Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-19
WOMAN STILL HOPES
TO FIND HER FATHER
Husband Came to America, Leaving
Wife In EngIand-Heartless ReIa-
tives Kept Letters and Broke
Woman's Heart

Despair cannot shake the confident
hope Of Mrs. Robert Baxter of S65 Wall
street, Los Angeles, that she will some
day find her long lost father.
Mrs. Baxters story includes many
interesting points and the record of
the years is one of great determine
! tion on her part and of vain struggling
| against battling fate.
Many are the years 1 have hunted
for that dear father of mine," ex-
claimed this heroic woman yesterday
when seen at the Woodmen of the
World hall at Mercantile place, where
she was engaged sewing with the
Women of Woodcraft, the woman's
auxiliary of that fraternal order.
His name was T. A. Cowden. He
was five feet ten inches tall, wore a
heavy beard to hide a scar on his face
and was left-handed. If living today
he would be 81 years old.
MY mothers people were jealous of
him, since they were better off in this
worlds goods than he was. According
ly they opposed his marriage to
mother.
Married in England
"But true love finds way, and they
were married. That was over in old
England, where 1 was born.
well, one of mothers kinfolk man
aged to drug some wine which father
had for dinner and the result was he
became confused in his work of meas
uring lumber that afternoon and meas
ured more feet of lumber than he
should have done. So he had to leave,
for he had brought unnecessary ex-
pense on his employer and the latter
was angry with him.
But before he left England he prom
ised mother that he would send for
her to come and join him in America.
MANY and many a day mother
pined away waiting for that letter. I
can see her yet, her brave, determined
face stained with tears as she looked
in vain for the missive telling her to
join her husband in the new land
across the sea.
None of us understood why he did
not write. He had been so fond of
her
zone day the mystery was cleared
Mother found the letter in a bureau
drawer at home. She asked grand
mother about it.
"'Oh. I fixed you and your Tom"
was the reply of the old woman.
"Then she went on the explain how,
two years before, she had received that
letter in the mail, and instead of
handing it over to my mother, to whom |
it belonged, she had taken it. opened 1t, |
read its contents and then hid it.
Full instructions as to how to reach |
father were contained in this missive. |
And probably, he, too, wondered why |
his wife could be so heartless as to |
disregard his message, asking her to |
join him. as he must have thought, re- |
ceiving no reply.
Died of Broken Heart
"Mother died of broken heart soon |
after that.
"Before she died, however I prom
ised her that I would never cease to |
hunt for father until found him.
'I have kept my pledge to the best |
of my ability.
$50 came over to America and |
went to Boston, San Francisco, Seattle |
seeking for my beloved |
father.
"The San Francisco earthquake
seemed to me as though it were the
end of the world. And I remember
how I felt sad at thinking that was
going to see my mother and would be
unable to tell her that I had found |
father as promised TO do
"At Los Angeles I have lost what
little money I made since the earth
quake by investing it in some property
which real estate sharper advised
me to buv-with disastrous results as
I found later.
"Once while in Los Angeles thought
7 had discovered my fathers where
abouts. There was a Cowden at To-
nopah, in the mining district. 7 sent
letter there but discovered that this
was ]. L. Cowden. whereas my ia
theirs initials are It. A.
"But 7 am determined to continue,
and will not lose hope of some day |
greeting him again."