The Penn's Grove record., 1883-11-03
TbS French Dsuphin.


Abou. forty years ago very considerable
interest was manifested 10 this country
over the claim Of the French throne put
forth in behalf of an EpiscopsHan mission
airy amobg the Stockbridge Indians In
Wisconsin, named Eleazer Williams.
Louis XVI, the last Of the French Bour-
bon kings, was it will be remembered, gull
lotined at Paris by his revolutionary sub
jects IN 1898. LOUIS frs son. the
dauphIR, had died in 1889. so that at the
time of the Kings execution his second
son, LOUIS, the Duo de Normsndie, was
the dauphIn, being then eight years OF
age. Young Louis, styled the XVII, by
the RoyalIsts and foreign powers, was I'M
prisoned IN the temple, but was officially
reported to have died in l795-presum-
ably from the harsh treatment of his
j~ailers. Either honestly believing so or
else Imbued with sinister motives Ia at
tempting to resusctIate al heir OF straw
around whose standard they could flock,
many of the couriiers OF Louis XVI
claimed thst Louis XVII had not passed
away IN the temple, but that ne had been
spirited off by hls friends to a place OF
safety, and that the outwittg lailers pre-
tended he had died IN otS~otp satisfy
public vengeance and relieve themselves
from accusation ut negligence. ''ne per-
sistence with which the CLAIM, was pre-
sented has made this one OF the mooted
questions OF history, almost ranking with
the query as 70 the individuality OF 'the
man in the iron mask"
After the failure of several attempts by
foreign lmpostors to establish tier claims,
a party OF French noblemen, about forty
years ago, suddenly turned up in Wlscon-
sin and pretended to have discovered the
veritable lost dauphln in the person of
~Episcopalian missionary, Williams. Will
llams was then stationed on the lower Fox
river, in the humble condition of most
Indian missionaries. He was In middle
life, was married to a squaw, and was
modestly bringing up a family of half
breeds in the ~backwoods OF what was
then a State in the veriest limits Of West.
ern civilization. His memory only went
back to a boyhood home among the 1ndi-
ans of Canada, who claimed to have
stolen him from 1.-THE States" Gaining
some knowledge in a theological seminary,
he became a missionary among the people
who had adopted him, and, upon being
commissioned by the American Govern
ment to superintend the removal of the
Ten Nations of New York to the Stock
bridge and Brotherton reservation, east Of
axe WInnebago and the lower Fox river
N Wisconsin. had remained in the re-
liglous charge OF these aboriginal lmmi-
grants. The French cavaliers pretended
to thol oughly trace Williams history, and,
--~-uA nth ~, w. Af afR1ausfC ofnnnh
by The Canadian Indians who had reared
HIM, and others-whether the aftldavlts
were genuine and dlsinterested or not, has
never been establlshed-set up the claim
that the dsuphin had been reduced by his
cruelty in the Temple to a state of tempo
rary imbecllty; that a humble friend had
stolen HIM from the prison and transported
him to the Canadian wllds far from the
possibility of discovery, and had placed
MIN In charge of the Indians, who had
nursed the lad back 10 vigor and reared
him In ignorance of his origIn-and that
Eleazar Williams was the verltable midi
vidual.
This country was astir with the sensa.
ton; the newspapers and magazines OF
the time teemed with the subject, several
books were issued about 1t, and the Amer
lean Bourbon became a celebrity. Will
Hams does not appear to have CHERISHED
this rude intrusion amid his quiet pastoral
labors, and rather resented the advances
Of the enthusiastic Frenchmen, whose
cavalier ways he could not understand,
and his notions Of liberty and equality
were shocked at the bowed knees of his
pretended devotees. 1t Is certain, how
ever, that after awhile the worm of ambi-
ton began to work, and he died almost, If
not quite, convinced that he was the lost
Bourbon, after all. The excitement, how
ever, died out, on the troubles then exist
emit In France being settled by the quiet
rule OF LOUIS Philippe, and the Wisconsin
Bourbon passed away quite unnoticed
among his half-breed CHI ,ldren and his
simple S~tockbridge friends. The French
Bourbons have never since paid any atten-
tIou to the matter.
The memory OF the old story Is revived
at tins time, because recently his only son,
John l.. Williams, died at Tigerton, on
the lower Fox. John has made and lost q
fortune In land speculation, and died as a
hand in a lumber mil. The wife OF
Eleazar still lives at Kaukans-or did a
few years since-a fine specimen of the
pure blooded aboriginal Of the Pocahontas
order. her advanced years resting lightly
on her dusky shoulders; advancement OF
civilization and celebrity never caused her
TO def her richly embroidered blanket,
and when clad IN all her bal splendor
of silver medals aud gold beads, she was a
very picturesque Individual. Her step,
H. DIN naDr mono fHnua ~ N ruRpAAn
who well appreciated that she once came
very near beng the Queen OF the Franks.