Eloping Pair Are Wed Deep in Waving Corn

1916

Doctor Outwits Farmer's Wife in Race to Win Bride — All Ends Happily.

WILMINGTON, Delaware. — Maud Muller on a summer day never looked lovelier than Margaret Beattie, a farmer's daughter of Hockessin, when she stood a bride in the middle of a waving cornfield.

The bridegroom was Dr. Alvin Rupert, of New Rochelle, N. Y. It was a runaway match — so much so that the bride played her stately part in the fetching simplicity of a sunbonnet and a gingham frock.

A difference in religious beliefs had caused her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Beattie, of "Fernside," to forbid her marriage to Dr. Rupert on August 17, as the young people had arranged.

But the enamored doctor was not to be denied. Accompanied by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Rupert, he established quarters on a neighboring farm, that of William Crossan.

Communication had been forbidden, but the sighing pair discovered a hollow tree of the type traditionally favored by Cupid as a lover's postoffice, and thus in scribbled words they exchanged their hopes and plans.

Dr. Rupert came to Wilmington, procured a marriage license and a clergyman and motored with them back to Hockessin. Margaret Beattie met them at a turn in the road, having slipped away from her father's farm in her everyday clothes.

Fearful of pursuit, the wedding party hastily penetrated the sheltered expanse of a cornfield. It was as much as the minister could do, however, to get thru the service quickly enough to outspeed the bride's vigilant mamma, who had followed Margaret and arrived breathless just after the ring had been slipped on her finger.

Faced with the inevitable, the Beatties decided to forgive their daughter and her Lochinvar, and the happy pair went South for their honeymoon.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 5.

Runaway Returns Home

1915

This is going to be a Merry Christmas at the Mohr home, 10 St. Mark's place, New York City. For Sophia has returned. Her voluntary return cleared up her mysterious disappearance. She had been working as a "stripper" in a cigar factory at Hartford, Conn., while the police of the country were searching for her.


Miss Snow Elopes With Mr. Blizzard

PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Dec. 16. — It has just been learned that Miss Bessie Snow, 25 West High street, Germantown, eloped with George Blizzard. The bride is 19 years old, the bridegroom 27.


Troubles

Making light of your troubles is the best way to dispel darkness.

The Elopement Story

Printed Jan. 1896

The shooting of John T. Starner, on the premises of Mrs. James E. Dutterer, near Silver Run, Md., about a month ago, was further ventilated by the hearing in the case of Jerome Dutterer, charged with having committed the assault, before Justice William Moore, of Westminster. Some interesting and sensational facts were elicited, and Mr. Dutterer was held in $300 bail to answer the charge before the county court.

Miss Elizabeth Dutterer, whose proposed elopement was the cause of the shooting, was a witness at the hearing. She testified that she had become engaged to marry a man named Perry Rumler, a citizen of Myers district, and probably 75 years of age. Miss Dutterer is about 50 years old. She said that on account of the opposition of her friends to the marriage an elopement was planned, and, she employed Mrs. Starner, wife of the wounded man, to accompany her. Mrs. Starner was to come to her house on the night set, and it was agreed between them that if a light should be in her window she would be ready, but if not, Mrs. Starner was to retire.

She said that Rumler had informed her that he was in receipt of a pension of a thousand dollars a year and kept a carriage, but she had been making inquiries about it and believed he was deceiving her. The understanding with Mrs. Starner was that if the elopement took place they were to go together to a point where Mr. Rumler would be in waiting with a carriage and then drive to Westminster, where the marriage was to have taken place.

Starner testified that at his wife's request he went with her to the home of Miss Dutterer at the time appointed, and when they reached the yard gate discovered that the signal agreed upon was missing. They were about to retire when he discovered two men in the yard, and determined to make some inquiries of them in relation to the matter. He went through the gate and approached them without a suspicion of danger.

In reply to a request for information one of them said, "I'll show you," and immediately fired upon him with a shot gun. The charge took effect in his leg, making a painful and troublesome wound from which he is still suffering. A second shot was fired, but missed him. He said it was too dark to distinguish the features of the men, but he swore positively that the voice of the man who shot him was that of Jerome Dutterer. The accused is a relative of Miss Dutterer. The latter said to be worth about $10,000. The affair still excites great interest.

Son Accuses Father of Eloping with Wife

1914

La Crosse, Wis., Jan. 2. — That Albert Rockwell, Nelson, Wis., eloped with his young daughter-in-law, deserting his own wife, is the assertion of his son, Bert Rockwell, who caused his arrest.

Rockwell was brought back from Spirit Lake, Idaho. Arraigned in the county court on a statutory charge he pleaded not guilty and was held to the circuit court for trial. His wife and son testified against him. The eloping father was traced to Idaho by a post card sent to Wisconsin relatives by his son's wife.

The son asserts that a year ago he decided to move to Nelson, Wis., from Minnesota. He went ahead to prepare the home, his father offering to help his young wife with the moving.

Young Rockwell telegraphed his wife and little girl to "come." They did not, neither did they answer. Then Rockwell received word from his mother that his father, wife and child had disappeared with $8,000 the elder Rockwells had saved.

Mrs. Rockwell, wife of the son, was not brought back from Idaho, her husband saying all he is after is revenge upon the father for breaking up two homes.

Life in Dreary Iceland; Romance in America

1878

Life in Dreary Iceland

Men and women, masters and servants, all inhabit the same room, while the cleanliness is not much attended to; but poor as they are, and accustomed to great privations, they set an example of cheerful contentment. The beauty of the young girls is remarkable; their fair hair falls in long plaits, partially covered by a black cloth coil, daintily worn on one side of the head, and finished at the top with a tassel of colored silk run through a silver or steel buckle, which floats on the shoulder. It reminds the traveler of the Greek head-dress, but the blue eyes, with their sweet, benevolent expression, soon recall to his mind their Danish origin. The dress is made of the cloth woven in the country, and on festive days the bodice is gaily adorned with silver braid and velvet, while the belt and sleeves are ornamented with silver devices, beautifully chased and often of great value. On wet and cold days the shawl becomes a useful mantilla, completely enveloping the head, and defending the wearer from the effects of the frequent storms. — Chambers' Journal.


Condensed Romance

1878

Who says that there is no romance in practical America? Who says that the days of chivalry and love-making are gone, and that this is a world of ledgers and blue stockings?

Why, the exchange table shows:

(a) that romance begins early: for a Chicago lad of fourteen eloped, last week, with a sweet little miss of thirteen;

(b) that it gets on fast: for a dashing naval officer proposed to a Washington belle last Tuesday, was accepted on Wednesday and married on Saturday;

(c) that it is numerous: for a woman in Coventry, Conn., swears that, like the good wife in Chaucer's tale, she has had seven husbands, and that they have annoyed her all her life by turning up after she had every reason to suppose that they had been hanged as pirates, or carried off by small-pox;

(d) that it is exceedingly uncertain: for "Clara," of Westfield, Mass., broke the engagement the moment she heard that her betrothed had been bitten by a mad dog, on the ground that it would be unsafe to marry a man who might have the hydrophobia;

(e) that it is never too late for it: for a farmer in Massachusetts, who confessed his seventy-third year, hired his neighbor's son to find a wife for him, insisting that she must be young and pretty, and the agent brought to the venerable widower an engaging lass of seventeen, who, rather than work out for a living, professed her willingness to marry him, and to inherit his money in the sweet by-and-by; but the marriage has cost the old man dear, for, besides the commissions charged by the neighbor's son, he has had to give his daughter, who was the bride's senior by eight years, $10,000 outright before she would consent to leave his roof and allow him to enjoy his honeymoon. — New York Tribune.

Another Male Victim for Seductive, Charming Mrs. McDermott

Ohio, 1897

ELOPERS

Left the City Early Yesterday Morning on Foot.

Harley Beckett Skips With Notorious Mrs. Joe McDermott

Leaving His Wife and Several Small Children In Destitute Circumstances—The Couple Chased Several Miles by Constable Sloan—Previous Escapades of Mrs. McDermott.

Mrs. Joe McDermott, a female whose escapades have more than once made her the subject of newspaper articles, has again sprung into notice. This time she eloped with a neighbor named Harley Beckett. The couple fled from the city Tuesday.

Beckett has been employed by J. B. Carter at his barrel factory on Chillicothe street. He is an expert cooper and makes good wages. He is married and has several children. For some time past he has been "rushing" the McDermott woman and spending his money on her. Tuesday they decided to skip, and early in the morning they left town.

Constable Frank Sloan was put on the trail yesterday morning by relatives of the eloping couple and was hot on their trail all morning. He traced them down across the Scioto bottoms and up the valley, but did not come up with them. It is thought they are about in this vicinity.

Mrs. Beckett called at the mayor's office that morning and told her tale of woe. She said she and her children had been left in destitute circumstances. She wanted warrants issued for the runaways. She finally left without causing warrants to be issued. The police are on the lookout for the couple, however, and if apprehended they will be locked up.

The McDermott woman is the female to whose seductive charms George W. Legg fell a victim several years ago. Legg was then treasurer of Pike county and was spending the money of Pike county tax-payers right and left. He came here several times to see the McDermott woman, and she and her confederates bled him out of several hundred dollars before he "tumbled" to the game.

—The Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, OH, July 24, 1897, p. 1.