Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1897-03-25
SPOKE AFTER 20 YEARS.
In the Shadow of Death William Jero-
lamar Renowned His Vow.

For twenty years William H. Jerola-
man had been silent. His wife had long
since forgotten their little quarrel of
two decades ago, but not so with old Mr..
JerOlaman. He had VOW to keep,
and he meant to keep it. He never
swerved till death came on Monday and
forced him.
I'll never speak to you as long as
live, I swear it!' was his VOW one
day far back in the seventies when he
and his wife fell out over some trifle.
He was fifty-eight years old then.
The man kept his vow and lived on,
utterly ignoring the wife that had shared
his joys and his sorrows so many years.
He led the same life as in the past,
there in their pretty place at Arlington,
n j., but it was as if Mrs. Jerolaman
had never lived, so far as it concerned
the old man. Mrs. Jerolaman bore it
without murmur.
Devoted and faithful as ever, she often
tried to get him to break his sen-im-
posed silence. She cooked for him. she
served meals daintily for him, but all
in vain. He dined alone and in silence.
Often Mrs. Jerolaman had to speak to
her husband on affairs of the household,
but never by word or gesture did he
intimate that such person as his wife
existed.
But old Jerolaman prospered. His
place became noted for it's small fruits
and vegetables. None could excel his
products. He did everything, however,
mir ute, by rule, vigorously enforced.
These rules he carried to his home life
and his life in the community
Old JerOlaman once was a steady
church member. He was one of the
organizers of the Arlington M. E.
church, and he became a trustee Away
| back in 1874 the town went wild on pro-
hibitiOn. The old man tried to get the
church members to indorse the cold
water ticket at the town election They
refused. He spoke his opinions, freely.
I'll never go into this church again,
or any otherr' he declared, and he kept
his word.
He lived on, eating his meals in nix
solitary corner, while his Wfe's heart
was breaking. His daily tasks were
done as usual and with clock-like reg
ularity. Rarely did the advent of a
stranger break in on the households
quiet. The old man boarded his money
and made his will, which he put in the
care Of Judge NJ. NJ. Forrest, together
with his papers and bank books.
Last Friday he could not arise in the
morning. Pneumonia had laid it's grip
upon the man, now nearly eighty years
old. Weaker and weaker he grew. The
end was near Suddenly a great lump
rose in his throat He essayed to
speak. He was about to break his ST
lence.
my DEAR" he gasped, Ealing out to
his faithful wife of lifetime I'm
sorry. Will you forgive the past?"
Forgive the past? OF course she
would, only too gladly, and there by
the bedside Of her dying husband Mrs
Jerolaman wept softly that reconciliation
had come at last. Weak as he was, the
years. Regrets crowded in on him,
one after the other, but his wife babe
him mind them not.
'All right, dear" he whispered, Il
Won't"
| Then he fell asleep. When he woke
his wife was still there. But so was
! the shadow Of death. All day Satur-
day and Sunday it lowered near, and
on Monday it claimed the old man,
while his widow, happy once again in
his confidence for few feeting days,
sWooned away at his loss. On Tuesday
he was buried in the little Arlington
cemetery.
Mr.. Jerolaman came of stock that has
peopled the west Hudson section for
hundreds Of years. He himself was born
long before there was such a place as
Arlington. He was Of striking ap-
pearance, and six feet three inches in
height.
Since his death other evidences of his
eccentricity have come to light. A
quantity Of oldfashioned jeWeIry was
found slowed away in his room, and in
a corner Of the house under an old bee
hive was found a new $50 bill, concealed
between two pieces Of paper.
Lord Roberts, the British field mar
shall. will soon publish his remfnis-