Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-03-24
AFTER HALF A CENTURY.
A LIFE STORY THAT DISCOUNTS
 THE WILDEST ROMANCE.
How George Ryerson Was Lost to Hfs Family Fifty Years Ago-The Son Fos- lowed, Securing Fame and weaith-An Unclc's Death Solves the Mystery.

Unclc's Death Solves the Mystery.
 CHICAGO, March 24-The last scenes in as strange a story of lost people and wandering heirs as a novelist ever dreamed of were played out at No 251 South Paulina street yesterday, when Mrs c. c. Shurter, of New burg, N. Y., met her father, whom for more than fifty years she had believed to be dead
 The fathers name is George Rycrson- He is a feeble old man now, but in 1884, when he was living in Paterson, N. J., with his young wife and two little children, he was stall wart, handsome young fellow. In that year he made up bis mind to go west to better hts fortune His family heard regularly frora him for a while, then he got beyond the ordi- nary postal facilities, and finally the letters stopped altogether. His wife at last came to the conclusion that he had perished on the plains, and she moved into the interior of New York state, where her home had been
 George Ryersons> son bore his fathers name, and when he became of age he followed his fathers footsteps out west In a short time his letters stopped coming, too. Then the mother concluded that he had met his fathers fate, and she gave up and died. The daugh- ter grew to be a woman, married and moved away, in the belief that she was the only liv- ing member of the family Young George Ryerson wasn't dead, however He ulti- mately drifted into California, made lots of money in the ranch business, and was elected governor of Lower California He wrote to the place where he had left his sister. but she had moved away and he could hear nothing about her. So he believed she was dead
 The elder George Ryerson had in Chicagoa brother named Martin One day Mrs. Schur- ter read a paragraph in a newspaper about the benefactions of a wealthy Chicagoan of that name. She wrote to him, established his identity as her uncle, and he went east and visited her. Several years afterwards Martin Ryerson visited the Pacific coast and heard there about Governor George Ryerson, of Lower California Attracted by the name, he visited the governor and found out that he was his nephew. He told George about the existence of his sister in New York state, and the two attempted to find her. In the mean time, however, Mrs. Schurter had moved again, and diligent search failed to reveal any trace of her or any one who knew her address
 While all these things had been going on the elder George Ryerson wasn't dead, either He was wandering through the mining camps of California, Arizona and Nevada His let ters home had never reached their destina- tion for some reason or other, but be sup posed they had, and that his wife didn't want to answer them. At last he settled down at
 
 lonely hut In an old newspaper one day he read something about Governor George Ryer- son. The similarity of the name to his own struck him, and he began making investiga- tions, which resulted in discovering that the governor was his own son, who was not only distinguished, but rich, an owner of big mines and great ranches in the Mexican do- main. He hunted up the governor and made himself known. The younger Ryerson notified his Uncle Martin in Chicago, and Martin went out to the Pacific coast second time and brought his brother home. This was six years ago. The old man was greatly moved by the information that his daughter was living, and with his brothers help tried to find some trace of her. In a year he became so restless that he went east to hunt for her. He visited Paterson, but he couldn't find any one who remembered him or the family and the place had changed So that he could not recognize it His visits were just as useless at the other places where his daughter had lived. No one knew what had become of her, and the old man came back to Chicago in complete ignorance to whether his daughter was alive or dead
 The newspaper paragraph. however, that had done so much for the family had one more good office to perform Martin Ryer- son died a short time ago, and a New York paper printed list of the charitable beauesfs in his will. A copy of the paper fell into the hands of Mrs. Schurter at Newburg, and she read the paragraph. Remembering how a similar incident years ago had revealed her uncle to her, she wrote here asking if the dead man was her relative The letter fell into the hands of her cousin, Martin E. Ryerson He at once informed Mrs. Schurter that her father had been found. Mrs. Schurter is 56 and her father is SO She will stay here with him until her brother arrives from California Then, after family reunion, she will take the old man home with her to Newburg to spend the rest of his days.