Show A GEORGIA ROMANCE I The Death of a Banter Brings Out ThpAa a Bri ot An IntereattegHistory St Louis GlobeDemocrat The announcement of the death of Joseph E Eivins ata private sanitarium j t sanitar-ium in MilledgeviUeGa recallsone of I I the strangest combinations of romantic I t incidents that has ever occurred in Georgia I Bivins was president ofthe First National Na-tional bank of the little town of Cor dele In the southern part of the state and was a shrewd and capable businessman business-man His health broke down from overwork and he was sent to the sanitarium sani-tarium for treatment but succumbed to the disease and died a few days ago agoTo begin at the beginning i will be necessary to go back to a period Just prior to the war When John Pits a hnrhlnt uhn hl nfnllrl nul n large amount of property suddenly announced an-nounced to his friends that he believed I he would get married No sooner had he formed that resolution than he dressed himself In his best clothes put I on his hat and walked down Whitehall street to a millinery establishment conducted con-ducted by a maiden lady in moderate circumstances In a Jew words he explained his mission mis-sion proposed marriage and was accepted ac-cepted and In a few hours the two were made one Pitts was a good business busi-ness man and had accumulated quite a lot of property in leal estate which was comparatively cheap at that time and by the time the civil war broke out he was considered a rich man But he formed a sudden resolution to volunteer in the confederate service and joining I ompany he went to the front That was the last that was ever heard of him by his wife and his friends She watched watch-ed and waited for some tidings of her husband and finally after the war closed and there were still no tidings of the missing man she gave him up for dead and assumed control of the property being the sole heir of the missing man < J > < > < SIn > S-In 1SG9 there appeared in Atlanta Dr J B Marvin of St Louis with his wife and young son and he opened an office on Whitehall street as a gynecologist gyne-cologist and he soon secured a lucrative lucra-tive practice in his profession which was then little known in this section While practicing his profession he lormeu me auiiuuuitujitc Ot 1ne weanny widow Mrs Pits and they became I STea friends as Dr Marvin possessed posses-sed a large amount of personal magnets mag-nets and was very attractive among tho ladle Suddenly he closed his office announced an-nounced his intention of removing to Cincinnat and packing up his belongings belong-ings he took his wife and boy and left the city He remained away a year or two and as suddenly appeared again in Atlanta but without his wife and son After n time he renewed his acquaintance ac-quaintance with Mrs Pitts and the acquaintance soon ripened into a warmer feeling than mere friendship and the two were married < t > 0 < 8 > Dr Marvin was a fine business man and when he assumed control of Mrs lt nn ph H hnl In al In Ul value and by judicious investment at a time when Atlanta real estate was on a boom he soon became a very wealthy man In 1SSS the Georgia Southern Florida railroad was built from Macon southward erosstn the Savannah Am ericus Montgomery also a I newly built road at the little town of Cordele In the southern part of the I state Cordele was a boom town and I Dr Marvin was quick to take advan tage of the opportunity offered to make I profitable investments there He placed his money s judiciously and manipulated the property with such success that he soon became a magnate in the little town He established the ltte First National bank oZ which Joseph I E Blvlns a active young businessman business-man of Amerlcus was made cashier Dr Marvin engaged in local politics which he controlled through his wealth I and influence and became mayor of the town lie took the side of prohibition prohi-bition and won and was otherwise of ant great Influence In shaping the government govern-ment of the town lie continued to deal in real estate and in two or three years was recognized recog-nized as the wealthiest man in all that section But in 1891 he was stricken with sudden Illness and died His widow was inconsolable She procured the services of a skilled embalmer and had the body carefully treated It was then placed In a handsome and costly casket and placed In a conspicuous po sition in her parlor where she could I gaze on the dead face of her husband through the glass front of the coffin This eccentric action on her part created cre-ated a great deal of comment but the widow paid no heed to I and the gruesome reminder of connubial happiness hap-piness remained there for about three years the widow occupying the lonely mansion with no other companion during dur-ing all those years < > 0 0 Young Bivins In the meantime conducted con-ducted the affairs of the bank with such success and ability that he was elected president to succeed Dr Marvin Mar-vin He was a young man about 30 years of age active and vigorous and he looked after the affairs of Mrs Marvin Mar-vin TIth the utmost diligence AS she was well advanced In years and apparently so devoted to the memory of her late husband nobody supposed that she would consider for a moment any suggestion of another matrimonial venture Consequently when the marriage of President Blvlns and Mrs Marvin was announced the community was electrified by the news But they were married and to add to the semiational features of the wedding wed-ding when they started north on their bridal trip they took with them the casket containing g the body of Dr Marvin Mar-vin and at Macon turned It over to an undertaker for burial while they proceeded pro-ceeded on their Journey 4 o > < > Bivins assumed control of the Atlanta property of his wife as wellcis her interests in-terests in Cordele and for a time all went merry as a marriage bell but very unexpectedly there appeared another actor on the scene in the person of a young man calling himself Harry Marvin Mar-vin who claimed to be the son of Dr J B Marvin by his first wife He claimed that his mother was dead and that he was the sole and lawful heir to his fathers estate The appearance of this young man created somewhat of a sensation and for awhile Divine and his wife resisted the claims of the i heiratlaw He appealed to the courts I however and succeeded in establishing establish-ing his Identity Thereupon Bivins and his wife decided upon a compromise compro-mise to avoid costly litigation Young Marvin was given the titles ton to-n generous share of the Atlanta prop erty on condition that he urge no further fur-ther claim upon his fathers estate In a year or so after this settlement Mrs Bivins died leaving her husband sole heir to her estate And now while stilt a young man and in the prime and vigor of life the possessor of large and valuable properties prop-erties Joseph E Bivins the third husband hus-band of a remarkable woman has passed away leaving young Marvin as the only actor In this chain of romantic roman-tic incidents Bivins left no Immediate heirs and i Is supposed that his property prop-erty will go to distant relatives Whether young Marvin will contend for an additional share in the complicated cat d estate or not remains to be seen The case is a most singular one In allIs all-Is bearings and nothing like I has ever the state been chronicled in the history of |