Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-03-09
a losa sEAsca roa = Will.
kkesegils< Estate kEsszs CiA4ae~rs ts>sass
s2a Papsrs Fosasa ~ . C4s~--A Sl--rAa-
La Hid&ss help.

lAs Hiae~s heiR.
srasslsooro tTt} Speei3Al
Joha S.sssas. 10 arrived bsrs ca Sat
sriay uizat frosa . three- year, search
tEro1zh the far " est Ia nis fsILsr's I'll,
talls rsnsrzsois story la sac early
aass ~ tas Col9Fads gold feseE ois father,
Bartholomew sEssells, then living ia M2a-
treal, d.sA ,pearsi ~ish h.s infant da2sn-
ter. ESsFy effort IA tie power ~ uoaey
vas us4ds q hnd thea. ta without sue
cess Prosperous 10 his Business aud 4 zap
- IA ais donlsstic relations, the rsAs5n Tor
his sssddsn departure from Canada las
never been exp.siBed. Tea years after
ward, When kls wife died. no trace q his
vii coaid be found. all as the two sonss
Peter and Richmond, could n0t establish
any claim - the estate, Il went into chan
eery. Richmond Steseas d.ed soon after
ward. isaving Peter, although the her 10
several thousand pounds, compelled 10
work for his living. For several yesrs he
remained ia Montreal, working Tor a small
salary and trying IN vain 10 WIN a favor
able judgment from the courts.
tie then began life Of wandering,
which was continued for ten years, and IN
which ne worked. begged and ''roughed
lt" ia nearly every part Of British America
and the United states. Ia California be
made the aeqaintanee OF Abram Bscket,
an 0id man who had lived his whole life Ia
the mountains ani mining camps tie told
Stevens that man aud woman answering
the description OF his fatuer and sister bad
lived ia the Wahsatch Mountains. in Utah,
for several years, and, out OF friendship
for Stevens, offered q guide him TO the
spot. The cabsn where they had lived had
been burned when they arrived, aud no
trace OF the man or woman remained.
Stevens, whose hopes had been revived
by the statements OF Beckett, was now COM
pletely discouraged. He soon turned his
face eastward again, arriving at Ottawa IN
1873. Two years afterward he came 60 Brat
tleboro, where for several ponths he wasa
common trackman on the railroad and
worked for dollar a day. In 1882 he re-
celved letter from Salt Lake City, which
had ain in the Montreal POST Office un-
noticed for many year. The letter was
from man whom Bec.et had got TO
write Tor HIM and contained clew TO
the missing will Stevens lacked sufficient
rowing what he needed OF his landlady's
daughter, charming widow To whom
be was betrothed, be aga.n started west
ward. Arriving in S ~ Lake City, he
found that the man who wrote the letter
was dead, aud that Beckett was sons
where nesr Tucson, Arizona. Stevens
had but 80 left, and with half of that
amount invested in eatables he started
on foot for Tucson, unarmed and at the
mercy of the Indians, whose country he
had TO cross. 1t TX him wo months 70
reach Tucson, and another mJltI u nni
Beckett.
Here another disappointment awaited
him. Beckett had founl the bones and
clothing OF a man in a cave IN the Wah-
satch mountains, about ten miles from the
burned cabin where Stevens father and
sister are supposed to have lived. A wall
let was found in the cave near the dead
man, and several papers, more or less mu-
I tilated, were strewn about. Beckett could
+ not read. but had taken the wallet and pa
pers 70 Salt Lake City, where a friend OF
his said that they were the will and pri-
! vate documents Of Bartholomew Stevens,
( OF Montreal. Canada. Becket's friend
wrote an account of the matter 10 Stevens,
which was the letter that was mislasd so
/ long in Montreal. Beckett lett the papers
with a friend and went TO Arizona. where
o had been ever since. Beckett aid Ste
vens started at once for Salt Lake City,
where they arrived in October, 1888. Ii
took them a long time 20 find the papers
+ which Beckett had left with his now dead
friend, but at last they got them. Stevens
had not yet reached the end Of his troubles,
and had 10 stay in the West until be could
earn enough money To take him back to
f Canada. In he midst of his labors be was
taken sick. and TOR long time his recov
cry seemed impossible. Once back in
Montreal he had no difficulty u getting pos
session of his property, and now, compar-
ativeiy a rich man, be is here after his
bride. As soon as they are married they
will 20 West at once TO search for the
missing sister. and to bring the body oi
Bartholomew Stevens home for burial