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Show THOMAS GODBEPRAISED. a Man Who Bears That Peculiar Name TcIIh How It Originated. The register of the Girard House recently re-cently recorded the arrival in the city of Thomas Godbepraised of Barrow-in-Furness, England. Being approached upon the subject of the oddity of his surname, Mr. Godbepraised said: "Yes, I suppose the name does sound very odd to Americans, although such names are not altogether unusual in England and especially in Lancashire. which was a stronghold of the Roundheads Round-heads or Puritans in Cromwell's time. My home is in Barrow-in-Furness, which is in Lancashire. - Jly ancestors prior tc Cromwell's .ime were all royalists. Tht family name was Elliot. A younger sol renounced the religious faith and politi cal opinions of his forefathers and became be-came a Puritan. As was usual in such cases 1:3 abjured his carnal name of Charles Elliot and took the inspired one Df Ezekiel Godbepraised. "There is quite a romance connected with this ancestor of mine. He fell in love with the only daughter of a Colonel Fielding in the Cavaliers' army, and not being able to obtain her father's consent to their marriage Ezekiel abducted her and for two years kept her hidden in a dreamy house that stood near the little town of Formby, where a son was born. After a battle a little to the south of the River Mersey between the Cavaliers and Roundheads her brothers discovered her and carried her off to old Furness abbey. In the hurry the child was left behind, but as a result of the mother's pleading one of the brothers returned, to Formby to get it. "In the meantime Ezekiel had discovered discov-ered his loss and removed the child Then the followed the brother back to Furness abbey, but arrived too late. Tbe brother and sister had set sail from Barrow Bar-row beach for the isle of Man. A storm came up, and Ezekiel arrived just in time to see the boat founder. He returned to his child more bitter against the royalists than ever and brought the child up with the same sentiments. "At the close of the war Ezekiel adopt ed the trade of a weaver and settled in Barrow-in-Furness. Thus the name was perpetuated, the stern commands of the father forbidding .the son to throw off the fanatical nickname when the heat of Puritanical Pu-ritanical zeal had given away." Philadelphia Phila-delphia Times. |