Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1884-04-10
A eREAr IALKEa.
rIr. Matthias lTergridze and his Gift
of Remarkable Speech.


of Remarkable Speech.
Matthias Mergridge, Of Union Settle
ment, Wayne county, Penn, has sixty
four children, grandchildren and great
grandchildren, and recently celebrated at
the homestead the sixty-fourth anniver-
sary of his settlement on the spot, where
he has lived ever since. Mr.. Mergridge
recently passed his eighty-sixth year He
was born in England in 1898. He came
to America in 1920, and settled on the
spot where he now lives, when the sur
roundings were nothing but wilderness
While he never obtained any special bus
mess prominence in the community, his
eccentricities have made him celebrity
not only in his own but adjoining coun-
ties, where he exhibited them periodi-
cally for sixty years. He was possessed,
and is yet, to a degree, Of voice Of re-
markable power, and with a wonderful
flow Of language In his prime it was no
difficulty for him to make himself heard
for distance of half mile, and he could
talk for hours with his voice at that pitch.
1t was his especial delight to pay visits
to the towns and villages through the val
ley and proceed at once to show the pow
er Of his voice and the many uses to
which he could put it. As he walked
along he would deliver addresses on
some popular local subject, or relate anec-
dotes and tell stories in an original and
inimitable manner that made his appear
ance in any place the signal for rare
treat. Possessed of great fund of wit
and humor, his speeches and narratives
were interspersed with eonvulsive MIN
icry of national or individual peculiari-
ties. and with quaint songs, the words
and music Of which were always original
and frequently impromptu, and with apt
quotations and original verses. 1t was a
common sight to see a whole village at
his heels for hours, listening to his rapid
and sonorous relation Of his remarkable
personal experiences, and his inexhausti-
BILE repertory of stories and anecdotes.
1t is related as a fact BY friends Of his
that he once talked at hotel in Homes
dale, Penn, for twenty-four hours, when
he was offered SO by the landlord if he
would stop. Without a modulation Of
his voice he replied that for $40, he
would not stop until he had exhausted
his subject, and he continued talking five
hours longer.
One of his fayorite personal reminis-
cences is an incident that occurred to
him while on his way to England many
years ago. The first day out from New
York be went on deck and began to talk,
walking about as he told his stories. The
passengers all were finally attracted to
him, as the villagers had always been,
and followed him about the vessel This
became such an annoyance to the officers
and crew after day or 50 that the cap
tain gave Mergridge $50 to go in the
cabin and sit down while he talked.
Mergridge was elected to be justice
of the peace in Wayne county, and was
subsequently appointed postmaster Of the
backwoods village that grew up around
him. Some one had him indicted fol
holding two offices of trust and profit
contrary to the law. He pleaded LOT
guilty, because ''neither office was one OF
profit, and the only trust that attached to
either of them was in the Office of post
master, for in that capacity he had trust
ed every one for stamps who had asked
him." He was acquitted.
OF the thousands Of stories that Mer-
gridge has told and songs he has sung
during his. long residencein the Delaware
valley no one ever heard him tell or sing
one twice, and the person is yet to be
found who ever heard one of Mergridge's
songs or stories before he told or sang it
himself.