The Oskaloosa herald., 1909-05-06
ROMANCE REVIVED
Mary Prime Was Once the Belle Of
the Town.


the last chapter in the sad life OF
Mary Prime. On that day, many OF
her old-ti.ne friends, with loving min
istrations, took ner body from its
quiet resting place in the county farm
cemetery, and with appropriate ser.
vices laid it TO rest on the beautiful
hill west OF town. ner death rrecails
the story of her love affair with
General Williams, young man who
attained tame as being one of the
noted Union generals of the Civi
War. a3
A more detailed account was found
in an old scrap book of mrs. P. Cron
eweth s, and we produce it herewith
as 1t appeared in the Des Moines
Register:
Years ago, before the late war
there lived in the town of s., a
small village in southeastern Iowa
an old.fashioned Methodist preacher
of the local order. whose memory
kindly fingers among the Older In
habitants of the place. With his
small family of wife and child he oc
cupied a neat cottage at the edge OF
town, respected and revered by all
who knew him.
Mary, the daughter, was a rustic
beauty. Tall, slender, graceful, with
the conventional blue eyes and gold,
en- hair a cultured mind and more
than ordinary accomplishments, She
was the light of her fathers eyes, the
pride of the household. Naturally
there were many admirers, but to all
the old man turned a deaf ear None
were fit to mate with his daring, his
eve lamb. s' i.E
Finally appeared upon the scene a
Young lawyer from the East, who
with little capital save brains and a
gell-stocked library, had come out to
make fame and fortune in the grow
ing west. He came, saw and conquer
ID. Mary timidly acknowledged her
owe for him and all that renamed
was to ask fathers consent.
Here an unforeseen difficulty arose.
The sutton was somewhat man
Of the world and having no fixed
religious convictions. seldom attended
church, gambled little, and it was
whispered drank sometimes more
than was good for him. These though
but the indiscretions of youth and
Ugh spirits, were by the straight-laced
Methodists of hose days regarded as
objectionable sins. The father stern
iy refused his child to so ungodly a
wretch. Mary, with heart breaking
declined to leave her aged parents,
against their will. and the lover In
rage and despair, left the country,
vowing never to return.
Mary lay i'll with brain fever for
many weeks. On her recovery the
golden hair was thickly threaded
with silver and her mind was shat
tered. Clouds gathered thick and
fast around the once happy home,
The old father slckened and died,
the mother followed and Mary was
alone. For years she lived so, sub.
sisting mainly on the neighbors
charity, and the writer, then a wee
school girl, well remembers the I'M
painted cottage with the crimson
Multiaora rose climbing over the
door, and a pallid face peering fear
fully out of the low, small window
at occasional passers-Dy. Still can
she see the tall figure arrayed in Law
ander calico gown, bonnet fearfully
and wonderfully made, whose rose
buds and purple flying streamers con-
trasted oddly with the snowy hair
beneath. the veil worn even in sui
triest weather, the faded blue eyes.
and pleasant meaningless smiles.
Often suffering from want and hun
ger, yet too proud to accept the coun'
tvs aid, Mary chung to her old home
until, with many tear and indig-
nant protest, she was taken with her
few belongings to the county poor
house.
Meantime, what of the other?
Rallying after a time from the blow,
he entered the war and came out
general. Plunging with a new zeal
into the work of his profession, case
after case was won, new triumphs
till all seemed clear before
him. His name, were 1t gwen, would
be familiar to many citizens of Des
Moines. Returning to Washington,
d. c., he was given one of the highest
offices in the power of the executive
to bestow, and now enjoys lucra-
tive law practice in that city.
He won a beautiful and wealthy
wife, they have one charming daugh-
ter. Riches, dignity. power. all are
now his, yet people who know the sad
story sometimes wonder ii, in the tide
Of his prosperity, he ever thinks OF
the far-off Iowa town and the woman
who sits by the poor house window,
patiently waiting for the dawn OF the