The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-01-15

i rcrt.sua efBse, 600 Awassfng = s-iHisl,
8. 80 S 5.s,t ~ port Byrens III. y:
ras iNrllsTEKY or CARL y oRAY.g

fTS5DyA the lJ6vSufpNt
I There Is q fortune of III, ,9Q RNfatsetn any
one who can prove theis cssim 10 q at Port
Byron. On Sunday mcrning aboae s O'clock
Charles Gray Vas found dead an 2 chair IN
Che sittinssroom Of the Maxwell House,
I' Dyron. Heart. disease was said to be
fhe cause os his death between III and Il
o,elocE Saturday night he was heard 70
ca,ae down stairs, and he&at down in chair
by The stoye> How cong he sal there
.hesore he died Is esaly slrlnised, but
when shc clerk made his appear
anca in the mornin& and saw him sitting,
nc he Thought, he Said little attention TO
him, as V Charley, by which nsHse every
one knew deceased, was an eccentric cnafac.
ter. Even the boy who made the aae dia
mot notice anyt2eag wrong, and thOGght IL
rsthfnp unusual 10 lind him there an the
sit4inpsroom at that early hoaE- 1t was
ahort s oscloCsss when the clerk went TO wake
him M for breakfast, that he discovered the
man was dead. and he looked SO life-hke
that It was only by examining the pulse and
feeling the cold brow that he svss sure ne
WIS dead. He was Immediately removed to
his room, and Justice Hobart who acts as
coroner for Fort Byron, summoned. The
cause D; death was, after .c0roners Tn-
yestigafion and post-aor7eui. decided to be
disease OF the heart.
HIS effects were taken possession OF by
Justice Hobart, and In . trunk In his room
were found greenbacks and Government
bonds to the amount Of $4,000. Besides
this the deceased was possessed OF real estate
worth about $1,000 moee-all OF which
awaits claimant: and the deceased had not
a single relative In Port Byron, or in the
world as far as any one knows, although be
was resident OF that village for the past
thirty-fFe years.
In former years, before the era Of railroads
in This section OF the western cOuntry-that
L., about thirty or thirty-five years ago
Sc Charleyn used to drive the stage between
Davenport, Rock Island, and Dixon. on the
stage route to Chicago, and at that time was
known to nearly every resident on both
sides Of the river between Davenport and
IeClaire. Twenty years ago he commenced
keeping saloon in Port Byron, in which
business he has been engaged ever since.
and in which we suppose he accumulated
his money. He was about ffty-eigbt or
sixty years of age, and not over four feet
four inches in height, but very corpulent,
so that he was noticeable character. He
is spoken OF by all in Port Byron as q
straightforward, square, honest man, with
only the fault Of drinking occasionally. /.
Nothing is known of his history or fam
lily before his advent in Port Byron, and no
one ever thought much about Il, only since
his death but it is now remembered how
ayerse he was years ago to speaking OF his
former life when the matter was preached
incidentally in conversation. But to the
people OF Port Byron to-day it seemed that
aCharley" had lived oil his life among
them, and though sometimes they wondered
why he never got married, il seemed not to
occur to them that he did not have single
relative or kith or kin OF any kind that they
knew OF. A gentleman residing there told
our reporter yesterday that he remembered
in conversation with the deceased years
ago an intimation to the effect that he had
lived at one time In Hannibal, Mo-, and
in Galena, H., and kept hotel at one or
the other Of these points, and that he was
married in Hannibal, and had q daughter,
but that his wife died few hours after the
birth Of her child. A minute search among
all his effects failed to discover any letters
or papers throwing any light upon his for
mer life, or where he came from, his fami-
~, friends, or relations. It is desired that
if this should meet the eye OF any who know.
aught of him or his heirs, If there are any
living, they would communicate with JUS
tice hobart, Of Port Byron. 1t is even sup
posed now that his name may not have
been Gray. That $4,000. is worth estab-
fishing claim to III these hard times.