The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-08-25
A MAN HIDDEN IN MYSTERY.
a POOR BOYS STREAK OF FORTUNE.


Levi Wilson lives in Uxbridge, a small
town in Worcester county, Mass. He is %
years old. When 10 he was poor He went
away and returned a rich man, and for seven
years he has been known as the Uxbridge
conundrum. He spends money like a prince.
He lives in lavish style. He has built few
houses. but the rents from them would not
amount to hundredth part OF his income.
He has no business that any one knows Of
Where he gets his money no one knows. He
has been followed by detectives, but all to no
purpose. People have whispered among
themselves that he has broken banks, coun-
terfeited coin. and done all sorts of things,
but Wilson still pursues his way, seems to
enjoy the mystery which he keeps about him
and no one can prove that he is anything but
honest. When young he worked in stables
and in a mill in North Uxbridge He was
too poor to 60 to school, aud had few oppor-
tunities to acquire an education. In 1873 he
disappeared. leaving behind unpaid bills to
D. B. EngIey with whom he boarded, and
with whose daughter he subsequently lived
as his wife. Now he claims that she was not
his wife, and EngIey has brought suit claim
ing $50, 900 da images for the seduction of his
daughter.
COMING BACK RICH.
Within two years from his disappearance
Wilson returned. He said he had been West
His pockets were full of money. He told
one man he made it speculatiug. He told
another that hermit, dying in a wilderness,
had given him patent for a barbed wire
fence and that the royalty was something
immense. Nobody believed these stories and
then inquistive neighbors began circulating
rumors until they had charged Wilson with
almost every crime, including gambling and
blackmail. They could not discover where
he had been. All that they ascertafned was
that after leaving North Uxbridge Wilson
went to Worcester, entered the employment
Of F. z. Knowles, a wealthy loom manufac-
turer, as stable boy, and after years ser
vice went elsewhere. Wilson has since told
his old employer that be went to California.
More than that nobody knows about the mys-
terious wanderings which took him from
Worcester poor boy and returned him roll
ing in riches. After while the people Of
/ UXbTidge township tired Of asking him where
/ he got his money and he told them no more
funny stories. To-day he is an accepted CO.
nundrum, a riddle too curious for anv of
them to comprehend, a sphinx on the only
earthly subject that the tOwnspeople care a
/ fg to hear him talk about Soon after his
return from his mysterious trip Wilson, who
had now barely attained his majority, bought
/ some vacant lots in North Uxbridee, not far
from the mill where he had tended a cotton
loom, and built him a house Here he lived
as the husband of Hattie Engley, who now
sues him for $50, 600 damages for breach of
I promise of marriage. At that time every.
body in their vicinity believed the couple to
. be man and wife
THE EVER REPLENIsHED PURSE.
The story Of Wilson's operations, particu-
larly during the past four years would fill a
volume. He seemed to possess the wonder
ful tOuch-stone which turned matter into
money whenever he needed it. The practi-
cal way of expressing it in Uxbridge was :
''He put for Worcester whenever he was
hard up for money, and he always came
home with heaps of it." Reputable gentle
men say they have seen him show his bank
book when on the train from Worcester to
Uxbridge, and that it contained credit for
deposits of such sums as $40, 600, $50 600, and
even as high as $50, OOO For a country gen.
tleman to be possessed of such bank ac.
count IS an exceedingly rare thing. For a
man none of whose known investments are
bringing him in penny of income the pos.
session Of such wealth is regarded as extra.
ordinary. Until six months ago he kept large
bank balances in the Blackstone National
Bank in Uxbridge. he had some quarrel
with its officers, and Withdrawing his money
he placed it on deposit in Providence and in
the Whitinsville Bank, about three miles
from his Uxbridge residence. Two years
ago he presented to the Blackstone Bank a
check for s., 600. drawn by Mr.. Philip D.
Moen, of the great wire rolling mill of Wash
burn 6s Moen, of Worcester. The officers
were in some doubt about cashing paper
for such large sum and telegraphed Mr.
MOen to know if it was all right. The an.
swer came back: "Cash any checks in my
name presented by Levi Wilson" This sat
lsfied the officers, and after that there was
no hesitation in advancing funds on Mr.
Moen's paper to any amount 1t bas been
calculated by his tOwnsmen that for the last
three years he has spent at least SIOO, 900 an.
nually. He is said to have been in receit OF
a monthly iecome for the last year of So.
600, the source of which. however. has never
yet been made known. Up to within a short
time ago Wilson owned in UxbridGe real es
tate valued at S1OO 900 at the lowest figure
Eight cottages, with their land, and two va
cant lots on the east side of the river were
valued at S2S, 600. a new hotel, its furni
ture, outbuildings, ETC., and four tenement
houses on the west side of the river, In the
heart of Uxbridge village are estimated al
about S72, 600.
LIVING IN spTENDoR
Nobody can understand why Wilson shoul6
have nrpcftd Ilfnl in, Ii+tl., n..r,,,4-..