The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1916-02-18
Gbe
Chenoworth
Baronetcy
1t Was Lost and Was
Revived
By F. A. Mitchell

CENTURIES. IHere was tradition In the
family that the first Chenoworth in
America had been a soldier Of King
Charles under Prince Rupert and, when
the Protector Cromwell prevailed, had
come to America to make a new home
for himself.
The family documents were kept in
what was called q hair trunk, from be-
ing covered with the skin of some ami
NAL from which the hair had not been
removed. James Chenoworth spent
many hours over the contents Of the
trunk. reading the papers. In time he
took up paper which he unfolded. 1t
was fragment yellow with age. The
ink was also faded and almost illeg-
ible. James put it in his pocket, In
tending to try to decipher 1t later, for
words in 1t which he could easily read
seemed to refer to his ancestors. What
he ultimately made out was this:
"At the beginning of the parliament
tary wars James Chenoworth. son and
heir Of Sir Ralph Chenoworth,
out to fight for the king. His
Arthur, two years his
the parliamentary forces.
brothers were enough
At the end of the war
having been lost,
went to America.
his home and
When the
Chenoworth
James.
worth
Cheno
Chenoworth resolved that during his
travels he would visit England and
hunt up his ancestral record Placing
the fragment in his portemonnaie, he
made his preparations and in due time
went abroad. At hotel In Switzer-
land, where he found a mixture Of
English and Americans, he fell in
with an English family named Smith
son.
The main attraction in this family
was Miss Gladys Smithson. girl
about twenty years old. Both she and
Chenoworth were fond of winter
sports. and they were where they
could enjoy them to perfection. Miss
Smithson was the only child Of her
parents, and Chenoworth learned that
ess. Since he possessed an income of
barely $1,000 year. he repressed any
desire he felt to make love to the
young lady.
This was fortunate, for Miss Smith
sons mother. who had an interest in
her daughters adding to rather than
dividing her prospective fortune, not
interest between the two young per-
sons, made no objection to their being
together, and when they separated she
invited Chenoworth when he came to
England to call upon them at their
home in that country.
Perhaps neither Chenoworth nor
Miss Smithson realized the delicate
bond that had been slowly forming
between them till the moment of sep
aration came. Gladys gave him her
hand at parting. and he held it just
a trifle longer than at an adieu be-
tween mere friends. Miss Smithson
looked at the floor. Chenoworth look
ed into her face, then released her
hand and turned away.
He met many young women on his
travels. but none of them caused him
to Danish from a spot very near to his
heart the image Of Miss Smithson. He
had planned trip to Russia. but,
bearing in his memory the image of his
companion in Switzerland, he shrank
from a visit to that cold country and
resolved to forego the trip and give
himself more time in England.
When Chenoworth arrived In Lon
don he sent his card to the Smithsons
at their ancestral home In the county
of Kent. with the result that he re-
ceived an invitation to visit them for
a week end. AS he was driven into
the place between two imposing gate
way pillars and up to the manor house,
through an avenue arched with trees
that had been hundreds of years grow.
ing, his heart sank within him, for he
realized that an American with beg
carly two thousand year could never
aspire to the hand of the girl who
would inherit such splendid home.
Whether Mrs. Smithson had discov-
cred in her daughter a disposition to
pine for Chenoworth and scented dan
ger. certain It is that the mother re-
ceived him without the cordially he
expected. Her daughter, on the con-
trary. welcomed him with a mingling
of pleasure and embarrassment. Dur
ing his brief visit there were moments
of exquisite pleasure for both him and
Gladys. succeeded by moments Of de-
preston. There was union Of hearts,
but they were constantly reminded
that any other union was impossible.
when Chenoworth was making this
visit. one afternoon while Gladys was
ENGAGED. he was entertained by her
mother. He mentioned the fact that
his ancestors had come from England
and his discovery of the fragment
among his family papers. The lady
was doing some kind OF knitting while