The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1900-08-10
alau Eurhnfnn Dap.
A Romance Of Concord
and Lexington.
By L. G. Woodbury..

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Well, as l was saying, this is the
way it came about: was young
thing then, just turned Is. Your grand
father had been my playmate, hero
and protector from the time that was
old enough to go to school. had new
er thought of marrying any one but
him, and so when he asked me to be
his wife, why, Of course, said yes"
Well, 1t was In the spring Of 1775
that we were to be married. Mother
and spent the winter getting my
things made up, and l had as fine an
outfit as a girl could possibly have In
those days. The day set for the we'd
ding was the 10th of April-yes, the
very day on which the battle Of Lex
ington occurred, as have good reason
to remember.
Those were anxious days for US. l
remember how serious my father and
brothers used to look as they discussed
the events which were then taking
place. Their only conversation was
about rights, stamps and taxes.
When the towns began to raise min
utemen," why, Of course, we raised
company In our town, and your grand
father and my brothers were members
of 1t. We girls could not stand guard,
of course, so in order to show our pa
triotism we all signed paper in which
we agreed not to have anything tosdo
with the men Of the town who refused
to join the company.
The 10th of April was a beautiful
day. though warm one for the sea-
son. We were all up early that morn
ing, for there was great deal to be
done. 1t was about 8 o'clock In the
forenoon when my mother, who had
been looking over some linen. suddenly
raised her head exclaiming as she did
so, 'Why, Mary, was that the meeting
house bellT
"What can it meanY | cried, and,
running to the window, l caught sight
Of our neighbours sons, Joe and John
Eaton, running down the road with
| their guns. Across the way Harry
| Wright was blowing the field. The
boys called out to him as they passed,
and, without stopping to unhitch the
horse, he seized his gun and was off
| across the fields.
| at Is an alarm, motherv' l cried.
| "The boys are down by the brook"
she said. 1.-THE sound will not reach
them. Run and tell thcmw
| Without delay hurried to the kitch-
en-, and, Selling the horn, l ran out of
| the house and started for the brook,
| which was some distance from the
house. / blew q blast on the horn as l
ran, and as the boys caught sight of
me l pointed toward the road, where
several men could he seen running
with their guns. The boys understood,
and, waving their hands to me, they
were off across the field to the road.
what do you suppose the matter
| Isl" asked mother when / returned to
| the house.
'T do not know" was my reply, but
| / am going to find out" And ran out
| Of the house and took short cut across
| the fields to the meeting house, which
was to be the gathering place If the
alarm should ever be sounded l, for
one, had never expected to hear any
alarm. for at home we hoped for a
peaceful settlement Of the difficulties.
But when l reached the church and
saw the whole town gathered on the
| green the mems stern air and the wo-
| mems pale faces frightened me, and !
began to fear that something serious
was the matter.
"V hat Is It? Where are they GO
ing?" asked. And as spoke the men
came hurrying out of the meeting
house, where they had heard few
words from Parson Smith and, mount
| ing their horses rode off as fast as
| they could go. looked for your grand
| father. but he was not there. Catch
Ing sight OF my father, ran to him.
"Have you seen HenryT Chats your
| grandfather) | asked
Henry was at the tavern when the
| messenger rode through here" replied
| my father, land, as he had his horse
| with him, he rode away without wait
! ing for the company to assemble"
| You may imagine my feelings as
! turned to go home. This was my we'd
ding day, and the man who was to
marry me had ridden off without
word. knowing. too. that he might new.
er return, II all they were saying about
fights and resistance was true.
My father had reached home before
me, and as / opened the door heard
mother ask, do you think II Ia any,
thing eprfous father?"