Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 93, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 July 1898 — CUPID IN JAIL. [ARTICLE]

CUPID IN JAIL.

A Remlßiicence of u Sly Courtship Years Ako. “Cupid is no respecter of persons or places,” says a member of a well-known Washington family, according to the Star, “for while ‘love laughs at locksmiths,’ Cupid, to my knowledge, has made himself felt behind prison bars. Do you remember the old Washington infirmary, which stood behind the courthouse? Well, that was the jail in old times —from 1804 to 1838. In those days there was imprisonment for debt, and quite a handsome young man, unable to meet his obligations, became a prisoner. The jailer lived in part of the building, and his family included a pretty daughter. Cupid set to work, and the bars were no obstacle. In a little while looks betrayed Cupid’s conquest. One day, while on the street—debtors being allowed to go outside, but not beyond the prison bounds—they met, had a talk which ended in the -procurement of a marriage license, engagement of a minister and the marriage. They returned to the jail, and telling what they had done, the father gave the son-in-law a job as assistant jailer, thus enabling him to pay the debt, and when he died the son succeeded him.”