Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1885-11-13
NORMAL SCHOOL FUND.
MARRIED TO A SPIRIT.
The Strange Story Told BY n Widow
to Georgia Justice.

TO a Georgia Justice.
You are an attorney as well as
magistrate9' said lady the other
morning in Justice w. A. Poe's office,
as she glanced nervously around the
room.
Yes, madam; how can I serve
you2" said the justice.
DO you keep record Of the mar
rage ceremonies you performf" she
inquired, after some hesitation Her
manner was excited, and her fingers
played rapidly with a handkerchief
that she held.
"Only y a partial one; it is not very
accurate"
''Get 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 E. Sterling"
"Yes, yes," said she, 81 am now
convinced. The man sir, to whom
you married me was my dead hus>
band. You Elay not believe it, but so
sure as | am living woman the cere-
mony you performed bound in wed>
lock live woman and a 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 most peculiar pro-
Gee dlngs, and one that the reporter
watched !, ~,
You have sworn me to speak the
truth, and nothing but the truth, and
will, SO help me God. Listen to
what say. You married me TO a
materlalized spirit. l see you do not
believe in spiritualism. do, and on
oath l declare that in this room, on
the twenty-tbird day of March, 1883,
YOU. married me, Fannie Howard, to
James Franklin Howard, and not to
j. F. Sterling; that, there is not, nor
never was, ]. +. Sterling who mar
rled me on the 23d of March, two
years ago.
Eleven years ago, in the county of
Monroe, IN this state, |. Fannie West
brook, married James franklin How
ard, my husband. We lived together
| twelve months, when he was taken
sick and died. Shortly afterward /
went north. In my distress visited
the celebrated Mr.. Foster, of New
York. There / saw my husband,
materlalized spirit. talked with him,
and enjoyed the happiness his pres
ence gave nae. l left the mediums
room with new life and hope, and IN a
short time returned home.
The quiet neighborhood of q
country home is seldom broken by the
appearance of a visitor. One day,
however, there came to our house
stranger. He had been in the neigh>
borhood several days, and his striking
resemblance to nay husband had been
noted by many of my friends who had
seen him. He came to our home by
invitation of my father, who had re,
quested him to dine with us. l did
net enter the dining room uatil 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. l do not know what passed af>
terward; memory deserted me. I
| seemed to be under the influence of
some spiritual power.
''Mr. Sterling came to our house of
ten afterward. was never so i'm
pressed in my life as was at our first
meeting. His resemblance to my dead
husband was something startling. In
time he addressed me, and 1 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 My hus-
band left me at the room door. par
TALLY closed the door and instantly
opened it. He was not ia the hail, as
he was 8 moment before. Nowhere
could he be seen. He had not entered
the office, aud no one saw him leave
the hotel. 1t was a mystery. He
never returned. / was advised by the
proprietor to consult the police. T
did so, but never afterward heard OF
him"
"You were cruelty deserted, madam
by cowardly william, suggested the
justice.
Deserted she repeated with an IN
creduious smile. ''No; let me tell you
a man of flesh and blood could not
cover two hundred feet of hallway
in the short space of five seconds. No
one saw him pass. Besides, Is it like
ly that the police force could have
failed to find him if he had been in the
city7"
From the facts, sir, / have stated
to you, firmly believe that l married
the materialized spirit of my husband
that his Spirit came back to earth, and
assumed form like that he wore on
earth, and for a season he made me
happy, AID that forgetting his spirit
uallzsd life, he overstepped the
bounds of that existence and was
recalled peremptorily to the spirit
land
The visitor glided out of the door SIS
if she herself might have been a ma
terialized spirit
1t has been feared that the popuia,
opera, the .sMikado." might lead tc
, "a she adoption by English ladies of the
Japanese style of head>dress; but ons
who knows thlRks there is no DANCE,
of this, because the hair dressing is s.
elaborate that it cannot be built NJ
every day, and so the Japanese belle
sleeps with her neck on block o.
wood in a way that preserves the