The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-10-31
RESTORED AFTER MANY YEARS.
A ROMANCE OF REAL LIFE.

An evening paper of this city publishes
romantic story of the loss of little child at
the capture and pillage Of Corinth. Miss, by
the Union forces during the late war, and OF
his res Grafton to his family after thirteen
years had passed and the little boy had grown
to be man. In the flight of the inhabitants
from the burning town most OF the people
hurried down the railroad track leading from
the southern par. of the place, and took ref
uge in the woods and fields along the route.
Soon the streets were deserted by all except
this little boy, who became separated from
his friends, and, stricken with terror, ran
hither and thither in his bewilderment, and
at last hid himself in a freight car which had
escaped the general confagration. Among
the Union soldiers who soon poured into the
city was Capt. afterwards GENERALLY Hicken-
looper, of the Fifth Ohio Battery, who discov-
cred the boy and took him back to camp,
where, by his youthful intelligence, he became
great favorite.
The boy stated that his name was Frank
Foster, and that his father and brother were
in the rebel army, his brother being an aide
to Gen. Beauregard but as all search for them
had failed, it was believed that they were
dead. The General, out Of pity, adopted the
boy, and in August, 1862, sent him to Cincin-
natl, where he was taken charge of by the
Generals father and mother. He was sen. to
school, and afterwards served an apprentice.
ship in the Surveyors Office under his patron,
the General, becoming at length good civil
engineer. During all these twelve or thirteen
years he never ceased, when an opportunity
offered, of making diligent search with regard
to his parents and family, but in vain; all be
remembered was his fathers and mothers
name; and with only this to guide him it
seemed hopeless task.
a. bat
the letters we're all returned, no one having
called for them. Hs inserted from time to
time advertisements in the Memphis and
other Southern papers, but they brought no
response; and, from the day that he was first
taken to the Union camp, nearly fourteen
years ago, wrapped in al old army blouse that
reached to his ankles, until Saturday of last
week, did never he hear one syllable with re-
gard to father, mother or friends.
One evening, year or two ago, young Fos-
ter, in company with friends, visited theater
in this city, and while they were affected with
merriment by the performance of particular
comedian, Foster was silent and serious, aud
being afterwards asked the cause, answered:
"That man looked so much like my mother
that it starts me to thinking"
Again one night last week young Foster
visited the same theater. and to his astOnish
ment the same comedian appeared on the
stage. This time it made such an impression
on Fosters mind that he could not Sleep On
Saturday morning OF last week two interested
friends visited the theater, and found the
comedian alluded to at rehearsal. They
questioned him closely; the names of both
father and mother correspondent exactly, but
he had no brother. His only brother, Frank,
was lost, he said when child, on the battle
field of Cornth, and all search for him for
thirteen years had proved unavailipg and he
had finally been given up as dead The his
tory of the family was then related in detail, as
to how, after the siege and burning Of the
town, they had returned to the old town in
Dunkirk, New York. finally moving to Cleve-
land, where they have remained ever since
the fathers death the now helrt-broken old
morther the struggles of the only surviving
son to earn a living for his mother and Sis
tiers, and his final debut and success on the
stage; the unavailing search for the lost
brother; the advertisements in papers in
Eastern and Southern cities the journeys,
many of them on foot, to distant places of
the distracted mother still searching for her
lost child.
The brothers. as soon as they were satisfied
between themselves that they were brothers,
dispatched a message of good news to their
mother in Cleveland, and followed the mes
sage in person together Cincinnati CONNER
cidl.