Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-03-14
Gone Into Oblivion
[Original.l

from Slice.
1t is said that in the great city Of
New York this announcement is made
frequently and there is one of these
disappearances for every day in the
year When q thing becomes common
it ceases to attract attention. But
there was a time when this sudden
walking into oblivion from New York
made a 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 trOubl0uS 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 a base quite
an advantage. The water merchant
was supposed to bury his treasures
near at hand, and the farmer dug many
a 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-
GATES Lord Chancellor Somers. the
Duke of Shrewsbury, the EarIs of Rom
ney and of Oxford
One night when New York had grown
SO far that Wall street was beginning
to be a fashionable dwelling place
there was a wedding in a house near
the corner of Wall and Broad streets,
on which latter street the Stock EX-
change now stands. Stephen Winter
ton, a younger son Of a 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 at nightfaIl 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 were alone sufficient 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
family. During his stay he lived at
the home of his sister-in-law, whom he
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
England 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 a 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 a man who had known
Winterton to have the body eXhumed
and examined. The famiIy's repre-
sentative returned and reported that he
believed the remains to be that Of Win
terton, though they were much decom-
posed. He had found the letter ''TV''
oh int ~, oh,
man had been buried, and this tended
to confirm his belief. The Van Flot-
ter family announced that Winterton's
body had been found, and thereafter
they publicly considered him dead
The announcement no sooner reached
England than Lord BonifOrd started
for America, and on his arrival there
was a second wedding in Wall street
in the same house as the first, Lord
Boniford marrying his brothers wife.
Since the marriage between a man and
his dead brothers Wife is not legal in
England, the couple remained in New
York till the death Of the groom's IA
Their. the Earl of Scarsfield, which oc-
Cured a year after the wedding. Then
the son, having succeeded to the title,
took his bride to England.
When they arrived there it was sup
posed that they would seek recognition
among the earPs friends. Contrary to
expectation, they remained shut up on
the estate, neither seeking nor giving
invitations. This changed the attitude
of their peers toward them, and invita-
tions began to be sent them. Not one
was accepted. They remained isolated,
only going beyond the limits of their
estates when necessary.
To say that Stephen Winterton was
never heard from needs qualification.
He was never heard from to the world
Two yeaRs after his disappearance
swarthy man partly in sailors dress
knocked at the back door of the Van
Flotter home in Wall street with cuTios
to sell. Mrs. WintertOn was called, and
as. soon as the man was alone with her
I, -, lotion oJ IrOc-01 - 49,,