Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-11-27
WHO STRUCK BILLY PAT
TERSON?
a Singular Claim ON a False Foun-
dation Exploded by Investigation.

dation Exploded by Investigation.
A telegram repeating an old story is
about to start on its rounds again, and
was received at this office yesterday.
The story as told holds out prospect
OF solution to the mystery of .'Who
struck Billy Patterson?' but unfortun-
ately for those who are very curious to
to have the query answered. the nara
tive Is not founded on the bedrock of
truth. 1t is to the effect that Mr.. Will
lam Patterson, the father of Nine.
Bonaparte, who was prominent and
respected Baltimore merchant, was the
BILLY Patterson who received the
mythical blow, and that he offered
reward of 1000 in his will for the dis
coyerey of the perpetrator of the as
sault The story goes on to describe
the blow as having been given in
Franklin County, Georgia, in 1887, the
narrator being ignorant that that was
two years after the Baltimore mer-
chants death. 1t is related that ne
owned land there which he had bought
up on foreclosures of mortgages; that
III the course of riot, in which he
wanted to act as peacemaker, he was
felled by blow which SO injured him
that Mr.. Patterson left the reward to
CONTINUE THE SEARCH
for him even after his death. A Mrs.
Tennie A. Corey, of Athol, Warren
County, n. T., comes forward as the
daughter of the man who struck Billy
Patterson, and wants finger in this
mythical $1,000,
The story, as it comes from a CORE
spondcnt in Atlanta. Ca, says: .'Mr.
Patterson's will containing the clause
perpetuating the reward offered for the
discovery of the man who had struck
him. is on record in the office of the
clerk of the court in the counties of
Franklin and Ebert. Mrs. Corey writes
TO the ordinary of Franklin County as
follows:
my father struck Billy Patterson.
1t was great many years ago, or at
least | suppose it was, as | was very
small child when he told me about it.
He is dead now. AS near as | can find
out he was wild and mischievous when
young, and ran away from his home in
Vermont where he was born and rails
ed by tender parents. He was of a
rowing disposition, and among other
places which he visited was Franklin
County, Georgia. AS he was fond of
sport he attended most of the public
affairs. He attended the one in Geor-
gia-I say the one in Georgia, because
he left Georgia as soon as possible, and
never returned to see how Billy Patter-
son came out. He said when the row
begun and Mr.. Peacemaker, as he call
cd Billy, stuck his name in to break up
the sport, he just leveled him, and
dug out" as soon as possible, and
LEFT GEORGIA FOREVER.
He went to Cleveland, Ohio, and as he
grew older and wiser he began to grow
stricter. and became as good an en-
gineer as was ever on the road, and
run fifteen years on one road, besides
others. My mother went from this
place to Ohio and married my father,
and | was born there. We came back
here to live. My fathers name was
George w. Tilleston. He never knew
there was will made, and l am not
sure that he would have cared to have
told, as he had money enough; but as
/ am an invalid l might as well have
the money if it is still offered The
ordinary of Franklin County has had a
transcript of the will taken, and has
forwarded it to Mrs. Corey, at Athol,
N. Y. The next step will probably be
a demand upon the representatives of
the late Mr.. Patterson for tho money,
and. in the event of a refusal to pay
it. the matter will become subject of
litigation in one of the United States
district courts of New York"
Mr.. Patterson's will may be of rec
ord in the counties of Franklin and Ell
bert, Ca. if he had land or other pos
sessions there. but the original will is
of record in the Register of Wills of
flee in Baltimore, where it was hunted
up by Sun reporter, and found to
contain no such clause as described
In the Georgia story. The will is
very voluminous document. 1t is pa
per which has often been quoted from,
and is in some sense historical. 1t was
made in 1927, with various codicils up
to the time of his death. The will was
proved in February, 1885, q few days
after his death. From the Baltimore
San.