The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1885-10-02
MARRIED TO AesPfRIT.
The Strange Story Told by q Widow to q
Georgia Justice.

The Strange Story Told by q Widow to a
Georgia Justice.
GU are an attorney as well as a
magistrateP" said lady yesterday
morning in Justice w. A. Poe's office,
as she glanced nervously around the
room.
'4es, madam; how caaI serve youp"
said the justice.
'tDo you keep a record of the mar
iiage ceremonies you perform?' she
inquired, after some hesitation. Her
manner was excited, and her FINGERS
played rapidly with a handkerchief
that she held.
t'Only a partial onss it is not very
accurate"
/ sect the book and look at this date
two years ago." she demanded.
The order was obeyed, and the fol-
lowing entry read from the record:
married, 23d March, 1888, Fannie
Howard and James F: Sterling"
S'Yes, yes," said she, II am now
convinced. The man, sir, to whom
you married me was my dead hus-
band. You may not believe it. but so
sure as am livingrwoman the cere-.
mony you performed bound in we'd
lock a live woman and u man who had
been dead for three years. Here,
swear me to speak. the truth" she
said. grasping a bible lying on the
table,
With an expression that spoke
plainly his astonishment, Judge Poe
took the holy book. and administered
the oath. 1t was a, most peculiar pro-
ceeding. and one. that the reporter
watched with awe.and trembling.
''You have sworn me to speak the
truth, and nothing but the truth, and I
will, so help me GDd. Listen to what I
say. You marrledme to materialized
spirit. l see you do not believe. in
spirltualism. do, and on oath de-
clare that in this room, on the twenty
third day of March. 1883, you married
me, Fannie Howard, to James Frank
lin Howard, and not to J. F. Sterling;
that there is not; nor never was, q, ).
F. Sterling who married me in this
room on the Esd of March, two wears
ago.
eleven years ago, in the county of
Monroe, in this state, I, Fannie West
brook, married James Franklin How
ard, my husband. We lived together
twelve months, when he was taken
sick and died. Shortly afterward I
went north. In my distress visited
the celebrated Mr.. Foster, of New
York. There 1 saw my husband,
materialized spirit. talked with him,
and enjoyed the happiness his pres
ence gave me. left the medium room
with new life and hope, and in short
time returned home.
''The quiet neighborhood of coun-
try home is seldom broken by the ap-
pearance of visitor. One day, how
ever, there came to our house stran-
ger. He had been in the neighborhood
several days, and his striking resem-
blance to my husband had been noted
by many of my friends who had seen
him. He came to our home at the in
vitation of my father, who had re-
quested him to dine with us. I did
not enter the dining-room until all had
taken seats around the table. NV
eyes rested upon the stranger, and in
moment | saw before me my dead
husband as distinctly, sir as see you.
I do not know what passed afterward;
memory deserted me. / seemed to be
under the influence of some spiritual
power.
'sMr. Sterling came to our house
often afterward. was never so inn
pressed in my life as 1 was at our first
meeting. His resemblance to my dead
husband was startling. In time he ad-
dressed me, and accepted his offer,
against my fathers wishes. We came
to this city, and in an hour after we
arrived you married us. We left your
office for the hotel. NV husband left
me at the room door. partially clos
ed the door and instantly opened it.
He was not in the hall, as he was a
moment before. Nowhere could he be
seen. He had not entered the office,
and no one saw him leave the hotel.
1t was mystery. He never returned.
/ was advised by the proprietor to
consult the police. I did 50, but never
afterward heard of him.
"You were cruelty deserted, madame,
by a cowardly villian," suggested the
justice.
"Deserted!' she repeated with an
incredulous smile. mo; let me tell
you, man of flesh and blood could
not cover two hundred feet of hall
way IN the short space of five seconds.
No one saw him pass. Besides, is it
likely the police force could have
failed to find him if he had been in
the city?
From the facts, sir, 1 have
stated to you, I firmly believe that I
married the materiallzed spirit of my
husband, that his spirit came back to
earth, and assumed form like thathe
wore on earth, and that for a season
he made me happy, and that forgetting
his spiritualiZed life, he over-stepped
the bounds of that existence and was
recalled peremptorily to the spirit
land.''
The strange visitor glided out
of the door as if she herself might have
been a materialized spirit. Macon
(Ga.) Telegraph.
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