The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-10-08
Discovery of the Wife of Captain A&;s
4. Zee. OF Rlba---Affcr Fifteen years
EseSertion her Husbands Property
~ Restored 10 E7cr---Sah:c Cfa News
,,;.unr Dorpprn nh;


BeSertion her Husbands Property
~ Restored 80 E2cr---Sal.:c Cfa News
piper Paragraph.
From the Cambridge Qll.) Chronicle. September 90.
Our readers will remember That we pub
iShcd on the 18th of July last the notice Of
Josiah Dow, public administrator upon the
estate OF AZa y. Lee, deceased. and accom-
panied it with an editorial paragraph stating
the facts of Captain Lees death i'll battle
during the siege Of Knoxville. his len" resi-
dence and respectable position in this
county, the mysterious reserve that he bad
always maintained here with reference to
his former life and connections, and the
dilemma respecting the disposition Of his
real property under the laws Of Illinois
consequent upon the absence of any known
heirs to the estate.
Among the papers that we send to the
East j. one to the father Of Mr.. Patton OF
this village. who lives ~ T3iit;.d. ~. ii. He
saw the paragraph, and happening to know
a man whose sisters husband, named Lee,
had mysteriOuSly disappeared many years
previously, he called the gcntlcmans atten-
ton to ii. The man cOrrc$pOndcd exactly.
Investigation followed. NJ. Dow, the adj
minStrator. was written to and from what
they thus learned the parties at the East
were satisfied that the deceased Captain Lee
WAS the lOll9-IbSt ltiSbulltl.
Mrs. Lees brother, whose name is Ma
thanicl Is. Hall. :hcn came to this county
and put III Il claim in behalf Of his sister ~
heir 10 the estate. He exhibited Il dagucrrc-
otypC Of Captain Lee, which Judge Hind
man readily recognized, though evidently
taken when ne 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,
III the State of Maine, their subsequent re-
moval to the State of New York, and his de-
Sertion Of his wife and disappearance from
there because Of business embarrassment
since which not the slightest clue TO his
Whereabouts had ever been gained hy his
family, Who mouned him rs dead, the
general sllppoSitiOn having been that
he had drowned himself. His dis
appearance there was in 1870, and
he must have made his way directly to Hi
nois, as he appeared here about that
time. lie lived in AnawGn and Alba town
ships. in this county, both Of which he re-
presented in the Board of Supervisors, re-
cciving several reflections. He acquired
some property, and was esteemed, we are
told, for Intelligence and prohity-always
somewhat qualified, however, hy the lnyS-
terry hanging over his former life. When
the One Hundred and Twelfth regiment ii
Illinois volunteers was organized he wen!
with il as first lieutenant in Captain Bows
company, and on the promotion Of Captain
Dow to major, Lieutenant Lee rose to The
rank of captain, and was killed, As related,
during the siege Of Knoxville.
The deserted wife. lett without means,
had made her way back to New England,
where she had ltterly maintained herself
BIZ working in the Manchester cotton mills.
Now however nv orr fortunate nubl lea
ton of the facts in relation to his life here,
she 1inds herself suddenly restored to pro
pcrty that she ought Of right to have shared
through all these years-the county court
here having accepted the proofs Of identity
a. satisfactory. The estate, after admins
tration, consists of forty acres Of land IL
Alba and $500 to $500 Of personal property.
Besides, there is due her from the Govern
mcnt. in back pay and pensions, oycr$l 300,
and the pension due 4 captains widow du-
ring her widowhood.