Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1901-01-30
BROKE HIS CRUEL VOW
Spoke to Devoted Wife After twenty
five Years of Silence.
WAS IN THE SHADOW o.: DEATH
William III. Jerolamon and His Wife Quar-
relied Over n Trihe ~ Quarter of n Cen
fury Ago-Ncver Spoke to Her Until
on Deathbed-She Forgave Him Ere
He Breathed His Last.

He Breathed His Last.
Morristown. N. with the burial
Of William II. Jerolamon in the little
cemetery Mt Mt. Arlington ended n life
story that made him and his wife
talked of the cc""iy wide. For Guar
ter of Il century Jerolamon never spoke
- his wife
III never s.cak to you rs long rs
live. l swear it, was his VOW one day
! far back in the seventies. when he and
his wife Quarrelcd over n mere trifla
He was ficty-cight years old then
He kept his VOW until death VS. com
ing and lived on. utterly ignoring tho
wife who mad shared his Joys and sor-
rows 80 many years. He led the same
lifc as in The past in the pretty Mt-
Arlington home in Morris County. but
Is was as if Mrs. Jerolamcn mad ncv-
er lived. so far rs il concerned the old
man.
Devoted and faithful rs ever. she
frequently Attempted 10 get him to
break his sclf-impoScd silence. She
cooked for him. served meals daintily.
tried in every possible way to please
him. but all in vain. He dined alone
and in silence. Often Mrs. .Jerolamou
had TO speak 10 her husband on af-
fairs of the household, but never by
word or gesture did he intimate that
such person as his wife existed. As
she years went by he proSpered His
place became noted for its small fruits
and vegetables. No one could excel
his products. He did everything. how
tver, by rules vigorously inforc"d.
These rules he carried To his home
life and his life in the community.
Once Jerolamop was steady church
member. He was one OF the or@aniz-
ers of the Arlington Methodist Ep,s-
copal Church, api he became IL trustee.
Away back in 1874 the little town
went wild on prohibition. The old
man tried to get the church members
TO indorse tho cold water ticket at tho
town election, but they refused ALSO
lutcly. lie spoke his opinion freely
I'll never 80 into this church again,
Or any other" he declared, and he kept
his word. He lived on. eating his
meals in his solitary corner while his
wife's heart was slowly breaking His
daily tasks Were performed as usual
and with clocklike regularity. Rarely
did the advent OF n 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
N. Forest, together with his papers
and bank books. The other day he
was unable to arise. Pneumonia had
laid Its grip upon the mar. now near
ly eighty years old Weaker and weak
Pr he grew. Suddenly n great lump
rose IN his throat. He essayed TO
spc3k.
MY dear" he aaspcG. calling out to
bis faithful wife OF q lifetime, "I'm
sorry. VIII you forgive the past:"
Forgive the paStF Of course she
would, only too gladly. AMI th"rc 10y
the bedside of her dying husband Mrs.
JcrolawOn wcpt softly that rcconcllia-
ton had come ut last.
Then lie fell asleep. When he awClIe
his wife was still there. But so was
The shadow of death. All thai day and
the next it hovered near. and tlien It
claimed the old man, while his widow
happy once again in his confidence for
few fcPtinG days. swooncd away He
was buried in the little churchyard il
Mt Arlington