Show THE ROMANCE OF A SLAVE CHICAGO nov IS 18 the romance of a slave we the strange mange story of two capri cious endured until death was brought to light in we the trial of a uit suit will be called for hearing in judge brentano s court this thin morning the central figure of tue tb romance begun more ban naif a century ago survives ip in maria evans evana or laurence a ne greas who ld now fighting in the tb courts for her ber dower in we be estate of or dr henry laurence as his hie widow opposing ber bar suit outs la Is dr wm J laurence rence of Oak oakwood woods boulevard and twenty other relatives or at or dr henry laurence who died in 1891 they net ee up tile the Oin that thai the complainant was waa not noli the lawful wife of their dead relative the amount involved in the litigation reaches the um sum of 0 the Pro property DeftY left by dr laurence who died intestate and ca lidless rue me widow willows s dawer biwer la Is two thirds me be anole estate maria evans laurence the corn com nant in abe suit still till preserves tile the comeliness which gained her freedom and as aa she ahe claim etwo two white husband huband both of whom were men of lear learning ying of distinguished family connections and or inears her kinked kicked bair loni fur for one of her raes race to la waiten waitea ed with the anoba of 72 years tier hei face is ia seared with the furrows or of time but her ber earrings carriage is ie erect her ber stop step is light and her eye lustrous she was born I 1 in a adams con coloty a ty mis sis sippi in 1828 the first chapter of the romance or her bar life began in the slave market of at miss kill when she he was 17 years year old A young clerk john H evans who come came of an old and prominent virginia family saw her there here and fell in jove with her bar he made a vow that he be would secure her freedom and then than marry her he had bad no money with which to buy her freedom but set about to earn and save it it took him seven years to do it but be was true rue to bis bin dark skinned sweetheart who in the meantime bad been sold old to a new master and taken to kentucky evans evane foil followed owed her there aud and in 1848 paid down 1000 to her master brought her to cincinnati where he gave her liberty and it to is alleged made her his bis wife they returned to yazoo where he continued in business shortly after moving from this thin place she made the me acquaintance of henry laurence a young englishman a dentist who became a frequent visitor at the evavold Evan shome home he was an abolitionist lit anu and later left yazoo and come came to live in chicago just before the war broke out evans and his bis wife went to live in now new orleans Orl eaas in 1861 they receive J a letter from laurence who was not prospering in chicago ago ad he was advised addred by them hem to move to now new orleans which he did the tae evans couple conducted a fashionable board boarding I 1 ng hous bous ejon efon canal street in that city and which was a rendezvous for politicians of the time in 1865 evans died or dr laurence was living with them and he be lell jell in love jove with the widow two years after the death of evans there came another epoch to the life of we the mississippi slave fromm from thence she called herself the wife of dr henry laurence whether she was is the question that will be determined by the court I 1 in a the trial to be begun begu a today she claims it was only a common law marriage by which they consented to live together as man and wife until death parted and this contract she says say was faithfully carried out by them both fur for twenty two years she says she was a wife to henry L Liu renoe and closed his eyes when death finally separated them the couple oame came to live to in chicago in 1877 in a bouse which dr laurence bought time the defense to the suit is in that bat we the former slave was not the wife of dr laurence but his servant and that no marriage contract existed between them |