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Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair 125
in a letter to Morrison,5 wrote familiarly about Jane on her visit to Cincinnati in January, 1849—a time when Stephen chanced to be out of the city, visiting in Pittsburgh.
It was a swift wooing. Jane and Stephen were married July 22,1850.6
How Stephen proposed is charmingly told by his granddaughter, Mrs. A. D. Rose, who had the story from her grandmother. Her words will complete this chapter:7
1.
"Stephen, although mild and gentle of disposition, was known to his family and friends to be the possessor of an iron will, when he chose to exercise it. His very proposal of marriage to his wife was typical of this.
"At the same time he was courting her, she had another very attentive admirer, Richard Cowan. Mr. Cowan was a lawyer, wealthy, handsome and distinguished in appearance. Stephen suffered somewhat from the contrast, as he was small in stature, and, although his features were regular and pleasing, he was not the type which women call handsome. The two of them continued each to pay court.
"One evening, owing to some miscalculation on Miss Jane's part, both called at Dr. McDowell's home at the same hour. Stephen came first. When Richard was ushered in by Old Black Joe, Stephen promptly turned his back upon the pair, took up a book and read |
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