The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-03-21

Avery said to bo tho real father Of William J,
Merritt, the plai ltif. He added that he had
TER sum oi monoy that the heirs ought to give
Mrs. Elizabeth Cransharr. the oldest child Of
the plaintiff. told how. when her brother died
the alleged grandchd of John A. Merritt
inc millionaire gave up business. wept in his
In the coffin frequently aud said; on. my
son my sonl" He has given her money for
Christmas he had something for tho children.
Then tho plaintiff. William J. Merritt whom
tne defendants say should be called. william
Wilson. a sad-faccd man ovOr 80 years old
with long hair and Quaker-like expression in
his blue, eyes. said That he now lives on tho
Merritt homestead. He remembers when he
was years old. on the same place and he lived
there steadily until old Mrs. Merritt died in 1919
He wns married In that year. aud for nearly
four wears attcrward he worked on the Harlem
Railroad a. brakeman and rs baggage master.
John A. Merritt procured the situation for him.
er's marriage TO Mr.. Althousc he was called
Ahhousc. That was when he was q small
yothum, John A. Merrtt's father. and John A.
Merritt himself bought his clothes. sent him to
sch,9}ol. and gave him spending money. John
A. Merritt gave him n note for A.3ii.O1 for his
work on the farm. His letters came to him nd
dressed William Wilson. A Catholic priest in
him under the. name Of William Wilson.
Mrs. Ella Wilson, the plaintiffs mother
Mas recalled. recalled. She s9id that she mover said 70
child WAS the son OF John Avery. Gen. Tracy
gave notice that the plaintiffs case was NIL In.
Lawyer Frost. who led the ak lawyers de-
fcnding the estate for tho administrators and
heirs. talked 70 thc, Jury,
George G. McNAll. clork of Grcenwich Town
ship. Conn. the first witness for the defence,
said that he had five old papers, found in an
Old box in the Town Clerks Office in Green
Wilson that John Avery was the father Of her
child. The document was eigncd with cross.
and the Justice had written Eliza Ann VIII
son her mark" Tho lawyers tnlked for an
hour over the question whether this document
Judge Dykman decided not TO admit the paper
in evidence.
Mrs, Cynthia Lewis, Of Mount Vernon said
that Mrs Wilson had told her that the child.
now the plaintiff was the son Of John Ayerv.
Since the death Of John A. Merritt Mrs. Wilson
came to her house saying that she wanted tO
got away from home. "a tncy' wero harassng
her and wanted her to swear 20 somcthin ing that
she could not swear to without condemnng
herself. and that she wouldn't do for any ono.
Testimony OF Thomas A. Meade and Evert
H. Avery Of Greenwich. relating indirectly TO
the history OF John Avery, was offered and
ruled out because Avery had not been brought
into the case. Lawyer Frost objected to this
ruling, and said they wanted to provo that
John Avery. and not John 4. Merritt. was the
father OF the plaintiff, aud that this must be
proved ny clrcumstaniial evidence.
yesterday. the effort to show that the Eliza
Wilson named In the Greenwich town rec
ords Is the Eliza Wilson of the present case
was renewed by bringing the oldest inhahitnnts
ln Gre"nwi,h WHO remcmb,rcd nnyihnr about
old Squire Close. now dead John Avery, now
dead. and about Eliza Ann Wilson. some Of
The witnesses were too old tp come before Judge
Dyckman, SO their testimony was taken by
commission oi lnwyrrs from en- side. But ne
yet none Of the old inhabitants Of Greenwich
hnve he"n found who hal seen John Avery and
Eliza in oomppny
The deposition OF Elizabeth Townsend 70
years old. WAS that when she was 10 or II years
old. Eliza used TO visit Mt her house. and that
her mother didn't like TO havo Eliza around
Can't. Evart Avery nm old man. son Of Betsy
avery, al whose house Kiln gave birth TO VIII
liam. the plaintiH had been questioned hy the
commission ~ to the reputation Of Eliza when
she was In Greenwich at his mothers house
His testimony was ruled out after u prolonged
argument on the question whether John Avery
could be- allowed TO say. through Capt. Ayery's
report. that Avery was the father OF the child.
Judge Dyckman said that that was senselcss
proposition. The declaration was an irre-
sponsiple one. All testimony Of what John
Avery had said regarding the paternity OF Will
Then other aged people from Connertirut-
Alhap Meade. 81; Hannah Lyon. &c; Nehemiah
that they knew OF Eliza living in Greenwirh
long, ago, and Capt. AvorS declared that Eli17
lived ms much ns year IN Greenwich learn.ng
the tailoring trade, and Mt the end of that
year gave birth to Wlam. At that time john
Avery must have been from 80 10 35 years old.
Judge Dyckman held to his previous days
ruling on the Greenwich paper and 1t was not
accepted in evidence.
Benjamin W Lyon. J. II. Slater. Justice james
Merritt. and Oflcer William Stilwe and others
said that they We're schooliellows Of William J.
In his boyhood days he WIS called either Bill
Wilson or William AltLouse. and not William
Merritt. Many other Witnesses said they had
lived on the Merritt farm since John A. Nor
ritt's parents death, and that the millionaire
treated William j. Merritt or VIM. Wilson,
not AS q son. neither with affection hut ms a
farm hand" They wera Mrs Theodosia
Knapp, Stephen Lillock, John Adams Mr.. and
Mrs James Farrell. and Charles Austin.
Tombstone Cutter John II Smith of Port
chester said that he cut the tombstone for the
plaintiffs two childen's graves. Then he un-
folded sheet Of brown paper nearly as large
MS door. and showed where he had spread II
over the lettering on the tombstone. and had
rubbed the paper with some dark mixture
leaving the lettering light in the midst OF the
surrounding smuttiness. The name on the
paper was MisOn.
Mrs. Schmaldig oi Rye testified that Eliza
Wilson told her in the ycars lS47 and 1913 that
" she wouldihaye married Williams father II ne
had not died-then she married Mr.. AihOuse"
Finally. Lawyer Frost stacked up on the table
"A pile Of warrantee deeds made 10y the million
aire to show that John A. Merritt had conveyed
property - others in his own name without
procuring the signature of a wife.