Morning journal and courier., 1886-12-08
Wednesday, December s, 1886
"REMINISCENCES OF A HERMIT.

| uV0u Lu0 1L10 Ol u I16EIulb 6uO was Rr6S \ mystery to the "Old Ferry" neighborhoo for many years, may be interesting to man l readers, coming, as it does, from very rel
 able source.
 | f'One night fifty years ago in the dead ( | winter 8 middle-aged man of fine and gentle
 manly appearance came to the village on th ! banks of the Connecticut and knocking at th
 door of a farmhouse applied for lodging.
 s'It was granted him and he appeared yer
 grateful.
 "The next day he asked his host, who ws
 named Samuel Tryon, if he would aid hir | in obtaining material to build him hut, 8 | he had decided to take up his abode anon
 the hills few miles from the village.
 t'The desired aid was granted and the mys \ terious stranger, after procuring permissio from the owner of the land to build him | humble home on the hillside, commence work on the structure which still stands With his own hands he aided in buildin ! the house, or more properly hut. After | was completed the man took up his abode Ii | it after having obtained from some mysteri ous source meagre furnishings for it." A COURIER reporter learned the abov
 facts from son of Mr. Samuel Tryon, wh resides in the house occupied by his father the same house at the door of which tht hermit applied for nights lodging half century ago.
 MT. Tryon was told by his father man, facts of interest concerning the hermit, ,whicf the village gossips have not as yet obtained as com mon property.
 "The hermit told my father" said Mir Tryon, "that he was an Englishman by birth; his father was a Scotchman and hii mother Englishman. At the age of twen ty-three, father and mother both died, leav ing him heir to an immense fortune. He be came wild and dissipated, and ran through his fortune. He then took to more preca rious mode of living, that of gambler. But he fell in love. The object of his affections | after learning that her fiance was gambler refused to marry him, and welded herself to another man. This nearly broke his heart He determined to forsake the world forever He came to this country, and after wander ing from place to place at last visited Say. brook, and decided to live and die among the bleak hills of the town.
 F'The hermit left to my family all his pa ! pers, books, etc., ," said MT. Tryon, ''and if you care to see them you may" The repor- ter assented and they were produced. In the varied collection of books and papers there were books with whose contents but few people of this modern day are familiar. They were mostly by old English authors and showed much use. Among the collection of volumes were two Bibles, large and small one. They were of the Protestant Episcopal version and were printed at London, as the title page shows, in 1799. On the title page is the inscription, ''To my dear brother Will lie, from Geraldine" The writing was all blurred and nearly effaced. The other and
 larger Bible bore no inscription.
 Among the articles shown the writer were
 few old English coins bearing the dates of
 the latter part of the 17th century. The oldest coin bore the date of 1743. In a small gold locket was lock of hair which faded away at the touch. "There was package of letters the hermit had and which l suppose he destroyed. My father told me of them. He never knew their contents, but always said that he was pretty sure they were love letters principally. When the hermit died the letters were nowhere to be found and the only clue which would have established his identity was gone with them. The house in which the hermit lived and died was on my fathers land and own it now. I will show it to you if you care to see it. /"
 The house was erected under the shelter of a large boulder about mile and. half from Connecticut River ferry and is situated the n z1i-p11FS-=Hrsnh of the many hills in view from the door of the hut. One looks away for miles and miles in every direction upon fertile valleys and wooded hills, upon the lordly blue river flowing through it and lighting the picture with silver. Here stands this curious little weather-beaten hut that served for so many years for a hermit age. It is built upon foundation of hewn timbers almost entirely decayed, with unhewn cedar serving as pillars for porch, and there were no windows in the place. The hut presents a miserable, tumble down appearance. The door has fallen away from the easement. The hut is tumbling to pieces, and in another year will, perhaps, have almost entirely disappeared.
 There is but one room, the room occupied by the solitary man for half a century. There .1--L 4l- l. been. The rough-hewn timbers are black ened and decayed by age and from the smoke which came from an old fireplace in one cor ner of the room.
 ''The hermit was buried by the town" said MT. Tryon, Che having no money, and it has been rumored about the village that be died of starvation. Certain it is when old Injun Dave, a we'll known half-breed char acter, found him one day dying there was no bread or any other eatables in the hut and no fire, nor had there been any for several days. The half-breed at once procured food for him, but he was too far gone and died shortly afterwards with the words T die with my secret on his Lips. The remains were inferred, and paper found among the books that were in an old iron-bound chest which gave them to the son of the man who gave him shelter when he first came to the viii lage."
 F'I remember the hermit, Billy Rowe,' very well, ," said Captain Ely Whittlesey, who for years was seaman and latterly ticket agent at Connecticut River Junction of the Shore Line road. "He was most peculiar man and one of the most mysterious fellow beings I ever came across. He was we'll ed- ucated in one sense of the word. He could tumble Latin as well as English. I have heard them tell as how the old hermit was very wealthy and that he was miser and now he buried ali his gold in the river be- lore he was taken ill, but guess it was all ,osh. Rowe was undoubtedly Fan English nan born, and it is wonder how he lived o his advanced age in his tumble-d down bode. He was forever reading books and pa- 'ers which he used to borrow. There were people who stayed in the village during the i'd man. A couple of young ladies belong ng to the family used to pay daily visits to | he old hermit and he used to tell them tales l # the olden times, but how they could ever | lave liked his presence I can't understand, | or he was as unkempt @ chap as I ever | rossed. The girls used to leave money to | armer in the village, who would see that the | lermit was cared for during the winter | nonths. But the summer before the hermit | lied his donations didn't come here and am | fraid that the poor old fellow did not | lie from over eating. The town, believe, | sed to give him an occasional crust, but the | vay the town deals out charity is overpower-
 
 o come to the village but seldom He had | dog which used to be his steady companion, ,ut it died, and then he came to get his food | lone. He used to make his purchases iu old | oinP of as far back as James Is time l There are many of the old coins scattered | bout the village, and most of the | people have kept them as relics. The hermit | vas an old man when I was a boy" said | Captain Whittlesey, l'and I can remember | what 8 mortal dread used to have of him. | ie used to wander about the hills, always l alking to himself and carrying a big cane. I | ,an distinctly remember his big gray beard | which almost reached to his waist. He was 1 Ilways very kind to us boys. He was indeed l mysterious man and no doubt very TO- | nantic tale hangs over his life, but it has | ,een buried with him." !
 Council of Education.
 The Connecticut Council of Education will | pen it's semi annual meeting at the High l chool hall in this city December 15 at 9:15 i. m. Principal c. F. Carroll will speak on | Teachers Meetings," Superintendent M s. | sIv if RridOaYorf HHaa1th in snhoo1a !