Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-02-26
SOUTH CAROLINA NOBLEMAN
I he Earl Of Dunraven-Hfs Ups and
Downs in Life-ROmance and Reality
California Saloons and an ERrIdOm.

A Washington correspondent of the
| San Francisco Times, in writing up the
nOtsbiities of California who are now In
the national capital, gives the following
bit OF romance about one of the best
known among them:
Among the Californians here, James
| N. Quinn, we'll known to San Francis
cans is probably the most celebrated, be-
cause there is 8 bit OF romance attached
to his history. 1t is briefly this: After
an absence Of twenty years in Mexico
and California, he returned to Charles
ton, his native place, and there found his
father snd mother deceased but an old
and faithful negro woman, his nurse
when 3 child, had been intrusted by his
mother, bsfore her death, with the Gus
tody of box, to be delivered to her son
James, should he ever return. Upon his
arrival in Charleston, about two years
since, the old negress, learning of him,
sought him out and delivered the box
which she had SO long and faithfully pre-
served, and, upon examination OF the
contents, it was found to contain papers,
documents and correspondence establish
ing clearly his legal right TO large es-
tate in Ireland, and to the title OF Earl
of Dnnraven. He Immediately placed
his papers in the hands OF Hughes, Dem
yer d Peck, q law firm of this city, and
Mr.. Hughes and Mr. Quinn will leave
for Ireland soon to take possession of the
atter's estate. Who among his old
friends in 5sn Francisco can fully realizs
that Jim Quinn, that used to be, is now,
and WAS, the Earl of Dunraven?
On this hint the Times speaks of Mr.
Quinn IS follows:
The strange freak Of fortune narrated
/ a U0achfnUffoyn sanR~oznnnnonRG
brings TO the memory of many an old
Californian the lucky hGDa6re who, after
long years of the vieissitudes of life on
the Pacific coast, has turned up the heir
to the Earl Of DuDr&ven and the master
OF splendid estate the peer of the
landed gentry Of Ireland, and an impor-
taDt accession tn the brilliant circles of
HibeTnisn nobility. James NJ. Q2inn is
3 native of Charleston, South Carolina,
and of Irish ancestry He came to Cali.
f0rniR in early days, aud was particularly
known at one time as proprietor of the
" Willows" favOTite resort, afteTWard
absorbed in the rush of events. Failing
in that, ne went to Portland, Oregon,
opsned 4 public house, made another
failure Of it, returned to : an Francisco,
and put out his shingle oA Clay street, at
a saloon called the Esmeralda.n Mr..
Quinn was quite g character in his way.
He generally attended the sessions Of the
Legislature wGs noted for his
scruPulOus nicety in costume, and
in a certain reserved distant man
naF, which, while it did not
tend to increase the nGmber Of his cas-.
ual friends, conveyed the idea that under
his weistcORt beat noble" heart, and
that he entertained high estimate and
lively appreciation of Mr.. Quinn per-
sonally, and that sooner or later he
would figure in some brighter or loftier
sphere. About three years ago, becOm-
ing convinced that San Francisco was
no longer the sdventurer's elysium that
il had been in the more primitive days |
OF El Dorado, and being troubled, withal,
by chronic euniOsity-unfOrtu- /
nstely too frequent among "f0rty- /
miners ''-Mr. Qllnn went to New York, 1
found his way thence to his Southern /
birthplace, and there learned the agrees- !
BILE fact tbst he was al Earl and rich /
mau.
No doubt the new-made nobleman will |
support his honoTs with due dignity, and |
with now and then pleasant reminis- |
1encs of his political experiences at Sac I
and glancs generally at the /
lleb5iRn life On the shores OF the Pacific. /