Milford chronicle. [volume] (Milford, Del.) 1878-1974, 1889-08-09
HOW He WON A WIFE.
The Question That AstOnished a Pioneer
Methodist Minister In His Wooing.

The Question That AstOnished a Pioneer
Methodist Minister in His WOOlng.
Col. John W. Ray, himself now venerable
gray headed man, tells the following story Of
the courtship. And marriage Of his grand
father, the Rev John Ray, who figured
largely IN the Methodist church In the latter
part Of the last and the early Tart Of this CEN
fury:
MY grandfather Joined the travelling con.
nection in 1870, when there were less than
$50 ordained. members in the United States
and but one conference, extending from
Massachusetts, to Florida, along the coast
His early work was in Virginia and North
Carolina, where he Travelled ten years, Of
course a single man, for in those days to mar
ry was to locate. He Travelled in 1890 the Tar
River circuit, which extended from the coast
into the interior a hundred miles or more.
He was 80 years old and had made up his
mind to marry, and locate, and 60 west,
which meant into Kentucky, his former
home, Among his stopping places on his
circuit was the plantation of q rich widow
by the name Of Lewis, well stocked with
slaves and the Injuries that wealthy slave
holder Of that period was expected to possess.
The widow had also grown daughter, who
bad made such an impression upon the bache-
lor preacher that he had concluded 70 ask her
to 20 with him, nothing doubling that she
would go, and go on bis own terms, but he
had said nothing to her on the subject until
one evening, toward the close Of the year, he
took scrap Of paper and wrote; Are you
under obligations to any mani Are you In
the spirit Of slaveryi win you 90 west9
Will.you go with met
He expected an immediate answer, and, Of
course, a favorable enc; for how could girl
refuse such a mani But she carefully folded
the paper, put It In her pocket. and soon after
left the room, to be seen no more until the
next morning To the surprise and perplexity
of the lover, she appeared the next morning
IN the family circle as merry as usual, and
went about the ordinary duties Of the morn
ing as though nothing unusual had happened.
The'suspense became painful and embarrass-
ing, until he finally got an opportunity to ask
if she could now answer the question which
he had propounded She asked for further
time
NO. said he, 4 must know now. am
going away today, and Iwant to know before
starting
oven said she, 4 have some questions to
ask before deciding. win you give up your
pipeF
1.-THE lover was dumfounded. It had
never entered his head that a. girl had any
right to PROFOUND such question on such an
occasion, but that the extent Of her preroga-
tive was 10 say Yes, with all my heart Pfc
suming upon his ownimportance, and assum-
ing that she would be only too glad to say
yes utter this little episode. he said, No, not
for the best woman on earth It was now
her turn to speak, and she said in tone that
=
my answer, once for all. viii never marry
a man who thinks more Of his pipe than Of
me- No man ever did more thinking in a
few minutes than he did then and there She
had put the pipe question In a new light
Think more Of my pipe than Of herr he solil-
oquized. why, certainly not; yet 1t looks
like it If l cannot give it up for her But
there is another question: Shall girl force
me TO do what four conferences have failed
TO dot CanI be happy,without this glri-
happier without her and with my pipe than
with her and without my pipei. and the man
found himself deeper in love than he had ever
suspected, and he was not long in settling the
question. If it is girl or pipe, farewell
pipe, and he turned to her, as she sat appar-
emily as heaFtless as a stone, and said: We'll,
Elizabethsif 1t is to part with you or my pipe,
give up the pipe forever
"What followed Immediately is more easily
imagined than told. In few weeks they
were married. As soon afterward as the pa
pers could DO made out all Of her slaves were
manuniitted and the two went west, which
meant Montgomery county, Ky. There my
father was born, and there my grandfather
spent many years as a local preacher, rejoin-
ing the conference in 1919, moving later to
Indiana where he died near Greencastle in
1881 He never resumed his pipe. His plucky
anti-pipe wife survived him several years. ~
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