The headline from this front page article of the October 13, 1898 edition of The Chatham Record seems to indicate an unfortunate accident, but the following text tells an uglier story.
The subheadline (“Pursued Too Closely the Eloping Party”) is technically true – the groom’s bullet might have missed if the father wasn’t following so closely. Maybe the eloping party needed a sign for their wagon like you see on today’s gravel trucks.
