The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1921-08-25
AUTHOR HOME SWEET HOME.
Tragedy of Athens Girl and John
Howard Payne.

OdCh Oh luS uGdIt-dppCdl1uS
strains of that melody that will never
grow old, Home, Sweet Home lies
a little-known and pathetic story of
romance, of which Athens, Ca, is the
gracious setting. From Athens the
story shifts rapidly through the capi-
tails of Europe, down to Tunis, in Al
giers, where John Howard Payne,
author of the immortal song died in
a world that had not learned to do
him honor.
The girl was Mary Harden and her
home was in Athens, Ga. To her, the
fulillment of his dreams of romance,
John Howard Payne gave the original
copy of Home, Sweet Home" The
e'er-do-well," who after death was
to receive the homage of a nation
for the song that is greater monu-
ment than any that human hands
will erect of marble in his memory,
met and loved the girl but parental
objection twisted the threads of fate
and sent Miss Harden back to Ameri-
ca from Paris, a recluse, and John
Howard Payne into the world
wandering minstrel down the path to
death of poverty and want.
CAN'T Learns Story.
The story has been closed chap
ter until recently. Honor has at last
been paid the poet, but Miss Harden
has long since passed unmourned.
Larry Can't, in the Richmond Times
Dispatch not long ago related the
story which took place in Athens
many years ago. For long time Mr..
Can't was the publisher of a. newspa-
per in the Georgia town and during
his stay there lived next door to the
principal in his tale. 1t is:
"The author of Home, Sweet
Home was of medium stature and
remarkably handsome. He possessed
a most captivating manner, but al
ways had dreamy expression, char
acteristic of certain line of genius,
with thoughts above the average
mind. He devotedly loved a beauti-
full and accomplished young girl Of
Athens, Ca, who belonged to an aris-
tocratic and distinguished family,
named Miss Mary Harden, and who
ardently returned the young poets
love and remained true to him to the
hour of her death. But young Payne
had the reputation of ne'er-do-well;
he was utterly penniless, and the
Harden family finally vetoed such a
mesalliance for their only daughter
and heiress. In ye olden times chill
dren we're more submissive tc paren-
tai authority than in these days.
And just here let me state that
many years ago, when I published a
paper in Athens, Ca, I lived next
door to this same Miss Mary Harden,
and my partner, Horace Crawford,
rented and lived in part of her
home. She retained in her service an
old mulatto named Rob Roy, a body
body servant of her father, General
John Howard Payne when he visited
his young mistress, and always being
1c f11r nd
and never forgetting what had once
heard, had rare opportunity of
learning and preserving in memory
unpublished incidents in the life of
this world famous character.
Lived as Recluse.
cat that time Miss Mary Harden
was a very old maiden lady, almost
decrepit, who lived almost the life
of a recluse. She had outlived all of
her kindred and friends, was looked
upon somewhat as miser, and SEEM
ed rather to avoid mingling with the
outside world. Among her few as
sociates was a charitable young lady
named Miss Efie Jackson, and to
whom Miss Harden bequeathed her
entire property, but on her deathbed
exacted from Miss Jackson promise
that she would bury with her
trunkful of old love letters written
her by John Howard Payne, together
with that priceless relic, the original
manuscript of Home, Sweet Home,
with erasures and changing of words
by the author which he gave to the
lady of his love.
when the remains of John How
ard Payne were brought back from
Algiers and the whole country was
preparing to do honor to his memory,
the publishers of Frank Leslie's Mag
azine wrote me offering $500 for the
original. But when l called on Miss
Mary Harden and handed her the
Leslie letter She became indignant
and declared that all the gold in the
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