The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-13
HER LIVING GRAVE.
Miss CrowcII Lived in 1t for Forty
Years.

Forty years ago the belle of Perth Am
boy and Elizabeth, N. j., was Amelia
Crowell. The other day the once beautiful
girl. grown old and haggard, was buried
from the house in which she had kept her
self imprisoned for four long decades. In
the days of her youth she was tall and
dark, with great black eyes and face
which compelled admiration. Her father,
Marsh Crowell, was a gentleman farmer,
his broad acres extending down to the
shores of the Kill Won Kull and running
back to the turnpike which connected
| Woodbridge with Railway, and which was
ana still is part OF a great thoroughfare
extending north and south through Mid
dlesex. Monmouth and Ocean Counties.
The Crowells were one of the pioneer
families of the State, and the old home
stead, still standing, was even then quite
| aged.
When the girl was twenty years old she
had a bitter quarrel with her father. She
and her cousin, William Brown, had fallen
| in love with each other, and she had con-
scented to be his wife.
'Never,'' cried the father when he
learned of it. Why, Nellie, it would be
crime. First cousins cannot get mar
ried. l will never consent, neyeri"
Il will never give him up cried the
| determined girl. And the father, broken
hearted, knew that she would keep her
word.
But Brown, being a man, was made of
less faithful metal. For a time he re-
manned true to his plighted troth. Then
one day word came to his sweetheart that
he was engaged to another. She would
not believe it until he was married, but
On the wedding day, when it was certain
that he had deserted her for another, she
locked herself in her bedroom and made
the vow which she kept for more than
forty years.
She had the room darkened Heavy
green shades were hung at the windows.
Her meals were brought to her. When
visitors called she received them with
her eyes hidden behind heavy green glass
goggles.
Her parents did not disturb her for
long time. They respected her grief, but
believed that one day she would tire of
her self-imprisonment, and would come
out of her own accord. When, however,
they tried to persuade her to do so she
feisned illness and declared she was IN
able. For days at time she lay upon a
sofa in the room and made no effort to
get up.
Her father died, and then her mother,
leaving her all alone in the old farm
house. save for the maid Of all work, who
had been in the family many years. and
VINO IOOhGQ On MISS Nellie with as
much affection as if she were her
daughter. By the will of her father, who
was well-to-do, she was made sole heiress
to a fortune estimated at $50 600, in ad-
dition to the large farm. She leased the
farm to a man who worked it intelligently
and whose wife cooked the meals of the
reclJse and sent them to her room.
A railroad came and the Shrek of the
locomotive sounded not far from the
room of the walled-in woman. But it is
not believed that she ever looked out
and saw the trains. Then the little vii
lage of Carteret sprang up, and To- her
farm was in the midst of it. Applicants
came to the door and offered good sums
for parcels of the land on which to build
their homes. She sold a number of them
at good prices all me transactions being
performed in her darkened chamber
while she, with yelled face, lay on the
couch where she had lain so many years.
She proved herself shrewd and cap
able business woman and sold her land
at a round figure. There are now quite
a number of pretty cottages on the old
farm. But she never went out to see the
changes which had come over the land
scape. Not until l am carried out in
my coffin,'' she said firmly The years
had not changed-rather intensifed-her
purpose.
No one seems to know what became of
William Brown. After his marriage he
moved away. It is possible that when
her last will and testament is opened l
viii be found that Amelia CroweI has
remembered the old days when he loved
her and forgotten those when he proved
his love tickle.