OCR Text |
Show STORIES OF BAKUETT, OPINIONS Of THE DEAD ACTOR'S NEIGHBORS IN WALPOLE. Wliarft 116 t'Kfri to Kcrupcrate mid Where II Found Hi t'lmrmliie; Wir Mow lie Van Ilegnriled by Ilia Simple liinuh Nnur lilt Conutry Home. Away tip in the hills of Norfolk county, coun-ty, nestled anion;; tho wnoifs, about a mile and a half from the town of Walpole, there stands what is now known on tho Cobb Farm, but at out time thin was tho homo of the lamented la-mented tragedian, Lawrence Barrel t, and as such it is Known for milesar.minl. Tie; old s ttlers delight in pointing it out to visitors. These Mini! people also love ,) spe;ik of the good old tunes when Air. Barrett came home. They all Kpe.il; of the tragi-dian iw "Jlr."' Barrett. Li an interview with one aged rM-dent rM-dent of tlm locality imicli of the late actor's rar(.-r was learned. "Why, yc every one in these parts remembers tho young actor, and also his charming wife. It, used to lie quite a time w hen he returned after a long tour, and it was aloti the shady lanes and in pretty nooks in the woods that besought Test and quiet for his overworked brain. "lint, 1 tell you it did not take him Ion:; to recuperate, lie would have hardly been hero u week before he w r.ld lit- wand .-111:4 o.T into tho woods, book in hand, to study. Come, and I will show you one of his favorite tpots where 1 havo known Mr. liarrett to way for hours, rehearsing his part, with Hot hi 11s but the birds and wjuirrc-ls for his auditors, fur as he knew, lint many is the time Miat a few of us neighbors neigh-bors have stolen down to within earshot of the actor and listened to his words. It was a grrat treat fur us nil," BAKKKTT IN' M E. Jn answer to ;h inquiry us to how Mr. Barrett came lo reside among them llio old ,'enlleman fave ipiite a chuckle, rtiid with hid lacs wreathed iu Hinilc,-., riaiil: "Why, blespi your heart, ho fell in love with one of our pretty Kir's. . 1 say one, Iwcause wehave always had many ir. iliis district. She was a llary Mayer, wlio lived with her uncle, John ?.f. Mayer, who then resided tt tho old homestead. " You we, Mary was u bright, intelligent intelli-gent Kirl, who had been riven an excellent excel-lent education by her father. Philip Majer. lie kept ft confectioner's ftore on Tremoiit Mrett, Boston, and although al-though Mary lived out here wilh her uncle slio tretpii'iitly visileil tier parents, and there became acquainted with Mr. liarrett. They formed a friendship, which soon ripened into love, and niar-nnn niar-nnn wan the result. "After their marriage they made the farm their home. It was here their charming daughters were reared and educated, and I tell you 'papa's' homo coming every summer was .;uite a time for the people of the North Hud. We had ,'raud timeii, and no one appeared to enjoy them more than did tho youu and at that time rising actor. "He lived among us many years, nnd every one iu those days had a kind word for Mr. liarrett; he was respected by all who came in contact with hi in. lie was generous ton fault, and many are the people who have lived throughout the year on tlm bounty lie bestowed during his short sojourn iu the summer months. I remember that during one of his visits ho offered to erect a houso for a worthy man and his family and pay the whole bill. "It was his many acts of charity that made him beloved by the people up here. AVo had stirring times iu those days. Mr. liarrett and his' friends used to make things lively, and his genial, generous disposition was iu a measure infectious, nnd had a tendency to make every one plcawuit. in.NKR'ISITY. "Yes, I have nothing but the most ..1.nvnt r..,..,ll,.,. !,,n r,f Tv Ilnra.lt .. 1 his amiable wifo when they lived in these parts. "llo did for others what few men nowadays now-adays would do wilh more money than ever ho possessed. For years he supported support-ed his mother, his widowed sister und family mid many people who had no claim whatever upon him. Ho always f;ave largely to' tiny charity, and at times yoing short to do bo. I remember his hi-.ter, Miss liarrett, coming to live at the farm, but ahe boon followed in She footsteps of her brother and married Mr. TisJale, one of our townsmen. For the newly wedded pair lie purchased u $3.00u hoime in Walpole. "As tiie summer months began to wane Mr. liarrett used to study very hard, and you could meet him in the road at all tunes talking to himself. It wan at there times that Mr. liarrett used to cause his friends much anxiety, as this hard .study was too much for his overtaxed over-taxed ivrain, and he several times wandered wan-dered away. On one occasion he was aught jiiNt boarding a train at Ded'.ia.ei for Coslori, having walked the whole lieven miles with but little of his ordinary ordi-nary wearing apparel on. But he always c!imoarou::d ail right after n short rest. "It was just pie for us country fellows fel-lows to get Mr. Carrett to tell us some of his erp riences while ou 'the road,' as these theater jioople call it. We used to tit on that wall, and Mr. liarrett would band out tho cigars, and after we were nil lit np reel off some fine stories that would be well worth printing if I could only remeuiocr them. j "I could tell yon lota of good deeds performed by Mr. liarrett, but as most of tho jwople are Btill alive it would hardly lie fair. lie was a most elfec-tionate elfec-tionate husband, a loving father and a most estimable gentleman, and nothing but regrets were expressed when he de-cMed de-cMed to leave ns for Cohatwet; bnt what was Wlpok''s loss was Cohasjet's gain." lioetou Glolje. |