Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-01-31
DAILY SHORT STORY
GONE INTO OBLIVION.
lOriginal.l

iioiu SiHte
1t is said that in the great city OF
New York this announcement is made
| frequently and there is one of these
disappearance for every day in the
year. When thing becomes common
| il ceases TO attract attention. But
| there was Il time when this sudden
walking into oblivion from New York
made great stir. That was when
most of the people lived in little Dutch
looking houses huddled about the Bat
terry, when the French and Indians
were troublous upon the border in the
Mohawk valley and the gentlemanly
pirate infested the ocean, making his
shore headquarters on Long Island
within half days journey by coach
from the Dutch and English village
Apropos of the gentility of piracy the
farmers of Long Island considered the
pirates making that coast base quite
an advantage. The water merchant
was supposed To bury his treasures
near at hand, and the farmer dug many
Il hole looking for it. An old historian
has spoken of the pirates as worthy
gentlemen and records that the ia
nous Captain Kidd had for his asso-
ciates Lord Chancellor Somers the
Duke of Shrewsbury. the Earls of Rom
ney and of oxford.
one night when New York had grown
SO far that Wall street was beginning
to be fashionable dwelling place
there was IL wedding in n house near
the corner of Wall and Broad streets,
on which latter street the Stock EX-
change now stands. Stephen Winter
ton, younger son of Il British noble
man, was married TO the beautiful Re
becca Van Flotter. New York's most
engaging belle A month after the
wedding the groom walked out of the
house and was never heard OF after
ward. When ut nightfall he had not
returned the young wife, becoming
alarmed. sent word TO the watch. who
secured the town without finding him.
The prominence of the family of the
groom in England and of the bride in
the province We're alone'Suthcient to set
all tongues waGging. But as weeks
passed the burghers gradually ceased
their clatter, and in time the young
scion of a noble house was forgotten
by all except the wife. who shut her
self up and was never seen on the
Battery, in Bowling Green. or even on
the street. Whether or no any word
ever came TO her from her husband
was not known-at least, outside her
home An elder brother of Winterton,
Lord Boniford, came over from Eng
land to seek the lost member of his
During his stay he lived at
III, al, in xx-hn h.a
strove in every way to comfort. He
went back to England without having
found the slightest trace of his brother.
Five years after her husbands dis
appearance Mrs Winterton went to
and was kindly received by
her husbands family. After remain
ing for some time their guest she re-
turned to America. A year or two
later accounts came of Il scout who
had been shot by Indians near Sche-
nectady which in some respects tailed
with the missing man. The Van Flot
ter family did not hear OF him until he
had been buried some time. When they
did they sent man who had known
to have the body exhumed
and examined. The family'S repre- |
sentative returned and reported that he |
believed the remains to be that of Win !
erton, though they were much decom- |
posed He had found the letter W.
on the shirt in which the |
nan had been buried, and this tended |
o confirm his belief. The Van Flot |
err family announced that Winterton's |
Jody had been found, and thereafter
hey publicly considered him dead.
The announcement no sooner reached
England than Lord Boniford started
or America, and on his arrival there
vas 4 second wedding in Wall street
n the same house as the first. Lord
3oniford marrying his brothers wife.
Since the marriage between a man and
lis dead brothers Wife is not legal in
England, the couple remained in New
'Ork till the death OF the groom's IA
her, the Earl of Scarsfield, which oc
urred year after the wedding. Then
he son, having succeeded to the title,
ook his bride to England.
When they arrived there it was sup
osed that they would seek recognition
mong the earrs friends. Contrary to
Expectation, they remained shut UP on
he estate, neither seeking nor giving
Invitations. This changed the attitude
f their peers toward them. and invita-
ions began to be sent them. Not one
vas accepted. They remained isolated, !
My going beyond the limits of their
states when necessary. ;
To say that Stephen Winterton was ;
ever heard from needs qualification. .
lie was never heard from to the world. }
'wo years after his disappearance
nocked at the back door of the Van :
'lotter home in Wall street with curios {
D sell Mrs. Winterton was called. and
S soon as the man was alone with her /;
e handed her a letter addressed to her ;
I the well known hand of her husband. 3
caring 1t open. she read a farewell :
rom Winterton stating that when he .
let her he was engaged in making :