For four successive years afterward she gave
birth to triplets. In the seventh year she gave birth to one
child and died soon afterward. Heffner engaged a young woman to
look after his large brood of babies, and three months later she
became the second Mrs. Heffner. She presented her husband with 2
children in the first two years of her wedded life. Five years
later she had added 10 more to the family, having twins 5 times.
Then for three years she added but 1 a year. At the time of the
death of the second wife 12 of the 32 children had died. The 20
that were left did not appear to be any obstacle to a young widow
with one child consenting to become the third wife of the jolly
little man, for he was known as one of the happiest and most
genial of men, although it kept him toiling like a slave to keep
a score of mouths in bread. The third Mrs. Heffner became the
mother of 9 children in ten years, and the contentment and
happiness of the couple were proverbial. One day, in the fall of
1885, the father of the 41 children was crossing a railroad track
and was run down by a locomotive and instantly killed. His widow
and 24 of the 42 children are still living."
Many Marriages.--In this connection it seems appropriate to
mention a few examples of multimarriages on record, to give an
idea of the possibilities of the extent of paternity.
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