The Red Cloud chief., 1888-08-17
MARRYING THEMSELVES.
Governor E-,: igi,x,n-s the First :n-ianCo
aa Record IA America.

MARRYING THEMSELVES.
Governor De-. igfa,n's the First :n~ianC0
nn Record in America.
The incident ..uCrc 4 Boston man of some
notoriety recently performed his own mar
riagc ceremony Gf ii migat be called such)
in New York is rot without precedent. The
marriage OF Mis- Llcu.stcne and DR.. Black
well, about t5irty-iivc years ago. was Of
somewhat the same nature: but. according
to the Boston F:-Gid, there IS Il Still older
precedent in Bosom. VIZ, that of Governor
Richard Bciingaam. Of Massachusetts,, OF
which colony he WIS one ri The original
paten.ecs. This remarkable marriage was
enacted nearly tvv0 hGadrcd and fifty years
ago. and under circumstances Of peculiar
nOtoricty.
Richard BcliiaCha,l. who w2s bred q
lawyer. had been recorder of the old town
of Boston. il England. lie came 10 Boston,
Ill the colony OF Massachusetts. il lGJt. and
in the following year MS chosen Its Deputy
Governor. IN August, 1854. he was chosen
Se!ectman Of Boston. and, Wit his iirst
wife. Elizabeth Pcntlcy, h. joined The ortho-
doX church IN August Of the year following.
making a public profession of faith. In
164l he was chosen Governor in opposition
to Winthrop, and was chosen again III iG5i,
and again IN 1866. after the death of Endl-
colt, continuing in Office for the remainder
Of his life. his death occurring December
., 1Ge2. In 1854 he WIS rlidc M2j0rIGeneral,
4 in that year the King sent four COM
miSSiOnerS 10 regulate the affairs OF the
province, ordering BellIngham and others,
who were obnoxious, To proceed to England
n answer accusations that were made
against them in person. His Majesty, how
o,,o. <, co.. q. l,,n l,,, n,,.o,-nl Inv t6n
present Of = ship load of nasts.
But the peculiar matter in point occurred
in the earlier part Of Governor Belling-
hams colonial career. HIS first wife. who
accompanied him from England. died in
1858. There had been IN the family before
this Occurarce a young woman named Pencil
opc Pelham, whose position ;ppears ito
ave been that of houseIceper or assistant
in household matters. After Mrs. Belling-
hams death, the continuance of this young
woman in the Governors household was
the occasion of considerable gossip. To his
other dignities, Governor Dcilingham add
ed that Of judge or magistrate for the trial
Of causes, and this gossip SO scandalizcd
the court that it was decided to depose him
from his petition. This was in lGfi. when
his houscIceper was but twenty years OF
g But he refused to leave the bench,
and the grand inquest presented him for
breach of order of the court and the Secre-
tary called him to answer The presentation.
Being Governor, IS well rs Judge, he was
not an easy subject to handle. However, in
Difference to public opinion. and no doubt
as . matter of policy, he allied together the
ministers and some of the people, inviting
them to his house, and there, in their pres
ence, bringing Penelope forward. he intro
duced her to them, saying: "This is my
wife, but I will have no law about it. God
is enough for me and her"
This was all the marriage ceremony vouch-
safed by the Governor, and appears to have
been acQuiesced in by the community, for he
was never after troubled about it. He was
not . goddess man, but rather = strong
church member. His second wife, 50
strangely wed, is said to nave borne him
six children, who. however, all died young.
His religious pcculiarities may be seen in
part BY his will, which provides that, after
the decease Of his wife and his grand
daughter, the bulk Of his estate should Be
spent for the yearly maintenance "Of good
ly ministers and preachers OF the true
church, which he considered to be that OF
the Congregationalists. His sister Annie,
widow of William Hibbins, one of his as
sistants, was executed as q witch in June,
1856. Though latitudlnarian enough on the
subject Of his own marriage, Governor
Bellingham was violently opposed to limo
walton in religious matters, and was ex-
ceedingly severe toward the Quakers, who
affirm, says Drake, that he died distracted.