The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1890-02-07
miscellaneous.
A SOLDIERS STORY.

In small town in southern New
Hampshire lives Capt. John Godfrey,
one of the most genial of hosts IL any
of my readers believe he is a myth says
a writer in The Boston Commercial Bull
letin, they will find him somewhat sub
stantial one and rather a stubborn foe to
tackle in spite of his seventy odd years.
Curiously enough each of the knot of
guests gathered beneath his roof had
seen service under Uncle Sam. There is
always fellowship among old soldiers
that begets confidence, and consequently
when l asked him rather impairment
question as to the tenant of a grave that
lay in the very center of his best hay
field, he readily told the following local
history, which in every detail is literally
true:
Years before her death, said the cap
tain, became acquainted with the wo.
man who now lies buried yonder. Her
name was Becky Paine, and her mother
was at one period of her life a slave in
the household of Gen. George Washing
ton. After the Revolution she married
at Portsmouth a light complexioned
negro, who might easily have passed any
where as a Cuban or Spaniard. In fact,
he was born in Havana, and could both
write and converse in Spanish with ease
and fluency. He was a plain, honest
looking fellow, and, as now remainder
him, had nothing of the actions of ruff
fan or desperate about him, despite the
fact that he was said to have been at one
time pirate on the Spanish main. Be
that as it may, Dick Paine soon accumu-
lated considerable property in this Sec
ton, and although it was never rightly
known how he obtained his money, GER
tain it is that he always appeared flush,
and in time commanded the respect of
his neishbors.
was about 10 years of age when the
daughter Becky, then young girl of Is,
set out on voyage to Cuba, accom-
panied by her father. In the Paine fam
lily were five children, four of their num-
der being coal black, Becky alone pos
.sessing the somewhat ghastly complexion
of her father. She, however, was far
from i'll looking, and had it not been for
the negro blood flowing in her veins, 1
am of the opinion that more than one of
the farmer lads living hereabouts would
Ihave been satisfied to wed her.
After an absence of eighteen months
the girl returned to Portsmouth, and ul-
Itimately reached home, where she was
warmly welcomed by her family and i'm
mediate neighbors. Accompanying her
was a slender, graceful young man to
H. I'll y, L.
journing in Havana. This young fellow
was likewise of negro extraction, and he,
too, stood we'll in the estimation of the
people residing in this community. In
time old man Paine was enabled to gath
Fer about him three grandchildren, all of
the latter being as black in color as their
grandmother.
Paine was then held to be worth some
where in the neighborhood of ten thou
sand dolars-a princely fortune, by the
way, in those days. This was some time
after the war of 1912. Just what dispo-
sition the old man would make of his
possessions was hardly known. I very
much doubt whether he ever thought of
such thing as making Il will, as no
document of that character was ever
found after his death. 1t is true that in
presence of witnesses he had more than
once promised his own children that the
bulk of his property would be left them
at his death, and he also specified the
amount he desired to go to each individ-
Iual His wife, who was an ignorant,
good natured soul, interposed no objec-
ton to this plan Of her husband, simply
declaring that she was content to lib
vivid de chillums."
Some time early in the twenties old
Paine died. after painful illness lasting
nearly a fortnight. A day or two before
his death the dying man called to his
bedside the members of his family, the
latter having also summoned as wit
nesses my father and two other neigh
bors, |, too, being present. Paine, in
clear voice, made known his wishes re-
garding the disposition of his property
after his death, and for the first time it
was learned that he did not favor his
daughter Becky's union with her hus-
band, Jose Cienti. The latter appeared