New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-04-08
INDIANA WOMAN HERMIT.
FOR SIXTYFIyE YEARS SHE HAS Sc
GUIDED HERSELF IN HER HOME
LEFT HER LOVER FOR SOME
UNEXPLAINED REASON.

UNEXPLAINED REASON.
Indianapolis April (SpecaD.-On one Of
the principal streets of the quaint old town OF
Brookville. in a weatherbeaten two story frame
house the blinds to Of the windows of which
have remained closed for sixty-flve years. lives
a woman whose life has been mystery to the
, two generations that have grown up during her
self-enforced seclusion without having so much
as glimpse of her ever having been admitted
to her In the siXtyfive years of her seclu-
sion the population has changed two or three
times and to-day there are few who know That
the hermit exists and fewer still who can recall
the days when for some unexplained reason she
shut herself up in her room and babe final
adeu to the social circles of which she was ad-
mittedly the brightest ornament
1t was in the days of canal building in Indiana
that Hadey Johnson and Phoebe Meeks met
each other and it was not long till rumor coupled
their names as lovers. Both were the children
OF we'll to do parents, and both were young ana
aspiring After time their intimate friends
were informed that they were engaged, and their
marriage was to take place in June. This was in
1885 or 1886 and Brookville then the most
important town in the infant State and the
scene of much of the gayety and fashion of
those primitive times.
One evening, few weeks before the day ap-
pointed for the wedding, Hadley Johnson and
Phoebe Meeks and three other couples wandered
down the canal banks near the basin and seated
themselves to watch the boats as they moved
lazy by. The lovers and their friends seemed
to be in the best of spirits Suddenly rising from
the canal bank, and without uttering a word in
explanation of her conduct Miss Meeks turned
her back on her friends and walked hurredly
away Mr. Johnson called to her. but received
no response, and after while he followed her
hut he
to intrude.
The next morning he called to learn what had
occurred to offend the young woman. but she
refused to see him to offer word in explana-
ton Letters sent to her by the mystfed lover
were returned unopened, and Johnson was finally
obliged to accept the situation and give up all
hope of learning wherein he had displeased her
Month after month passed, and Miss Meeks re-
| NAMED in her home and rumor said that she
remained well in her own room. the blinds to
which were now always shut People mar
yelled at this strange action and busybodies
went to the house, but they away no
| wiser than they went for the other members of
the family refused to discuss the subject at all.
| and met all references to 1t so codly that even
| the most inquistive soon deferred from
! asking questions. The father and mother died,
| but Miss Phoebe heard the funeral sermons only
| from an adjoining room, to which no one else
was admitted, and ala not even IoiloN lne DouleS
to the graves. The months heightened into
years and still the hermit kept in the old home,
and the fact of her existence almost ceased TO be
known to any except the older residents.
An only sister lived in the house with Miss
Phoebe, and after the death of the parents the
two opened millinery store in one OF the front
rooms The younger sister attended to the
store, and Miss Phoebe trimmed hats in her own
room. and was never seen by any of the Gus
toners through the ten years or more that the
| h1S ca
church, of which she was member, was torn
away and a new and more pretentlous edillce
was erected She sent subscription to the
Building Committee, but has never been in the
church. or. in fact, seen it unless after night
when one was near to see her. me canai
fell into disuse and the railroad to take its
place, but still the recluse remained in her nome,
and tits said that she has never seen railroad
train, although three or four pass Wltnln halt a
mile of her home every day.
After several years If waiting Hadley John
son went West, and became prosperous bust
ness man in Utah Territory. Then he invested
| in mining stocks, and ere long became one or
| the weaIthiest men in the Far West. When
| Utah had been admitted to the Union and had
cast her first vote for Presidential Electors. 1t
| was he who bore the official records to Wash
! ingtoD as the agent of the Government. On his
return home he stopped at BrookVille ana
| made last effort to see his aftianced bride or
more than fifty years before. He was then ad,
vanced in life, but the old scenes had revived
! the warnings of years before. Miss Meeks was
! Obdurate. and refused to see him or even to
| receive any word from him. Her action had
! gone unexplained through all the years of their
| separation and Johnson destined never to
/ know what occurred that fatal night to
! change her attitude toward him and the world.
t He died last year in his Western home, never
| having married.
! Miss Meeks's only companions are her sister,
I several years younger than herself. and the
| birds. Hundreds of sparrows go to her window
1 every morning to be fed. and for a few
ments the blinds are turned that she may put
| the crumbs upon the windowsill for her little
! pets. She has ample means which to live,
and the business of milliner taken up Cor
: the recreation it would give, and aban-
| doned it ceased to be diverting She
! is said to be an omnivorous reader, and nearly
! all OF the popular high priced magazines
! taken, and also a Cincinnati daily paper.
/ Though she avoids contact with the world, she
! is thus conversant with what is going In
! il, and the grocer who supplies her from time
| to time with vegetables, meats, fruits and the
! like testihes to the fact that every bodily
| fort IS looked after.
! Only once has an attempt been made by out
s:ders to learn the history of the night that she
! separated from her lover. A newspaper
! sought the house on one occasion for that pur-
| pose. but refused an interview or even per-
! mission to see her. He persisted beyond the
! limits OF courtesy, and narrowly escaped
| scalding from bucket of hot water that was
| thrown from one of the upper windows
| INCORPORATED IN WEST VIRGINIA.
! Charleston w ADJ (SpeCiaD-The Secre-