Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-06-16

BIG FISH BITING AT BARE HooKs-euEER YAc1p
ABOUT COATS OF ARMS, AND TIE wxAKNEsD
OF PROMINENT MEN.

u lew oays, Nhen Weiies' effects come under tho
hammer. That Welles was a charlatan there ID
no good reason to doubt, but he secured the
most distinguished lot OF dupes which any Of
his kind ever gained. Life membership In
welles' college cost $50, and among those who
paid their money were Edward Everett; Daniel
s. Dickinson, who Acknowledges receipt Of
family record and is proud that his family could
boast so proud an origin" Rueben E. Fentou.
who announces his intention to have his certin.
cate framed and placed In his ''home library q
Jamestown" Robert b. Roosevelt, who writes,
Il inclose check. but do not think you can make
much Of our coat OF arms" Charles O'Conor.
William C. Bryant, William II. Seward. Hamilton
Fish, Marshall P: Wilder. James r. Keene, and
James A. Garfield.
GEN. GARFIELp's LETTER.
Gen. Garneld's letter was Q Characteristic one
aud as such deserves publicity. Here 1t is.
HIsAM; ONO, October "a. 1871.
tins q the sSesiSsas S' sss asa q 10
oh,eG sssssi fos which please scosG, th.nls
sion: Which .ss based wholly birth family re.
T sn the
to % made 70 supply this want A basis for the study
In recent grafton the NE and Of General
date back centuries and nd their orn IN he fe and
% ss myfy 'o o & s.Ss
hasS asm nsy rS% n S Ss
aGS r u sss ne hSs ss u
Very truly yours. IA. GARTKED.
ROSCOE CoNKLING DECLINES
In marked contrast with 1t was the letter Of
Roscoe Conkling, declining to be caught, az fol-
lows:
Urea. NY. Oct. 10. 1871.
DEAR SIR: hcknowedring yours Of yesterday, Just
received know that haye been renss in not resrond
now provoking II is u encouder erprise the
spsthy Of others; But the truth Is. have not the
habit Of sttenton to such things which would me
that pressinFy occ1pisd a. the time I soa w na
trust Vsrv excuse me for not undertaking the pattr
1t will be observed that there is difference
OF only two days in the dates of these epistles.
SOME OF THE DUPEs.
When Welles died there was no one who
could carry on the trade In ancestors and 80 all
the stuff which he had collected was sent to
auction. most remarkable collection II ia.
First to be mentioned Is welles' Doomsday
Book, an immense volume filled with blank
leaves where any one could enter his name and
family pedigree for a consideration. The only
use Of the Doomsday Book was to help to dune
people by Its Imposing appearance. Bow many
were duped through 1t it is of course impossible
TO tell. but the auctioneer will offer for sale
something like 5000 manuscript genealogies Of
siyely printed volumes with portraits and coats
OF arms and crests OF the following families
Barron, Buell.. Cary, Page, Frost, Stokes. Dun
oar, Grace, Kip, Cook, Lyon, Kendell, Flower,
Corners, Mortimer, Snow, Wheeler, Martin,
ConOver, and Fish.
REMARKABLE FAMILY HISTORY
Some ofthese genealogles are very amusing.
According to the Fish pedigree. as given by
Welles, Mr.. Hamilton Fish is descended from an
m
fish so remarkable that an Agassiz would find In
it a new species
The late lamented welles would have the
world believe that all the Martins In this coun.
try are descended from Pope Martin-Martin de
todi, elected the I'D pope, A. ID. $40. In Eng
land the Martin family began with Baron Martin
de Tours who was general In the army OF VIII
liam the Conquerer. Christopher Martin, with
ms wife and child, came over In the Maynower.
but they were all kind enough to die without
delay. According to Welles, the greatest of all
the American Martins are the Martins OF New
Jersey. William Augustus Martin, of NewYork
whose portrait Is given, apparently paid for
these remarkable researches relating to the
Martins
Bishop Kip, Of California, hired Mr.. weIles to
tell the history OF the Kip family, aud welles
did 1t so well that nobody would suspect from
his story that the first OF the Kips In New Am
sterdam was only tailor or something OF that
Kind, or that he was only called Kip by cour-
tesy as we now say Reddy the Blacksmith or
Tommy the Kid. Kip meant chicken, and old
Hendrick something was Familiarity known In
his day as Hendrick the Chicken Hendrick
Kype.
MIR. Samuel Conover, who wanted to be mayor
some years ago. and whose portrait is given
with the genealogy OF the Conovers, was in
formed by Mr. Welles that the Conovers were
originally Conenhovens, and only began to DO
Conovers In the sixth generation Mr. Samuel
Conover belongs to the ninth.
Ex-MAYoR GRACE A LIFE MEMBER.
These remarkable family histories cannot fan
to excite great deal of interest. 1t may b
mentioned that the Grace referred to above 10
Mr.. William r. Grace formerly Of Ireland and
recently mayor of New York. Before he had
the genealogy of the Graces printed, numerous
copies Of which may soon be bought at public
auction he wrote the late lamented Welles the
following letter:
NEW YORK. Oct. IL. 1879
A' see ssts tERs eysrT s. s America" College J
sra, sra: ~ sompiaSas with your invitation. hereby
come life member Of the above named ins. tution
$ so used %
ana r w dn prosSFs and d ssnd to you
WILLIAM r. GRACE.
THE GOULD coAT-oF-ARMs.
Apropos Of the above, the following story IL
current: Mr. Jay Gould and his son went to
Port Richmond. Philadelphia, on Saturday to in
spec) 1he ATLANTA, Mr.. Goulds new steam yacht
When they reached the main saloon of the YES
sci their attention was particularly attracted
by the fine wood work Of the panels
In the wallis Then said the master deco
ator; Snow, Mr.. Gould, n you desire It I can
ornament those panels with your family coat Of
arms" The millionaire turned to his son, and.
laughing, said, II don't know whether we have
coat of arms, Ell, George2" ''Oh," said the
latter, with shrug Of the shoulders, I guess,
around the house. Tyou NV want somethinr neat
and pertinent, though would suggest Q bear
and bull" The decorator fastened to expostu-
late, declaring that such Q device amid such
surroundings would appear hideous. 80 the
emblem OF bull and bear will not be carved on
fhoao nQla