The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-01-19

l first heard Of Squire Bales through
the medium Of news item which went
the rounds of the press, and referred to
complications which had arisen owing to
the fact that the wife of notary public
had married an urgent couple in the alb
sence of her husband. The news item
was recalled to my recollection while /
was going from Salisbury to Charlotte,
My presence on the freight train was due
to the fact that | had missed the regu-
lar passenger train and preferred going
to Charlotte by freight to waiting in
Salisbury some eight hours There were
two other men in a like predicaInent, and
1t was from the conversation of my fell
low travellers that | again heard about
Squire Bales. From these men / learned
that it was the 'Squire's wife who had
married the couple referred to in the
newspaper item, and l also learned that
the Squires place Was within II miles
of Charlotte, and that for a marrying
place it could give Gretna Green cards
ard ST AIDES and then win out. The men
in the car told such stories of the place
which they said was located partly in
North Carolina and partly in South
Carolina, that / determined to make the
Squire call. The next day was Sunday.
end beautiful day it was. l engaged
a buggy and an cid donkey driver who
Knew the road and in less than two hours
we had covered the IL miles between the
Ruford Hotel in Charlotte and the home
of the marrying Squire on the South Car
Gina border. The road lay between fields
OF cotton, the bursting bolls making the
vista look like dotted snowfakes. My
dliver had no hesitation in pulling some
OF the growing cotton for me, and later,
On spying a persimmon tree, he got me
a number of samples of the "'possum
fruit" 'Possums, by the way, the darkey
said were fright smart plenty" and he
could pu' me in the way of 'goin' on
hunt if l wanted to- The road was macad-
amized most of the way, built by convicts,
the driver said, and for the greater part
was the best country road l ever encoun-
tered in New England or elsewhere.
The old darkey chuckled when asked
him If he had ever been to Squire
Bales
Deed hab, sah,' he replied, morn
twenty times. Lahst time / went, one
young lady's paw war; er-lookin all
round Charlotte fer her, but he wuz back
an all married afore he thought er hitch
in up and goin' to Squire Bales. He.
he but dey wuz pair OBJ happy chilren,
6ey wuz' And the old fellow laughed and
chuckled for full minute over the
thoughts brought up By the question.
The Southern Gretpa Green, I found to
be an apparently substantial farm, and
the man who did the marrying, to be just
as substantial farmer The house is
Cne of the hest in the neighborhood, and
the surrounding fields, with their grow
ing cotton, gave an air OF prosperity
which, l subsequently learned. was not
misplaced Ia addition to being probably
the champion tier of nuptial knots in
the country. Squire Bales proved to be
farmer on a fairly large scale and
also the owner of a cotton ginnery. The
kind OF looking man he is, may be seen
from the accompanying portrait. The
Squire himself met me at the door, and
as he shook my hand, l noticed him
squint toward the corner Of the house,
and his eyes asked, where's the girl?"
When l told him who ! was and why
called, he seemed to be in no way dis
appointed. In fact, he was rather pleased
TO talk about himself, and his marrying
business. and frankly said he FELT that
article would be q good adver-
tisement for him.
up to 8 o'clock today" he said 81
have married SIC couples in five years."
In reply to my remark that that was
doing pretty we'll, he said, Yes, it is,
that it takes a man quite
a while to get up reputation When
| become better known, / expect that
/ Will do more business"
The Squire said that Sunday was the
great marrying day and that scarcely
q Sabbath passed without two or more
hearts being made happy by him. He
had married sne couple an hour or more
before | came. and he said that if
waited long enough he had no doubt
other couples would be along to be
united. He had scarcely uttered this
prophecy when the door opened, and
the Squire's young son called out: paw,
there's young man out here as wants
to get married.
The Squire excused himself, and going
to the door, said chcerily: You all,
light and come in
In about minute there came into
he room young fellow OF about 10 or
20 years, a girl couple of years younger
and another girl not more than IL years
old. who evidently came along for the
fur Of the thing, as she sat in a corner