Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-10-24
CLAIMING MILLIONS.
Strange Developments in the Trial of
Contested VIII Case.
F.. New York Tine

The developments in the case Of the
will of Joseph j. Lewis, who died in
Hoboken, N. j., in the early part of the
present year, leaving an estate of about
ST ,250, 000 mostly in United States bonds,
which he bequeathed for the most part
to She government Of the United States,
are becoming more and more interest
ing every day, and the story which is
told about it sounds more like q TO-
nance than reality No sooner was
notice given of the death of the Ho-
boken miser and millionaire than a
score Of persons claiming to be nephews
and nieces of the deceased hocked to
this country from the West Indies, of
which country it is said Lewis was a
native, and laid claim to the estate.
These parties engaged an attorney, who
went to the West Indies in search of
proof of the indemnity of the decendent;
and he obtained ample testimony, docu-
mcntary and otherwise, to establish the
fact that Lewis was a native of the
West Indies, and that he had negro
blood in his veins. Further than this
they have thus far refused to divulge
the nature of the testimony in their
possession. But the most singular part
of the narrative has just been made
public, by the publication of the story
of another claimant of the property
and contestant of the will of Joseph j.
Lewis, the claimant in this instance
being man named Thomas Lewis,
who resides at present in the Eastern
district of Brooklyn, and who claims to
be q son of j. j. Lewis. Thomas Lewis
is about 60 years OF age, and though q
man of more than ordinary intelligence,
is entirely uneducated, being unable to
read or write. The story which he tells
is, that he was born in Mullinahone,
Ireland, and that he came to
this country about twenty years ago
His mother died about twenty wears
before he left his native country, and
he says that he had not seen his father
since he was a little child, and all that
he knows about him was told him by
his friends and acquaintance as he
grew up. His mothers name was Ju-
dlth DeverauX, and she was married to
his father June 10, 1914, as appears
from an extract from the parish register
at Mullinahone, now in possession of
claimants attorneys. His father came
to the place an entire stranger, without
relatives or friends, and the fact that
the girl DeverauX married him under
such circumstances was n matter Of
considerable surprise and comment at
the time. The couple lived together as
man and wife for several years. and had
children. He finally absented himself
for several months, and then returned
as mysteriously as be had disappeared.
At length his wife Thomas mother)
fell heir to a small estate, which was to
have been paid in two installments.
The first lnstallment was not paid when
it should have been, and his father
collected it by legal process. When
the other installment became due he
attempted to collect this also but was
unsuccessful. This was eventually the
cause of trouble between husband and
wife, and resulted in the second and
permanent flight of Lewis from Multi
Malone, and since that time he has not
been heard Of in that part of the coun-
try.
About eight years ago, according to
the story of Thomas Lewis, he was one
day walking on the Bowery, in this city,
with his son Joseph, when he met
friend from his native place, with whom
he entered a saloon for the purpose of
talking over old times. They conversed
for some time, and when they started to
leave Lewis was stopped by stranger
who had sat near them, apparently
much interested in their conversation.
The stranger took Thomas Lewis aside
and questioned him about his knowl-
edge of people in Ireland, and the re-
suit was that the old man announced to
his astonished auditor that he was his
father. He said that his name was Jo-
seph Lewis, that he lived in Hoboken,
and invited Thomas to call upon him
Then they parted, but Thomas did not
call upon the old man, for the reason,
as he says, that he did not look AS though
he possessed much Of this worlds goods,
and besides he thought that, even if he
was his father, he did not care to cult
vate his acquaintance, in view of the
fact that he had been so mean, in years
gone by, as to leave his family to care
for themselves, without means of sup
port. Thus time passed until the be-
ginning of the present year, when the
death of Joseph J. Lewis, Of Hoboken,
was communicated to Thomas Lewis,
Of Williamsburg, together with the in
teresting fact that he was worth over
81 100000. Then he came to the con-
clusion that the old man was his father,
and he set about making arrangements
to secure an interest in the estate. To
that end he secured legal services and
his lawyers have been busily engaged
in working us the case. A vast amount
of testimony has been produced before
a master in chancery in .Hoboken,
which will, in due time, be presented to
Runyon, of New Jersey.
Surrogate Daley, of Brooklyn, who
is the senior partner in the firm of Dali
ley & Perry, the plaintiffs lawyers, said
last night to Times reporter that there
was not the least particle of romance
about the case, and that he had not
shadow of doubt but that he would be
able to prove that Joseph j. Lewis was
in reality the father Of his client. In