Telegram-herald., 1889-08-05
/. EEIIrz CAWLISS
: Dice o: = Brokea Heart. Juas 1 1880.
. Aged q Ysara

TIE secre. Of this strange Inscription pans
out . 30 a romance Of tie hrst water.
Jeseta Martin, the occupant cf the claim
wnsreoa the grave is located. purchased
tae claim fron 10 husband ef tae woman
whose remains lis beneath t1G. marble
sab, aad catered into an agreement with
ths fsruer owner o. the claim that the
slab should not DC rnoiesteG By him, and tAe
following story is from Martins lips:
"W hen I struck the Territory five years
ago / looked around sor good place % To-
cato. / started overland from Big Stone
City 10 Walertowu, ana when / reached this
pcint came across a hoIesteader VINO had
turned sod on this claim. / found him
aione, epparently broken down from sorle
cause or another. / told him was looking
FOR place 10 locate, and be oIored me his
claim He insisted that take it for moth
ing. He'd been on IL for two years and
wanted 70 20 back Last. he was Virgin
In. aud wanted 20 return 20 the Old Domin-
ion. 1naily agreed 70 take the claim, pro-
victng he 4 accep. q small amount in re-
turn He took me out 70 that grave on yon-
der rise and told mo his secret
''in 1875 he married a Virginia girl born
near Roanoke. The wedding took place
az Philadelphia during the centennial, and
the summer was spent in sightseeing and
pleasant honeymoon Sho was the dargh-
ter Of South Caroliniaa, who, subsequent
10 ne war, located lin Maryland poorer By
far than he was before the stars and
stripes were fred on a. Fort Sumter. Her
maiden name was Nellie T. Pel, and the
death OF her father The year following her
marriage wiped out the entire lot Of her kin
ship.
"Cowlins and his bride carne 70 the North
west and located here. While blowing one
spring be turned up some human bones
No particular attention was paid 70 them,
as he though; they were probably ths
bones OF some Indian, but with due reyer-
enco tor humanity, Cowlins picked Up the
bones from the furrow and reinforced them
below the plovshare's searching point In
removing the bones he noticed q finger
ring which had evidently been worn by the
person whose bones he had discovered
After cleaning the dirt from the rlng he
noticed marks and letters thereon. The
ring was slipped on one Of bis fingers. and
he resumed his plowiug. At the dinnor
table bis wife nostced tho ring, and he
handed IL 20 her for examination. She took
Il, and In an instant turned dead
II pale and tainted. When she b.
came conscious she Inquired where he
had got the piece of iewe.ry, aud
40 related the circumstances connected
with It's discovery. She gave way again
aud on recovering she explained the cause
cf her illness. The ring was one presented
By her 70 another suitor, n young college
student % whom she had been betrothed
The symbols CT secret society TO which he
belonged were Oh the exterior Of the ring,
and X T. P her initials, TO j. NJ. S. toe
Initials Of his name, John NJ ShAfer, were
on the inside, engraved there by her order
when she purchased Ii for a Christmas
present for him.
"Cswiins argued with her that probably
the ring had passed into the hands OF scme
oue else, but she believed othsrwise
Shafer had gone 70 the Northwest and had
never been heard from, ana the bones IN
carthed By Cawlins were, in her opinion,
undoubtedly his Hor old love FOR her first
sui,or returned She became Ill through
constantly having her mind on the ring
matter. aad her 'seath followed. She had
requested before her death that her re-
mains bs inferred At the SPOT where the
riug was found. and that her grave bs
marked y a stone bearing the words you've
read
After Csvlins went Fast" said Martin,
"hs sent that slab. and placed .s on tae
grave. don't know wha. became OF him,
or whether hs "a alive yet, but tue yvav ia
which be brCoded over this affair led ne 70
beaeve that 10 wouldn't 90 many years DC
fore ae'd need a gravsstoue, and oBe with
ca inscription similar 70 that che OFT
there