Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1888-10-27

The marriage ceremony was gener
ally performed on the railroad bridge
crossing the Potomac. 1t was neces-
sary to go on the bridge in order to be
within the bounds of the State Of Mary,
land, whose authorities had granted the
license. A marriage On the bridge III:
ways attrsdted d crowd, which Would
gather in spite Of the attempts 81 the
couple and the minister I'd outwit them:
1t was amusing to the crowd and an.
noying TO the minister to meet with j
groom Of more than ordinary stdpiditgI
who choose his own way OF answering
the questions.
The question addressed to the groom
was rather a long one, and the answer
was not expected until / had completed
1t; but we sometimes proceeded In this
way for which thers was no remedy.
"Yon, the man, take the w6maa,''-z.
"Yes"-"whona YOU hold by the right
hand, ,"a--"Ye es'-''to be your lawful
and married wife,"-''Yesp-'.and y6u
promise, ,"--''Yes' -'.and catenaht iii
the presence d Goa and these wit
hesses, "--''Yes''-" that you will be to
her faithful, loving husband, n-"Yes''
-''until you be separated by deathPn -
eyes" The woman was always the
more composed of the two.
Once / was compelled to pause and
straighten out a part of the ceremony
which the groom in his haste had got
ten wrong. The proclamation Is gen
orally made at the beginning Of the
service, as follows: "If any one knows
Of just cause why these may not be
inited in the bond Of matrimony, let
him now speak or ever after hold his
peace" To my astonishment and the
amusement of the crowd the groom
said: 81 do" There was nothing to be
done but to stop and explain to him his
mistake.
An occurrence Of this sort happened
while | was resident of the place, but
with which had nothing to do. A
young couple in one Of the upper coun-
ties of the valley had become engaged
to each other and were arranging to be
married. To this the father, and es-
pecially step mother, were bitterly
opposed. In order to break off an en-
gagement they determined to send the
girl to some friends in the West. As it
was necessary to change cars at Har-
per's Ferry to the main stem of the Bal
timore & Ohio, the father accompanied
the girl that far that he might remain
with her while she waited for the West
bound train. The arrangement of the
parents to send the girl away was fol-
lowed by q plan between the young
people to outwit them. In order to do
this the prospective groom preceded
them, and, arriving at the Ferry some
time before, procured the license and a
preacher, and had made all the neces-
sary arrangements to carry off the girl.
His story had won the sympathy OF
every one, SO that he had plenty of help.
In due time the train arrived and
father and daughter entered the wait
ing-room. Soon after their arrival the
father went into another part of the
building to write home of their safe ar
rival, and to state the fact that the
daughter would soon be off and on her
way to the West. While he was out
friend came, and, beckoning to the girl,
took her out through the armory-yard
to the bank of the river, where a boat
containing groom and minister was
waiting. The father soon returned,
but his charge had flown. No one had
seen her. He Immediately started for
the bridge where the marriages were
usually performed, but not finding her,
came back, and, happening to look
over into the river, by the light of the
moon he saw boat with several figures
in it. At once the truth flashed upon
him, but he could only gnash his teeth
in impotent rage while his daughter
was being married before his eyes, and
he was powerless to prevent it. AS
punishment to the lovers, however, the
boat began to fill with water and sink,
and they reached the shore with diff
Guilty and we're thoroughly drenched
When they got back to the waiting
room the father was compelled to adj
NIT that he had been outwitted and,
the matter having been amicably ar
ranged, the father with his daughter
and new son-in.law got on the next
train and went home together.
The marriage fees never amounted
to much-anywhere from nothing to
five dollars. One dollar was the usual
fee paid. / married one poor fellow for
He asked me to do so as he
had no money. Promises to pay more
were frequent, but l have yet to receive
any additional fee from any one.
suppose they must soon have repented
Of the step taken, and as was the chief
agent in making the yoke so fast, they
inflicted upon me the only punishment
possible. Some may be inclined to CEN
sure the minister for marrying runa-
ways, but all were not runaways whom
married. In some instances they
came for the novelty and romance of
being married at Harper's Ferry. I am
Jure, however, if parents could know
what the minister was sometimes COM
oelled to see, they would thank rather
han condemn him for what he did
Rev. ". O. Campbell, IN NJ Y World.
A Truthful Lawyer.