The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1895-06-10
SAVED BY HER son.
A Woman Resolves to Reform Under
Impressive circumstances.

impressive circumstances.
About 1880 a family named Ashwert
resided at ST. Clair. 1t consisted of hus-
band, wife and three children According
to the Pottsville Chronicle, the wife turned
out to be wild, reckless character, and
fdespite all the efforts of the husband to
reform her, she kept going to the bad, as
sociadng with men of questionable char
acter and neglecting her children. Her
husband finally, broken-hearted, went
down to a suicides grave, and his remaius
her husband did not serve to check Sarah
Ashwert in her downward career but now
that she was given free rein, she plunged
deeper and deeper into vice,
A short time after the death of her hus-
band she and her children removed to
Pottsville and took up their residence in
the towns then most notorious locality,
the "Heights" Here she associated with
men and women of depraved character
and it was but a little while before she was
among the lowest denizens of that unsavory
neighborhood. She was known by the
/
the ringleader in the disturbances which
were constantly being reported from
"Guinea Hill" Her children were grow
ing up surrounded by vice and crime, and
would undoubtedly have followed closely
in the footsteps of their mother had not a
kindly hand interposed. On the borough
police force at that time, were James Shaw
and Conrad Miller, very efficient officers.
They noticed the helpless condition of the
children and called the attention of the
managers of the Childrens Home to them.
The latter a few days later had them trans
ferred to that institution, and there they
remained for several years. Finally word
came that they were heirs to some property
in England, and their relatives removed
them to that country, where they were
reared and educated. In the meantime
their mother continued her life of depravity
on the "Heights"
Nothing more was heard from the chill
dren and the history of the family had
nearly been forgotten, when, during the
early part of last week the Oldest son,
George, arrived here from England and
went to St. Clair in the hope of finding
some trace of his parents. He made him
self known to the Edwards family there
and explained his errand. They remem-
bered that Officer Charles Graeff had been
on the police force at thetime the children
were placed in the home, and they referred
him to that gentleman. Mr.. Graeff was
,,I
tall, good-looking stranger who, he learned,
was one of the little "shavers" his col
leagues had saved from a life of crime
fourteen years ago 1t was last Tuesday
that Officer Graeff, in company with Mr..
Ashwert, visited the 'Heights" and had
an interview with the mother. The son
did not make himself known to the woman
at that time but represented himself as a
friend of her children, who wanted to
have a tombstone erected above the grave
of their father.
The woman accompanied him to St.
Clair that same day, and there, above the
grave of husband and father, the son made
himself known to his mother 1t was an
affecting scene, and the woman, whose
career had beed Scared and scared for SO
many years, wept tears of bitter regret
The son acted kindly with her and, seated
there upon the grassy mound, had long
and earnest talk with his erring mother
which resulted in the latter agreeing to re-
form and desert her old habits for life Of
respectability. The son has made arrange
ments for having his mother enter the
home of a relative residing at Shenandoah
He and the other children propose taking
up their home in this country in short
time.