Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-07-05
SIR DRAKE
The Claimants OF 1926, 0OO, 600 In Coun-
eiI-Foar Hundred Dwellers in Jer.
sey, Pittsburg, Sag Harbor, Long
Island and Michigan 20 Become
MilliOnaires.

lslanQ u Mlcnlgan 10 BecOIho
MilliOnaires.
From the New York Herald.J
At eleven o'clock yesterday morning,
about fifty persons gathered together at
Brooks Assembly Rooms, Broome street,
who claim to be the lineal descendants
of the great English Admiral sir Fran
els Drake, and the legal heirs OF the
immense property which the female
branch of the family holdin Devonshlre,
England.
Sir Francis Drake, the head OF the
family, and the chiefo the naval worth
les who fourished in the reign Of Eliza
beth, was born in Jainstock about the
wear 1916. His father was a poor clergy
man, and Francis was the eldest Of
twelve q nearly all Of whom were
bred to the sea. While yet a lad he was
apprenticed to the master of a cOasting
bark, and in the humble capacity of a
seamen made frequent voyages TO Hol-
land and France. He sOo grew to be
thorough master of the rough profession,
and so gained the esteem of his master,
that when the latter died he left the
young seaman all be possessed-his bark.
Drake continued in the coasting trade
for some time; but his adventurous spirit
soon firing of the weariSome moRotony
of Channel voyages, he sold his vessel
and proceeded on a voyage to the West
Indies, during which he suffered much
n-usage and loss from the Spanish cru
isers in the Main.
On his return to England he joined
the squadron of Sir John Hawkins in an
expedition against the Spanish, which,
though unsuccessful, didmuch to qualify
Drake for his future career. He return
ed to England, after the loss Of all he
possessed, but with an amount of exper-
fence gained, and a hatred of the Span
iards which marked him through life,
and has only been equaled by Nelson's
antipathy to the French. In 1872 he
succeeded in fitting out three small YES
! sells, and with these he boldly sailed into
/ the Main on q voyage of reprisals. Fail
ing in an attack on the city of NOmbere
de DiOs, he landed on the Isthmus of
Panama, and captured a large amount
of treasure which was about being con-
veyed on mules for eXpOrtationtO spain.
In the course Of the voyage a native
guide, who led the, English across the
Isthmus, showed Drake a lofty tree,
from whose summit might be seen the
Pacific ocean, along which no European
flag save that ofSpain had ever hoated,
and whose coasts were supposed to con-
tain untold
WEALTH AND MAGNFICENCE.
Drake climbed the '1ordlie and great
high tree" as he termed it, and when
he gazed on the bOundless expanse of
ocean, he, with great solemnity, 'be-
sought God to give him health and life
once to sail a ship upon these seas"
This prayer of brakes did not. go
unanswered, for on his return to Eng
land he succeeded in raising a squadron,
and with it sailed for the Straits of Ma
gellan. The expedition consisted of five
ships, the largest of which was only five
hundred tons. On the voyage amutiny
and conspiracy against the head of the
squadron occurred, which was only sup
pressed by the execution of the ringlead-
er, Thomas Doughty. Drake emerged
into the Pacific with one ship, the Gold
en- Hind, hut the voyage was so peril
Gus and the navigation so difficult that
all his cOnsOrts persisted. With the one
vessel left the undaunted Admiral COM
menced to attack the Spanish treasure
ships, which were sailing in fancied Sc
eurity along what had hitherto been, to
every other nation but their own, the
untrOdden ocean. The Golden Hind
was soon laden with treasure and valu-
ables, and Drake thought of returning
home, but the pressure of a large force
in the Straits deferred him from return
ing that way, and he boldly conceived
the idea to seek a passage home by the
northern coast of America, and by un-
rivaled skill, worked his ship to a high
49, - IL DaT.. ANNa.MTa 49,, /
thence he steeTed westward for PHILIPPINE
Islands, aud finally arrived at the Cape
of Good Hope. He doubled the Cape
on the fifteenth of June, 1850, and on the
twenty-ffth of September the Golden
Hind came safely to anchor in the good
city of Plymouth, after an absence from
England of two years and ten months.
The fame of his exploits, the wealth
he brought home and the renOwn he had
gained had been already noised abroad,
and had reached the ears of royalty.
Queen Bess, who, whatever might be
her other faults, knew how to reward
merit, FASTENED to Plymouth, knighted
the daring a%dventureT, who was then
about TO sail around the world, and, with
her court,
SHE DINED WITH him
on board the Golden Hind.
His subsequent exploits are familiar
10 all readers Of English history. He
grew high in the estimation Ofhis sOver-
eign, and when the InvIncible Armada
sailed against England, with Lord How
ard of Frobisher, he mainly contributed
to its defeat. In 1895 ne sailed with Sir
John Hawkins on his last expedition
against the Spanish West Indies. The
En@lsgI - rYr.rarnaaugfr1 m fha q nfnr-I
prise, and the brave Admiral fell a vic
tim to the diseases of the climate, dying
on board his own ship in the harbOr of
MontebellO,on the twenty-eighth Of jan
uary, 1886.
Drake left an immense property be-
hind him, which has been gradually ac-
cumulating, until now 10 is roughly esti-
mated at the enormous sum of one hun
bred and twenty-five millions of dollars,
situated in the county of Devon, Eng
land.
The meeting yesterday was sharp and
interesting. Whether Sir Francis would
be proud of his descendants or not is q
question which he alone can decide, but
they certainly did not present the ap-
peaTance of aristOcratic ease and refine
ment which Representative Of fam
lily of such long descent would naturally
be supposed to possess. The chair was
taken by Horace Doolan, of New York
city, a stout, punchy man, with a bullet
head and a fat, ruddy c-ountenanee. The
secretary, who rejoices in the name of
Beckworth, halls from the good city of
Philadelphia; is a sleek, oily individual
with a meek ~cOuntenance and a singular
bald spot on the top of his head. Seat
tered around the room were sOlid-lOOk-
ing farmers in garments of home-spun,
strong-minded females with voluminous
hats and short hair, who did most of the
talking, and helped to relieve the mo-
notony of the proceedings. The male
branch of the family are supposed tohave
come over with the Pilgrim Fathers,
and 1.-THE motley assembly yesterday
claim to be the representatives of the
male line.
THE CLAIMANTS
are scattered over all parts of the Union,
and every day fresh ones are turning up.
They came yesterday from smoky Pitts
burg, godly Philadelphia, Sag Harbor,
Staten Island, Long Island, Jersey, and
other parts unknown-On all their fea
lures expectancy sitting, as if they were
gathered together at the reading of a
will. In the corner Of the room q huge
odS VI Dlsculte anu a Pilo1S1 VI water
were visible, ofwhich the audience stead
lily partook, justifying their claim to be
bone of the Admiral's bone and flesh Of
his flesh, by INDUCING in an unlimited
quahtity of hard tack.
The secretary made a long report Of
what had transpired since the last meet
ing, in February, and presented a num-
Der of doeuments received from England,
with a ~genealogy which would puzzle
Sir Bernard Burke, DR.. Shelton Mac