St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-07-05
UNCLE GARRY'S CROSS.

Of mine whom | had not seen for years, ana
In the course of our conversation the incl
dents hereafter related were given to me as
a portion of the family history, and, while
the names are disguised, the facts them
selves remain in all their in tegrity.
My friend on the occasion OF this Visit re-
ceived me in large modern mansion richly
furnished. located in one of the best Of the
uptown cross streets. and he told me with
no small degree of pride that in former
wears the slaves of his grandfather sowed
oats on the site of the house, 1t being at that
time portion of his estate, which spread
along the Hudson and reached inland as lar
as the center of the island.
A rifle shot away stands the old family
mansion. still filled with the old furniture,
and the walls hung with the family por-
traits. and dim. dingy pictures OF long for
gotten painters, many OF them Dy Dutch
artists. and some of undoubted merit. n
dozen or more years ago. l had visited my
friend at the old place. and had spent many
happv hours in his society, he at that time
being unmarried and keeping bachelors
hall i'm the old homestead. 4 state of affairs
now obsolete. as he is now happily married,
and the requirements of society preclude his
living in so retired a place.
You might pass the old house fifty times
and never dream of its existence. From
one of the busiest thOroughfareS runs mar
row lane which. ii you look down It, seems
to terminate in q high board fence at
short turn. Ii is lined on one side With
tenementS but on the other is piece of
swampy ground and few gnarled old apple
and pear trees. with here and there some
Ntrhin A
the antiquity of the place. At the turn i'll
the lane stands the double carriage gates,
and curving drive through the old orchard
leads up TO the porch in the rear of the old
mansion. for the house faces on the river,
and the grounds slope gently down 10 it,
giving a magnificent view OF the busy river
and the shores beyond.
The house itself is not unlike all the
houses of the wealthy burghers of $50 wears
ago. A broad hall with low ceiling divides
it evenly in half. the one side. in the old
time, being used for every day living pur-
poses, while the other was thrown open
only on state occasions. 4 hip roof"
making large roomy garnet covers the two
stories below it, and in this garrett found
part of the material for my story, portrait
hanging on the wall of the hall, and my
friends furnishing the other material.
"Uncle Garry there" said my friend,
pointing to portrait of young man about
% years of age with sad-looking brown
eyes, and nearly black wavy hair and comedy
features, twas my great uncle. You can
see for yourself that he was fine-loOking
fellow. and in his day was made much of,
and both men and women, no doubt, tried
their best to pet and spoil him, but they
never did, for it is not known that he ever
did but one wrong act in his life, and that
is what l am going to tell you about But
come into the library, where Uncle Garry
and my father have often sat and talked
over old times, as you and / have done, my
friend, so many times, and let us hope may
do again many more, and will begin at the
beginning and tell you all | know of it"
My friend has habit of taking what he
calls "a little trip to the West Indies" or
"a visit to jamaica" and after this voyage
was over, we seated ourselves and he re-
sumed as follows:
II.
''Uncle Garry, like my father, than
whom he was two years younger, was born
in this house, and they, and our sister Bar
bara, were the only children. l have some
of his letters, which will show you some
day, which will give you some idea of his
character, and prove that he was man of
marked character and no small degree of
culture. He seems to have lived heart
whole and fancy free up to the age of %,
about the time the picture in the hall was
painted, when he met his fate in the person
of Miss Dorothy Delaney, who came on
a visit to our nearest neighbOr, Giles Van
Ripper, whose farm adjoined my grand
fathers, and whose house was about three
quarters of mile further down the river.
''Giles had one son and one daughter,
Sara, who was my grandmother, and his son
KOert made good the loss to the Van Ripper
household by taking my grand aunt Barbara
there as his wife.
sit was before either of these events hap
pened that Miss Dorothy came on her MEM
mOrable visit to the Van Ripper home, and
met for the first time my Uncle Garry. Her
stay extended over three weeks, and when
you take into consideration the fact that
mutual liking sprang up at their first intro
duction, and that only half mile or so of
path interviewed between them, you will
naturally conclude that they saw good
deal of one another, and had every Oppor-
tunity to become very well acquainted, as
was in fact the case The truth was, that
when Miss Dorothy returned to her home
in the lower part of the island, in the city or
its outer edge, it had been agreed between
them that Uncle Garry was to make for
NAL demand of her hand from her father
and upon his consent their marriage was to
take place i'll the early spring, it then being
late in the autumn.
tUncle Garry pleaded successfully, al
though old Mr.. Delaney hardly liked his
daughter to marry into the family of a pro-
nounced rebel, such as my grandfather was.
while he himself was one of his maiesty's
most loyal subjects. But the consent was
given nevertheless, and many journey on
horseback did Uncle Garry make down the
old Albany post road to visit the fair
Dorothy.
''Then came troublesome times. The
British took possession of the island and
my grandfather and Uncle Garry, who both
belonged to the militia, in fact grandfather
was general, left the old place in the care
of the negroes and joined Gen. Washington.
Our portion of the island was but little dis
turbed, and, apart from some foraging par
ties, was hardly visited, so when the two
brothers came home when the war was SET
tied, they found things nearly as they had
left them.
Uncle Garry, however, had made q trim
over the river before they came together. of
which grandfather did not know. He had
learned by some means or other that the
fair Dorothy was again Oh visit to the
Van Ripper farm, and ran the risk of CAP
ture by crossing the river on a moonlight
night. although Scud of clouds somewhat
obscured the brightness.
''He pulled his boat up on the shore
right there where the boathouse stands now
ana hurried down the path his feet had
worn so smooth in the early autumn. As
he neared the house he saw a horSeman lead
ing his horse by the bride up and