The Kittery Confederate (1863)

VINTAGE NEWS


In this installment a Kittery man rebels against the Rebels, mothers acting very badly, the bartender drinks too much and the wrong man gets caught. More old tales from the NH Gazette.

 

October 17 1863

Confederate from Kittery
Caleb Emery, a native of Kittery, 17 years of age, arrived in Portland on Wednesday, having deserted from the rebel army about two months since. He was conscripted in Jacksonville, Fla., where he was living with his father, Dr. Emery, who escaped about the same time as his son. On coming into Federal lines, the son was furnished with sufficient funds to take him to Washington, and thence to Philadelphia. From that city his passage to Portland was paid by returning Maine soldiers. Failing to find any friends in Portland he applied for a night's lodging at the Police Station, and some of the officers the next morning paid his fare to Kittery, where his grandmother resides. He was dressed in the rebel uniform. -- The Portland Courier is our authority for the above statements.

Bear It, Father
In the bull fighting days, a blacksmith who was rearing a bull pup, induced his old father to go down on all fours and imitate the bull. The canine pupil pinned the old man by the nose. The son, disregarding the paternal roaring, exclaimed, "Hold him, Growler! boy, hold him! Bear it, Father, bear it; it'll be the making of the pup!''

Editors on Parole
The editor of a Democratic paper in Nevada Territory acknowledges the defeat of his party in his city very briefly. --He says, "We met the enemy yesterday and are out on parole this morning."

The Enraged Mother
An enraged mother in Illinois recently twisted her little offspring's nose until she fractured the bone; broke another pledge's arm, and killed a third with a rolling pin.

The Fair Infanticide
Agnes Pattinson, described as "a fair little girl of about twenty years," has been sentenced to death in England for murdering her infant child. Her defense, delivered with tears, was touching: "I should not have done it, had not my father put me out of doors three years ago!"

Fowl Play
A firm in Essex, Mass., are building a hennery which will occupy six acres of ground. They intend to furnish fowls for New York markets.

He Stole the Coal
A smart thief in Jersey City stole a ton of coal from the sidewalk, the other evening, before it could be shoveled into the cellar.

Her Own First Victim
An Irish woman by the name of Ann Kelly, who claimed to have a husband in the army, died in Biddeford a few days since, of excessive intemperance. She went to Biddeford about six weeks ago, opened a rum hole and was her own first victim. She left three little children, who were taken in charge by the Overseers of the Poor.

Hot-Tempered
A woman in New York killed her neighbor's boy by rubbing red pepper in his nose, eyes and mouth. The neighbor had offended her.

They Had the Wrong Man
The person arrested in India as Neva Sahib, the leader of the rebellion of 1857, proves to be another person. So Neva, who is still in the pride and glory of manhood - not more than 35 years old - may live to get up another insurrection.

Courtesy of the NH Gazette, "The Nation's Oldest Newspaper"
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