Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-08-30
HE VAS THEN BLACK.
As,rapse story of Love at First sight.
Atlanta Constitution.

/
gentleman and lady OF whose romantic
runaway have Just reada" asked well
known Atlanta lady ct Durand's restau'
rant yesterday.
nDon't know" answered Constitu-
ton reporter TO whom the lady was speak
Ing.
dwell, l have just reached nome l
have been to the island some time ana was
greatly Interested In the story, out ! ana
not get yesterdays paper, ana non know
what became Of them. DO you know i
think 1t was one OF the most romantlc
elo.ements ever heard Of? Why, would
have given almost anything 10 nave peeh
In Miss Reynolds place." and the ladY's
eyes fairly danced with suppressed excite
ment.
"Why," she continued, "there Is a
novel in that elopement. Many girls
would give their diamonds for SUCH an
experience. Just think There they are,
man and wife, ana yet not man and wife.
Suppose either one was to marry any one
elsel Could they do so lawfully? Why,
no 'Twould be bigamy. Why, II | was
that young lady I'd marry, or rather finish
marrying, that young man or die" and
the lady with her face full OF animation
brought her No. shoe down upon the
floor with force enough to emphasize her
speech and caused the reporter to say;
"Yes'm.n
"why," she continued, as a look of
contempt crept over her face, 81 have al
ways thought that my marriage was an
extremely romantic one. But, pshawl 1t
amt any mark to hers. You never heard
of mine, did your 0h,of course not. Well,
I'll tell you. | married a man who
was once blacker than that negro who has
just brought me my dinner. He was as
black a.,
"Black?" said the reporter in astonish-
ment.
"No, of course not" SAID the lady in
dignantly. "Oh, see," and smile and
a blush orept over her face as she recalled
the remark 81 meant to say that the
gentleman who is now my husband was
once as black as a negro"
"Ohl" said the reporter.
"And it was then that fell in love with
him, and have never regretted it, But
I'll tell you the story. When the war
broke out, was girl in short frocks and
sun-bonnets. My father was then living
in Mississippi. He was one of the largest
planters In the state, and was very
weslthy. We lived on the river, few
miles below Memphis. My father was an
old-line whig. You see | know something
of the politics of those days-and as such,
of course, was opposed to secession.
This naturally proved the source of a
great annoyance to him, as he was con-
stantly being called union man or being
begged to take sides with the Confeder-
acy, but he remained firm to his convic-
tons. Natural y his sympathies were
more with the South, but he did not want
to see the union dissolved. He was
always kind TO the soldiers in the gray,
and their wives and their children were
bountitully fed by him. His great wealth
did more good for the South by giving its
women and children
clothing and provisions than by taking an
active part in the war"
eyes, but the story. The man in black
whom you named" exclaimed the repor-
ter, impatlently.
"Oh, yes, am coming to that. What
have told you was the preface to the
romantic novel am going to give you.
In the latter part of go my father sold his
plantation and negroes, and, packing up
our plate and valuables, moved us all to
Memphis, and it was here that first met
the gentleman who enlisted under my
banner, and who has ever been faithful to
the cause he then espoused, but this was
not until the closing years of the war
During the latter part of the struggle the
country round about Memphis was
infested with guerrlllas under the leader
ship Of Forrest who harassed the people
to such an extent that 1t was necessary
for them to seek protection In Memphis,
which was then under the command of
the federal Gen, Washburn. The latter
sent out scouting parties in
search OF the bushwhackers, and the
country people, especially those thought
to be Southern sympathizers, suffered
greatly at their hands, My father bitterly
denounced this guerrilla mode of warfare,
but at the same time If any one of For
rests men was lucky enough to enter
Memphis in disguise he made straight for
our house, and was provided with what
ever he needed. This was known, too, to
Gen. Washburn and his officers, and 1t
has always been puzzle to me how
father escaped arrest at their hands; but
l suppose 1t was due to his benevolence
to the needy Of all classes. One night
Just as the house was shut up, prepare
Tory 10 the inmates retiring, loud
knocking was heard at the kitchen door,
which so frightened the servants we had
retained that they all rushed to places of
hiding. Some secreted themselves in
closets, and others under beds. The
knocking was repeated until father went
down to ascertain who 1t was, and what
was wanted. On opening the door, SOL
der, dressed in blue uniform, confronted
MIN. Nothing was safe at that period.
koooeries, arsons and murders were the
order OF the hour, but nay father invited
INN in, and took him to the dining-room,
thinking that possibly he was q hungry
soldier in the Yankee army. The soldier
quickly undeceived father by saying that
ne belonged to Forests command, and
had come to Memphis to take obserya.
lions, and asked for shelter for the night.
II seems that the federals had detected
MIN, for while my father and he were
talking, federal cavalry rode up to the
house and demanded admittance in
loud tone. While those outside were
clamoring TO be admitted, nv father
rushed upstairs with the Confederate sol.
dler and hid him in closet, the door 81
which was so constructed that It was al |
most impossible TO detect II yVith 81,