
Smedley, a member of that large firm Of
expressmen and forwarders, whose office
is on State street. Smedley was with her
a great deal, and he lavished presents
upon her. That he was impelled by love
and not by passion is shown by the mar
riage that occurred in Hartford this af-
ternoon. Smedley disliked to haYe the
woman he was in love with remain in
New Haven, where people were speaking
lightly of her, and at his solicitation she
came to this city to reside with an aunt,
to silence gossiping tongues. He wanted
to make her his wife; but said he could
only marry her from her own home in
Hartford, and with the approval Of her |
family. He very much wanted to have
between Gov. Hubbard and
his fiancee; but the hOnOred statesman
passed to his rest on Feb. q, Of this
year, without having forgiven his daugh-
ter the modification she had brought him.
His sickness was of short duration, and
the penitent woman, on hearing that her
father was fatally i'll, hurried to Hartford
to see him. But he was unconscious when
she reached the house, and in few hours
he died. Those who knew him well said
he had been broken-hearted man from
the day he first learned of Nellie's mar
riage.
BY the advice of family friends the un-
happy daughter was prevailed upon not
to be present at the funeral, but she saw
the cortege pass to the cemetery from the
windows of the house Of an old friend.
She returned to Meriden and made every
endeavor to again earn the esteem of her
old acquaintances. A few weeks after
the burial Of her father she again Visited