Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1875 — A Lover’s Mania. [ARTICLE]

A Lover’s Mania.

It is an old saying that one-balf of the world is not aware how the other half lives. Tlus saying, which is both old and common, may be fully illustrated in the. life and death of Ephraim Canton, who died in a town not twenty miles from West Troy last Sunday evening. At Uptime of bis death Mr. Canton was fifty-eight years old,-and fertile last thirty-nine years of his life never saw but four humajp lieings, and during the same period never'’ set eyes on the sun, moon, stars or tire bright, arching heavens. Neither did he see the hilte, vail ms or forests of hisnatfve country. He did not hear of the great civil war thaLcame so near destroying the great model republic of the world. He <iied in ignorance of the emancipation of the negroes, and never heard of any of the great questions that troubled the pub? lie mind during that period of time. In the month of January, 1835, Ephraim Chnton, then a young man about twentyone years old, formed the acquaintarfce of a young lady of rare accomplishments arid beauty in Cohoes, and immediately became smitten with her beauty, and proposed for her hand in marriage. The lady at first seemed favorable to his suit, ami gave him sufficient encouragement to insure success. and finally promised to become his wife. The day that the ceremony of the marriage was to take place was appointed, which was to be the 20th of May, 18313. Early on the morning of that day Mr. Canton, accompanied by a suite of his friends, set out from his native, village in the direction of Cohoes, with the intention of getting married and bringing back his blooming wife to his home in the country village where he was long regarded by the fair sex as the beau ideal of a young’ man. When the party reached the home of his affianced they were astonished at seeing no preparations made for- their reception, and Mr. Canton inquired the cause of his mother-in-law that was to be. That lady informed him that on the night previous her daughter, his expected wife, departed for the city of New'York, making no excuse for her departure, bnt left a note for him, which read as follows:

Mr. Canton—ln consequence of stories damaging to your character that L have heard, I hereby cancel my engagement to become your wife, and at.the same time request you to forget me as soon as possible. With my best wishes for your future welfare, 1 remain, »youia, etc., Emily. The disappointed groom made the best of the inevitable for the-time being, and entreated his friends to return home, making some excuse why the ceremony coujd not come off that day. They all returned home and Mr. Canton’s mother, on hearing of the disapjxiintment, sympathized with her son and advised him to go to bed and sleep off tlie effects of it, and when he got up in tlie morning he would feel better. Tlie humiliated son took her, advice and retired to his room; taking with him some carpenter’s tools that he possessed. He carefully locked his bedroom door as soon as he had enteredit, and then commenced to cut a small one-foot-square window tlirough the wooden partition that divided his bedroom from the parlor. He then fixed his bed so that he could reach tlie window with his hand without leaving the bed, and then called his mother and told her to pass his food tlirough that window to him, to admit no visitors to see him, and finally if she knew what was safe not to make any effort to gnter his room herself. Notwithstanding this warning, she was nearly every hour of the following days begging of her son to get up, but it was of no avail. She then thought to starve him out, and refrained from giving him food for thirtysix hours,, but that had no effect, and finally she sent for a neighboring man, and witli his assistance broke in the bedroom door and entered. But the son was still refractoiy and refused to speak to any person, and all the efforts made and inducements offered could not prevail on him to speak one word or leave the bed. We have not time nor space to mention all” the ruses that were made to git him to leave the room, all of which failed, and to make a long story short he never left his bedroom from that May morning in 1836 until he was taken from it for his coffin on last Sunday afternoon. During the thirty-nine years that he remained in bed he never spoke but to four meu and his mother, and never inquired for anyone or anything in the outside world. His life is shrouded in mysteiy, - and probably will remain so. He lost his reason when he lost his bride.- -Troy (N. JT.j Press.