Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-09-30
strange DeveIopment.

From the Cambridge (Ill.) Chronicle. Sept ~.
Our readers will remen Der that W.
published, on the l4.h of July last, the
notice Of Josiah Dow, public admins.
traitor upon the estate Of Azs A. Lse
deceased, and accompanied it with au
editorial paragraph, stating the facts Of
siege Of Knoxville; his long residences
and respectable position 10 this county
the mysterious reserve that he had al
ways maintained here with reference Ia
his former life and connec ions; and the
dilemma respecting the disposition of bis
real property, under the laws of Illinois,
consequent upon the absence of any
known heirs to the estate. tEk4lA
The consequences resulting from the
publication OF that paragraph were more
important than we had anticipated, and
strikingly illustrative of what fsr-reach-
ing Importance a newspaper paragraph
may be, even through the medium of q
local journal in the interior Of different
State.
Among the papers that we send to the
East is one to the father Of Mr.. Patten, OF
this village, who lives at Canada, N. H.
He saw the paragraph, and, happening
TO know a man whose sisters husband,
named Lee, had mysteriously disap-
peared, many years previously, he called
the gentleman's attention to it. The
man corresponded exactly. Investiga-
ton followed; Mr.. Dow, the administra-
tor, was written to; and from what they
thus learned, the parties at the East were
satisfied that the deceased Captain Lee
was the long-lost husband Mrs. Lees
brother, whose name is Nathaniel B.
Hall, then came to this county, and put
in claim on behalf of his sister, as heir
to the estate. he exhibited daguerreo-
type of Captein Lee, which Judge Hin
man realty recognized, though evidently
taken when he was several years younger
than he appeared here. Among the
other proofs offered, was evidence of the
facts of the marriage of Aza A. Lee
and Miss Hall, in the State of Maine,
their subsequent removal to the State
of New York, and his desertion Of
his wife aud disappearance from
there, because of business embsrrass-
ments-since which not the slightest clue
to his whereabouts had ever been gained
by his family, who mourned him as dead,
the general supposition having been
that he had drowned himself. His dis
appearance there was in 1855, and he
must have made his way directly to Illi-
nois, as be appeared here at about that
time He lived in Answan and Alba
townships, in this county, both of which
he represented on the Board of Super
visors, receiving several reflections.
He acquired some property, and was
esteemed, we are told, for intelligence
and probity-=alwsys somewhat qualified,
however, by the mystery hanging over
his former life. When the ll2th regi.
ment OF Illinois volunteers was orgaa-
igsd. be went with 1t as Lieutenant in
Capt. Dow's company fA), and; on the
promotion of Capt Dow to Msjor, Lieut.
Lee rose to the rank Of Captain, and was
killed, as related, during the siege Of
Knoxville.
The deserted wife, left without means,
had made her way back to New England,
where she has latterly maintained herself
by working in the Manchester cotton
mills, Now, however, BY our fortunate
publication Of the facts 10 relation to his
life here, she finds herself suddenly re-
stored to property that she ought, Of
right, to have shared through all these
years-the County Court here having sc-
cepted the proofs of identity as sstisfac-
tory, The estate, after administration,
consists OF forty acres Of land 10 Alba,
and $500 to s400 of personal property.
Resides, there is due her from the gov
eminent, in back pay aud pensions. over
$1,000, aud the pension due q Captains
widow, during her widowhood. a