Year: 1871

|
| they have been from the hour of their
birth to the present time. His name is
Thomas Wells Parks He is small thin,
wiry man, end is about fittv-one years of
age. His hair is light, and, on account
of not being interfered with much by
comb, is disposed to curl. 1t is possible
| that his face may have made an acqualnt-
ance with soap and water at some period
OF his life, but it is a long time since, and
he stands before us. grim and unshaven.
as Adam might have been at the same
age, after Eve had grown SO Indifferent
as TO cease to comb his beard with her
fingers, and himself too far removed from
| any barber where he might indulge in the
luxury of a ten-cent shave He wears an
old stove pipe that might have been in
fashion century ago; has on the SEM
blance of shirt, and displays necktie as
distinguished for its variety Of color as it
IS for the style in which it is worn. He
was born in Exeter Township, in Luzerne
County, at place called Gardner's Farm,


in the year 1920. Here he lived until he
was fifteen years of age, during which
time he went to school occasionally to 4
school-master named Emalina Brown.
! His father then moved into the woods in
Monroe Township, Wyoming County,
where he has lived since After taking
up Ills residence here, he went to school
at Diamond Hollow, where q pedagogue
named Chauncey Sherwood protested to
initiate the rising genius of the district in
the mysteries OF reading, writing and
arithmetic. His acquaintance with the
! schoolmaster here led to his introduction
to his wife, she being a cousin of the
/ Of lao,,ninrr Al t1l-a tba
| tedious process of conveying her to quilt
ing parties, to spelling schools and other
''doings," which it takes with some coun-
try swains to kindle the atllatus of love IN
| his bosom. His wife jumped right into
and his progress into hers being ut the
married. The person who tied the knot
was an individual named John Frier, who
was a Squire and at the same time fol
lowed the honorable employment oi Il tur


ner at Shutdown. on the road between
| Centerville and Bowman Creek. lie was
| twentv-siX years of age when he formed
his coniugal alliance, and according to
! his own story it was one not at all times
calculated to contribute to his comfort or
| lead him to look back on the occasion
with feelings Of pleasure. Though civ
ing no evidence Of much education, he
speaks tluently, and has a variety Of
words at command. He is something of
an elocutionist, and gives Daniel Web
ster's euloeium on Washington with con
siderable power and effect. Perhaps his
most remarkable accomplishment is that
he can write u system OF photography,
which lie picked up out Of the Old book,
with considerable rapidity The charac


ters are made with great legbllty, and
he could read them at once This is a
strange accomplishment, and shows the
manner in which he employed his mind
and his leisure moments in his wild home.
He uses the rem in other ways with a
good deal Of deXterity, his specimens of
printing being worthy OF inspection.


His wife was twenty years ol age when
he married. thus making her about six
years his funior, or f0rty-tive years old.
Until last March, or, as the Old man says,
about the time the maple sap was running,
she continued to share Ills fate, but left
then, and though he has heard rJJmors of
her whereabouts, he has not been able to
learn definitely her place of abode at pres
ent. ife reason she assigned iur leaving
him. he says. was that The boy was gcA-
tlI- lo' lOiI2 lNli lltL. liklti Nlt " IT, l't-
coming afraid Of him and not able to
manage him. lie hints. however, al some
other reasons for her departure. and when
referring to her desertion speaks with an
evident expression of sorrow and regret.
On going away she took with her one
child, a boy about three years of age.


| We are now prepared to introduce our
readers to the main objects of curiosity r.
| bo - N I
to their exact ages the father cannot speak
definitely. The practice of civilized life
OF registering the ages of offspring in the
says his wife destroyed the record or tool,
the book away with her. lie supposes,
however, that the oldest child-the girl
was born about three years after their
marriage, which would make her AGE
about twenty-five. Between her AGE and
the boys there is three years, making his
age about nineteen. As they appear on
exhibition they are clothed with red han-
mel shirt and pants, buttoned loosely
around them, the pants being little lack
ing in longitude, and only coming the
length of their knees Their appearance
is not all idiotic, but rather simple. The
faces Of both are sharp, the noses promi-
utiIl, VIC tIltchDOltS ul8il, lIlc llltlituS
large, the foreheads thrown back Il little,
but not low, their complexion ilorid and
lit up all the time with q laugh, The hair
Of their heads is the identical color Of
their fathers, anl is lenm and matted


Their lower extremities are q little dis
torted, owing to the habit Of squatting on
the ground with both their limbs turned
in one direction. Their skin is rough and
bor IJo+obo.,
scratches from exposure. The girl is
The boy has the appearance of being
St starved, and has an ugly disposition.
This he manifests sometimes by fighting,
marks of several injuries inflicted on her
however, they are kindly disposed toward
manifests his pleasure by attempting to
scratch the girls arm or face, after which
he puts his fingers in his mouth and does
so again. They are constantly mutterjng
something to themselves, as if making an
effort to speak, but there is no evidence
that they understand each other Their
early history may be told in few words


Their mother was of delicate nature
|
were subject to fits. They never mani
tested any disposition TO articulaie Eng
lish. The father complains that the mother
let them run about through the woods in
the summer time naked, urging as a rea-
son for her neglect that they did not re
quire any clothing.


In the winter time she made them moe
casins and put cloth around their should
ers, and during the utmost rigors Of the
season this was their only clothing. The
girl, especially, is very hardy and adven-
turous. She has been known to roam
away several miles from home and sleep
out several lights in the most intense cold


She often appeared naked upon the public
roads, and upon the approach Of a travel
er would run into the woods. Before being
on exhibition her method of locomo1ion
was on all-fours, she having gradually
become habituated to this system of pro
gression by seeking for beechnuts among
the leaves in the woods. This might fur
nish Darwin OF some of the advocates of
the "Development hypotessn with an in