Litchfield enquirer., 1878-02-14
Stanley's Biography.

| A correspondent of the Cincinnati Commer-
 cial sends to it the following sketch of Henry | M. Stanley which he says is accurate: l ''Henry M. Stanley, whose original name
 was John Rowlands, was born near Dinbych. l Wales, in 1S40 his fathers name being John Rowlands Cor Reliant as then called by the | Welsh people). Having received early edu-
 cational advantages to greater extent than
 was generally accorded to children of his time
 we find him, when only youth, occupying
 the position of assistant teacher in the public
 school of Lianelwy, then of Trelfynon. and
 still later of Wyddarug. From here, whcu
 only about fifteen years of age, he shipped as
 cabin boy on a steamer bound for New Or 1 leans where he landed much in the same fiuan- l cial condition as our present worthy Mayor re- ported himself to have been when he first landed in Cincinnati.
 '1t was not long, however before he sue ceeded in obtaining situation in the mcrcan-
 tile house of one Henry M Stanley, who soon | became greatly attached to John, and, having l no children of his own, he concluded to adopt
 him into his family From that time on, John
 Rowlands the Welshman was known as Hen 1 ry NJ. Stanley the American. But unfortu-
 nately his benefactor died, leaving no will
 consequently our hero had to seek other means
 of livelihood.
 ''In about two years after this the civil war
 broke out, and we find young Stanley fighting
 in the ranks of the southern army. Early in | 1862 he was taken prisoner, but soon succeed | ed in making his escape and returned to Wales and visited his mother, who now lived in the little village of Bodelwyddau, near Rhyl In | 1863 we find him again in the midst of the ex- I citement of the civil war; this time as 1 sign on the iron-clad Ticonderoga. In 1868 he | again visited his mother at Bodelwyddan, Wales. At this time he, on several occasions visited his native place, Dnbych, and although
 it was well known that his adopted name was H. M. Stanley, yet he was addressed and re- ferred to by those who knew him as John Rowlands, and it was John Rowlauds' that he registered on the visitors book whan Sisitits, | the ancient Dinbycn Castle.
 | ''He left Wales again, now for the third
 time, and came to New York, and entered up- | on the profession of journalism. He accom-
 panied General Hancock's expedition against | the Indians, In which service he displayed great courage and proved himself to possess,
 as writer, a vivid imagination and descrip- l tive powers of no ordinary degree.
 | "Upon his return to New York he was en- gagged as travelling correspondent of the New l York Herald, and as such accompanied the l British army on their expedition to Abyssinia, | Upon his return to London he was, at his spc- | cial request, visited by his mother aud other near relatives. Not long after this he again paid visit to his native Dinbych, taking with | nm many reIlCS anu CuTlOub IiliuSS IOu Ab~
 yssinia. From there again, as correspondent of the New York Herald, he travelled over
 the Continent and while in Madrid, Spain in l 1871, received instructions from Mir. Bennett
 to start for Africa His history from that day
 until the present time is so we'll known that
 we need not particularize. Now, while Hen
 " M.' Stanley, the famous African explorer,
 is the lion of foreign courts, receiving presents
 and marks of honor accorded to but few from
 Kings and Emperors while he is made the
 welcome guest of monarchs, and the admirs-
 tion of savans, and of all who recognize and
 appreciate pluck and talent; and while all
 America is rejoicing in the fact that it is one
 of her citizens who became the discoverer and
 savior of Livingstone, and who, in the face of
 almost insurmountable obstacles, with his lit-
 tie band of faithful followers, descended the Congo, which was certainly one of the great
 est achievements of modern travel and would
 have been a credit to even 6 regular army, let
 it not be forgotten that the little PrincipaliIy
 of Wales gave him birth In this fact, at
 least we as Wclsll-American citizens have
 just cause for rejoicing"