The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1897-11-04
THE GOVERNORS
TRAGEDY.
a & # E En- IA a ga Es3EA
A the Governor rode last my
~ grandmother's house on the

A 5 the Governor rode / asst my
~ grandmother's house on the
Il n spring morning when he left the
State forever he wore his uniform and
carried the sword with which he after
wards led the charge at San Jacinto.
h was a tall man, broad-shOuldered
and well-knit. with certain graceful
stateliness which. though he had it by
nature, he had not left uncultivated. 1t
was held in those days to be mark of
the person of quality, and from the
time when as Il boy of 10 he had LAIN
on the puncheOn floor of his fathers
cabin spelling out Pope's Had by the
light of pine knot, the Governor had
always felt himself a person of quality.
My grandmother was on the porch as
he passed and he bowed low to her,
tremendously dofling his hat, as he al
ways did to ladies. 1t was the last time
she ever saw him, and though she had
been his warmest friend, he kept his
own counsel with her as with every
one else.
To the day Of his death he never ex-
planned himself. sir" he would say,
in response to every attempt to draw
him out. 'let us speak of something
else" And the bow With which he said
1t was conclusive When he had just
reached the summit of what had been
his ambition; when he was Governor
of what was then the pivotal State Of
the Union, with the Presidency as a
possibility for him, and the United
States Senate for life Il certainty, why
1t was that he chose to dress himself
in his uniform aud ride out into the
wilderness beyond the .--isSippi,
never to return, his biOgraphers have
not been able to explain except in
vague generalities. How my grand
mother knew the story | cannot say
! further than that she was the friend
not only Of the Governor himself, but
of Virginia Frazer and of John Enid
colt, the Governors private secretary
who made the trouble between them
1T is true, my dear" said my grand
mother to me, that Endicott was {
Yankee and an impecunious schoo
teacher, but he was Harvard grad
uate and a gentleman. The Endlcott'
are an excellent family-almost as goot
as our own, or as Virginia's. And the
Governor, you know, though one of thu
best bred men | ever saw, lacked tht
great advantage of descent from well
bred people"
Those who conclude from this tina
my grandmother was something Of I
Tory will not be wholly mistaken, bu
II they had known the charming OF
lady as well as they would forgive he
as easily as | do, even though-whicl
is not likely-they are as radical il
their politics as am thought to be b!
some.
The Governors honeymoon was bare
ly over when he left the State. Tn
fact of his resignation, which he hal
addressed In due form to the presiding
officer Of the Senate, was not general,
known until he was 800 miles away
sitting In a Cherokee cabin. smokln
an Indian pipe, as silent and lmpasslv
as any other savage Of those aroun
him. For that was undoubtedly hi
idea at the time TO renounce civilization
forever ana live barbarian anon
barbarians.
Mrs. Frazer, Virginia's mother, was
famous matchmaker and one OF tn
Governors staunchest partsans. Il
he was born in a cabin she said
my grandfather few days before tn
wedding, "he has more brains than an
other man in the State. ! expect to Sc
him President yet"
With visions of Virginia in the Whit
House and herself rs the power benin
the throne. she was corresponding
elated on the night OF the wedding
is no part of my purpose to attempt
describe her feelings when the cata
trophe came and she found herse
face to face with the climax Of one {
those tragedies which compel silenC
In all who are incapable of resign;
ton.
When Endlcott first met Virgin
Frazer he was not more than %, vel
handsome. and with an unassumiI
self-possession which made amends Fl
his lack of the ceremonious courte'
: habtual to the society into which
. was thrown. There had been mark,
attraction between him and Virgin
from their first acquaintance, and II
who did not know her mother expect
It to be a match. But Virginia, befo
) any one knew of her engagement to t
Governor, had begun to hold EndlcC
: at arms length, and after the elm
, there was never the slightest scand
4 connecting her name with his.
She was not more than 20 at the til
of her marriage Six weeks later, VIII
E she stood before the fireplace of
sltting-room as the Governor enter
at IL o'clock at night, she wore
G muslin whose contrasting whiten'
had so heightened her brunette beat
r on the day after her marriage. I
Governor had just come frcn a c.
ference of his political friends and "
flushed and hopeful. His wife did
move as he entered the room. t
face was half averted when, with
> usual impressive gallantry, he took
his hat at the door and crossed
room to kiss her hand. He had takel
In his and his lips had almost toucl
II when she hastily-almost violentl