The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-03-20
4 ugo,,,cr aut, Son Reunited After n
Lifetime OF Separafaon.--An ne "
r,,sn or a Former vhcclingite.
CHAPTER

u
CEAPTER I.
Some eighteen years ago there Gied IN
Chicago Mr.. William Mcmillan, Grand Lee
furer Of the Grand Lodge of Illinois Ma
sons. leaving widow and two young chill
aren. boy of three and girl OF hve.
Th, ouch the influence OF Garden City
Lodge, No. 14l, the boy, Louis Shirley
Mcmillan was adopted by q Mr.. James
Clarkson, OF Chicago. Soon after Mr..
(larkson suddenly removed from Chicago,
and all efforts on the part OF Mrs. Mcmillan
10 discover the whereabouts OF her son
failed. She soon retired with her daughter
to the home Of her relatives in Peoria, LII. !;
subsequently, remarked, moved to Newport,
Ky, and again became widow.
CHATTER II.
When Mr, GARRISON removed from Chi
caso he went 10 Piqua, Ohio. Here, with
Young Mcmillan. now renamed Louis n.
Clarkson, he lived five years. Subsequently
he lived four years in Columbus, Ohio, and
again in Wheeling, West Va, some seven
years, the boy growing to manhood in the
firm belief that Mr.. ClarkSon (then local
editor OF the Wheeling RegiSter) was his
father, and that his mother had died when
he was babe. In September, 1875, young
Clarkson left home and came to settle in ST.
Louis, accepting the position OF chief book
keeper of the Scottish Commercial Insur-
ance Company lin the Chamber OF Com
merce building), which position he holds
to-day.
CHAPTER 1II.-THE DISCOVERY.
During bis bcyhood young Clarkson had
several times made inquiries OF his father
concerning his mother, but was always met
with complete rebuff. Being OF some
a. ha sraI fn
know the circumstances OF the death Of the
mother he could not remember, her maiden
name, and the whereabouts OF her relatives.
The complete refusal OF his father to tell him
anything made him suspicious. he pondered
the matter for many months, and finally, last
December, wrote to his adopted father and
entreated and demaded particulars, and
threatened to use all the money at his COM
mand to discover his mothers relatives.
He received then the information that Mr..
Clarksop was not his own father; that bis
real name was Mcmillan, but that Dir. Clark
son had never seen Mrs. Mcmillan, and
knew nothing Of her whereabouts or her
maiden name; also that his real father had
been prominent Chicago Freemason.
On this slender clue alone-of Mcmillan
and Masonry-youngC larkson went to Chi
cago in January and spent many days in
trying to get information OF himself in Ma
sonic records, and meeting, OF course, with
many rebuffs. The parties to his adoption
seemed to have all died or moved away, and
the records were destroyed in the great fire.
One Of these parties, MIR. Hurd, he eventu-
ally traced to Michigan and induced him to
come 10 Chicago and join him in the search
for his relatives. Thus accompanied, partly
by luck and partly by perseverance, he
at length met MIR. Thomas Shirley, the
old particular friend of the departed Nc
MILAN, and the. very man for whom the
orphaned boy (Louis Shirley McMillan)
had been named. From Mr.. Shirley he
learned that his mother was indeed dead;
that his sister had married and gone to Cali
fornia; and that for further particulars he
must 20 to Peoria, Ill. He went to Peoria
and found numerous relatives-found his
mother sIill lived in Newport, Ky, and
that his sister was with her. He hast
ened to Newport. Before he had a chance
to introduce himself to his mother (Mrs.
Montfort) she recognized him as her
long-lost son from his resemblance to his
father. There was, Of course, the greatest
the State of Daniel Boone with colors flying
and calcium-lights.
Mr.. Clarkson has since returned to st.
Louis, and expects soon to bring his mother
and sister (of whom he is very proud) here
to live. He has also discovered two own
cousins in st. Louis-Mrs. Belle Hatcher
and Miss Nellie Gregg. Having also found
himself, he has resumed his original name,
and is now Louis Shirley Mcmillan.
Having large circle OF acquaintance in
the city, Mr.. Mcmillan has found it an al
most impossible task to relate to everybody
the cause and story OF his sudden transition
from Clarkson to Mcmillan. On this &C
count he was induced to surrender the above
particulars to the Republican for publica-
ton. Be it remembered, therefore, that the
Scottish Commercial Insurance Company
has discharged its old book-keeper, Louis
n. Clarkson, and hired new one, Louis S.
Mcmillan. The story is told. After. all, it
is a comfortable thing to know just who you
are, and it's sweeter to be yourself than to
be somebody else by mistake.