Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1888-04-04
A REMARKABLE PENSIONER.

Mrs. Mahala Hoagland, an aged
lady of this county, who draws q
pension from the government as the
widow of a soldier of the Revolu-
tionary war, was in the city yester-
day to draw her quarterly allowance.
A Chronicle reporter met the old
lady and was entertained by her for
half an hour. She is 78 years old
and cannot write, but has learned to
make tolerably fair x mark to her
name on the pension receipt blanks.
She has been making her x mark on
these receipts four times a year for
the past thirty years, that being the
period during which she has been
drawing a pension. Her first pen
sion was secured for her thirty years
ago by Mr.. A. s. Wallace, of York
county. She is paid $l2 per month.
She is the fifth Revolutionary wild
ow" now living in North Carolina,
and each one draws pension.
Mrs. Hoagland is a good talker
and is somewhat inclined to f1irt, at
least she left the impression upon
the reporter that she would flirt in a
minute if she only had the chance.
AS soon as she was paid her pension
money. she went directly to pho
tographer and had her picture taken.
"Why, Mrs. Hoagland," inquired
the reporter, what do you want
with your picture?" "To send to
some friends of mine," she archly re-
piled. On reaching the photograph
gallery she took off her bonnet,
smoothed out her bangs, and strik-
ing a smile that feebly endeav0red
to show up from under the wrinkles,
she told the picture man to make
her look pretty. 5r.r
Mrs. Hoagland says that she mar
ried John when she was not quite q
years old. The ceremony was per-
formed at Pleasant Hill in this
county, by Esquire Holland Tillman.
Her husband was then 86 years old.
She had two children by him. He
died at the age of SO years and his
body lies buried at Phillips grave
yard in this county. He was born
in New York but came to North
Carolina when quite a young man.
Hoagland was a dragon in the Rev.
lutionary war. ti.a
"But I come mighty nigh not q
marryin' him." broke In Mrs. Hoag-
land as the reporter was taking down
notes. "HoW was that ?" he asked.
"Well you see," she continued, as
she carefully put the pension gold
deep down into one of the mysteri-
GUS recesses of her dress, "it was this
way. John, he lived clost to our
house, and one day he come over to
see my daddy. was little baby
then lying in my cradle, and was
rate, may he because I had the colo.
John, he stopped down and told me
to shet up. Ses he, you'll be my
wife some day. and then he laughed.
Well, sure enough, when was jest
betWixt twenty and twenty-one,
Johns wife died, and in six months
sure enough here he come after me,
and asked me to marry him. l slap
ped him in the face and told him ia
die first. Then he went off mad, but
came back in week or two and
courted me again, but I drove him
off. thought he had gone for good,
but twan't more'n a month until here
he come again. This time he was
carryin' on and said If I didn't marry
him he would cut his throat, and l
shorely believe he'd q done it. Well,
he seemed so powerfully sot on hav-
ing me that told him, ses /: John
jes stop crying and go and wash your
face, and I'll think about it, But
bless you he galloped off to town and
got license and Esquire Bradley
Oates went his security. Then when
he come back with the license, he
looked SO happy and triumphant like
that I couldn't 60 back on him, and
that's how come to be a Revolution
ary idow.''-Charlotte Chronicle.