The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-09-26
A STRANGE RESEMBLANCE.
The Singular Story About Represen'
tative Taylor and His Double.
From the Washington star.

7 OdblNS IGylOT dll1 114o DOOOlO.
! From the Washington star
Judge Ezra B. Taylor, who represents the
nineteenth Ohio district in the house, is one
/ of the best-known members on the repub-
lican side, and is ranked among the ableSt.
He is man Of striking characteristics, and
would arrest the attention of stranger as
being above the ordinary run of men. His
| face is strongly marked with force and in
dividuahty.
He recently received a letter from Wis
consin, which calls up again coincidence
in his life, which is probably the most re-
markable of which the world has record.
lie related this story TO the reporter yester-
day. He was born in Portage county, Ohio,
sixty-five years ago, attended school with
Garfield. and the two kept up a friendship
in after life. When Garfield was elected
TO the Ohio Senate in 1889. Judge
Taylor was practicing law i'll the stale.
Shortly after Garfield took his seat Judge
Taylor gotta letter from him stating:
II received your letter and will be glad
to do anything / can for you. l am sur
prised, however, that you should desire
such e position. | thought your practice
was worth much more to you"
This may not be the exact language of
the letter, but it was about this.
Judge Taylor did not understand the
| letlo IlG WIOIt W Ill. 0dillSll JcllihS
him SO, and saying that he was right in
supposing his law practice was worth more
than any position under the state Senate.
THE MYSTERY DEEPENs.
Shortly after that Mr. Garfield called on
him and handed him a letter, asking if it
were not his. He examined the letter and
replied that it was certainly his handwrit-
ing and his signature, but that he had not
written it, unless he had done so in his
sleep, and then he pointed out that it was
postmarked from another part of the state
| The letter asked for the appointment of
| deputy Sergeant-at-arms of the state Senate,
was written in the judges handwriting and
signed plainly with his signature, Ezra B.
| Taylor.
Mr.. Garfield wanted to submit the letter
| to an exr ert to pass upon the chirography.
Judge Taylor said he would acknowledge
| that he could not tell it from his own. 1t
was submitted to an expert, who, without
hesitation, said he could take oath to its
| being Judge Taylor's writing. 1t was a
mystery they could not penetrate, and they
dropped it.
HE MEETS HIS DOUBLE.
| Not long afterward the state convention
assembled Judge Taylor was walking
down the corridor of the principal hotel
| There were mirrors on the walls in which
he could see his reflection. As he ap-
| preached the end of the corridor he thought
! there was another mirror directly in front
of him in which he could plainly see his
own face and form. He drew closer, and
| No; it was not mirror. 1t was a man.
| 1t was himself in flesh and blood. The two
looked at each other, and it seemed as if
each had lost his identity in the other.
| Had they turned around three times neither
could have been certain he was not the
other fellow. Neither spoke. They just
looked at each other and passed in opposi Q
directions. Later in the day Mr.. Garfield,
with the double leaning on his arm, APP
pr ached Judge Taylor. He introduced
them: ''Nr. Taylor, Mr.. Taylor. No Mr..
Ezra B. Taylor, Mr.. Ezra b. Taylor"
| NAMES AND FACES ALIKE.
They were the same in name, in form. in
/ face, in age, voice, carriage, manners and
generally appearance. Judge Taylor was
then known as colonel. He had been
named after a distinguished clergyman,
Ezra Booth. The duplicate was also known
as colonel, and said he was Ezra Bootl, but
he did not know after whom he was named.
The reporter had been told that they dis
covered that they were born on the same
day. Judge Taylor says he does not re
member whether or not this was developed
but that they were certainly born in the
| same year, and that every circumstance OF
condition they could think of as peculiar
| 10 OIlo, dDp1leu VIII eullel dpUHoSS 10 JHe
! other. The acquaintance was continued
between these two men. constant CORES
pondence between them until a year ago
when the other died out west. They were
never able to discover any relationship.
| RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.
A few weeks ago Judge Taylor got a let
ter from lady in Wisconsin stating that
| she had noticed the name of Ezra b. Tay-
Tor as voting against the Mills bill; that an
Ezra B. Taylor, formerly living in a GER
tain part of New York, had been an init
mate friend of her father, who was now
dead. They had, she said, lost sight of
| this friend soon after her fathers death,
and they were anxious to find him. They
hoped the representative might be he.
Judge Taylor wrote a prompt reply, stat
ing that he had never lived in New
York state and had never heard of the lady's
father; but this did not end it.
A few days ago he got another letter from
the lady stating that she had been delighted
on receiving his letter, to recognize in the
address the handwriting of her father S
friend. On opening the letter she had
| found the handwriting and signature the
same as a number of old letters they have
and that she was at loss to reconcile the
contents of the letter with these circum-
| stances.
1t has not yet developed whether the
Ezra. B. Taylor this lady seeks is the one
| who died or yet third party to the drama.
But, to add another romantic feature to
the case, it now appears that the Taylor
this lady seeks might have reasons for con-
cealing his identity from the family on ac-
count of some business relations with the
deceased father, whom he may have owed
money