Bisbee daily review., 1909-03-16
VETERAN, ACE E|CHTy-THREE,
 WEOS MAIDEN
Romantic Love Affair Terml- mates In Soldiers Home at SaWteIie, cal'fornia-Bride Is Only Twenty-one

which took place at Sawtelle, Califor- nia, March g. the parties to the at- ! fair being -Eleeta Bessie Hawkins and
 Varnum westcott. an inmate of the 1 Soldiers Home at that place. The
 bride gave her age as 21 and the groom announced his to be s3 when the marriage took place before Re corder Walter Downs of Sawtelle. | For several years the aged veteran of the civil war had courted the i pretty woman. Although nearly four times the age of his bride Westcott is exceedingly active and enjoys re- bust health. He was before the mast" for 20 years. having command ed the bark Sena, in which he round ed the Horn in 1S49. Like his bride. Westcott has been married before.
 Mrs. Hawkins is a daughter of c. 2. Chase, also an inmate of the Sol diers' Home. Chase at one time was one of the most prominent mining men in Arizona, but lost his money sever al years ago.
 Westcott and Chase have been ward mates at the Soldiers Home. Chase's daughter and Westcott met, however. several, years ago,
 It was love at first sight on tho part of toe aged veteran and the love was returned by Mrs Hawkins, who was barely more than IS years old at the time. Marveling at the for meF soldiers remarkable history. which she learned from various [, the man who should De ner husband.
 Westeotts fife had been filed with stirring incidents and many stories or his bravery in battle against the h. dians. in the civil war and on the seas. were told her by her friends and by Westcott
 The wedding came as a great sur prise to Captain Smith, who Is in charge of the barracks where West colt was quartered.
 Even his closet associates were un- informed of his intention to marry. Westcott has been in the Soldiers Home hardly a month. During that time hc has visited the woman of his choice daily. It was the general i'm precision around the barracks that she was his daughter and the soldiers were taken by complete surprise when they learned that the two were sweethearfs and had been married.
 Two days prior to the wedding Westcott bought a cOzy little home at Eleventh and Ohio streets. Sawtelle. He will live there with his bride just as soon as he can make arrangements to leave the home. He secured au eight-day leave Of absence following his marriage. so that he could take his bride on a honeymoon
 Besides being a soldier. Westcott Is a traveller and a pioneer He came to California al the time of the gold excitement At one time he owned a thousand acres Of the famous San Andres ranch in Santa Cruz county.
 He has .encircled the sioe twice. In 1898 he went up to Alaska. although well on in years. He prospected with considerable good fortune and is com forfably fixed.
 His Marriage to Mrs. Hawkins de veioped the fact that the brides father had a sonin-law old enough to be his own father.
 Electa Bessie Chase will be remenl- bered cutie well as the wife of D. w Hawkins. who, with his wife. were i'm pfcated in the murder Of Albert Leon hardt on East Alameda street late one night in December. 1907. The mur- der was a mysterious affair and it 1 was not until several months later ' that the truth became known. Hawkins, who had been a conduc- l for on the Tucson RaDid Transit line. and his wife were arrested on charge i of brFglarv. During their confinement { in fail Hawkins. backed by his wife, ! confessed to the murder Of Ieonhartt | duplicating one Earl Metzler. who had i also been a conductor on the same | road. with complicity in tbe crime. l Metzler had gone to california, where . he was arrested and brnught back to I Tucson and held for trial.
 Hawkins told a number of sensa. ! tionai stories of his life, before and
 after the trial. The plea of guilty on his part ended In his being sentenced to be hung. The wife was given her
 freedom in view of her condition. be coming a mother prior to the trials
 which were postponed several times The hanging of Hawkins, who ad
 mitted bis many crimes. and gave his
 age at % years while in jail. in one Of the interviews accorded a reporter 1 took place in the jail yard last Au-
 gust in the presence Of a large nun Der of persons, admitted by invita-.
 ton and many small boys and others from points Of vantage on the court house roof and other roofs overlooking
 the yard. Hawkins was the coolest person in the whole crowd and smoked. talked and sang while on the
 scaffOld. The scene was photographic ed
 and boys sold these. The whole af.
 Fair from date Of the murder until the end of the scene in the jail yard was one of the most sensational on rec ord in Pima county. even in Arizona The widow and her child were pro 1 vided with transportation and they
 left before the hanging for Chicago
 10 make their home with the parents of Hawkins. Later Mrs. Hawkins
 drifted to SawteIle. and the outcome
 is given above.
 The father of Bessie Chase left
 here over year ago to become an
 inmate of the home. He had been
 an eDcineer at fhe city water works
 and the university in recent years,
 Ills wife was left here and has been
 seen about the city since her hus- | bands departure. During the incar-
 ceration of Hawkins the mother asso-
 ciated with Bessie. who was kept in