News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-08-01
NOTED IMPOSTERS.
REMARKABLE CASES OF CON
FLICTING EVIDENCE.
Insurance Frauds-The Eleazer
Williams Bourbon Story.

16duS one 10 tue Opjlllon GillG ONlueIc
of identity is of small value excep
when based upon some deformity o
distinct popularity. And even whel
some such mark has enabled witneSse
to speak with ali unusual degree of ex
a~ctness, their testimony has Otter
proved to be quite misleading. IN ca e
of disputed identity nowadays Who'll,
regiments of witnc SOS are called OF
each side, and the jury has n hard taSl
to determine which party is entitled t
a verdict.
In the Tichborne suit the claimant
case seemed unanswernble, until thu
defence set up Il still stronger one. Tn,
claimants mother had identified him n
her long-lost son, and had spoken o
b birth-mark which the claimant WI.
able to exhibit to the jury. Nurses
farm hands, Schoo!mates and ne ghbor7
were called by the score to identify 'fSi
Roger" and when the famous tattoo
testimony was taken all doubt seemed
to be at an end. Public reioicings a
the village in which the Tichbornt
country seat was situated were fol
lowed 10y the mobbing Of n man who
dared to remind the rejoicers that the
case was vet undecided. Then came
the evidence for the defence, the stop.
ping of the case by the jury, the arrest
of the claimant for perjury, the Sc ond
long and tedious trial, the conviction
n the fourteen years sentence.
1t Is difficult to say how many per
sons in various parts Of the world have
attempted to pass themselves off n,
Louis XVII. of France, who, hi. tory
tells us, was maltreated until he lost tho
power of speech, and finally died of i'll
usage, if not starvation. None of the
claimants attracted more n teutiOn than
Eleazer Williams, tho hero of the
article by DIR. Hanson, entitled, ''Have
We n Bourbon Among Use" Eleazer
was born in Caughnawaga, N. Y, about
the year 1877. He was the son of
Thomas Williams, an Englishmau, who
had married an Indian woman named
konwatewentota. When quite Young
he was wounded at Plattsburg, and sub
%sequently took orders and became n
missionary among the Indians.
- The story told 10y Williams to DIR.
Hanson was that he was the son of
Louis XVI, and that in 1871, while on
board q steamboat, the Prince de Join
vile had urged him, without success, to
sign a 'sOlemn abdication of the throne
of France" So satisfied was DR.. Han
son of these fact that he published n
book entitled ''Thc Lost Prince" and
sought to prove that Williams's birth had
never been registered, and that his puta-
tive mother had admitted that he was Il
foster child. Physicians declared that
there was no Indian blood in his veins,
and it was sought to be proved that he
had been removed from prison and
brought to America. An Indian named
ShenondOugh swore that Eleazer had
been brought to Lake George by two
Frenchmen, and that money had been
forthcoming for his maintenance from
unknown sources. Much evidence was
produced to ~substantiate this theory, but
on the other hand, Williams's own
papers were found to contain conclusive
proof that his claim was purely imagin-
airy. But many people believed in him
and his strange story.
The case of Anglesey agt. Angleecy
was tried in the Dublin Court of Ex-
chequer in the winter of 17i3, and oc
cupied fourteen days in tho hearing.
The claimant was James Annesley, who
assumed the title of Earl of AngIcscy
and claimed the Anglesey estates. Tho
most remarkable evidence ever heard in
a court of justice was given in
this case. In 1714 Lord and LADY
Altman wore residing in Dublin and
the latter gave birth to son. My Lord
was indignant. He had been married
for eight years. and had taken advan-
tage of there being no heir to borrow
large sums of money on his entailed es-
tates. The money lenders were furious
when the birth was announced, and
promptly cut off supplies. Lord
Altman was one of the most dissolute
and extravagant peers of his day, and
he spared no pains to make such dis
position of his hated son as would
enable the sinews of war to be forthcom-
ing.
He commenced by ~ill-treating his
wife, until she fled for protection to her
father, the Duke of buckingham. He
then sent his son away to n country vii
lage, and had letters fabricated an
nouncing That unwe,comc little fellows
untime.y death. But the boy did not
die. His father quit sending money for
his maintenance, and his foster parents
abused him so badly that he finally ran
away, and after tramping around the
country for months finally found him
self in Dublin. He had very shady
ideas of his identity, but called himself
James Annesley. Once, while running
about the streets begging, he fell in with
some friends of his uncle, through whom
he was introduced TO that gentleman.
This uncle was the heir presumptivc to
the title and estates of his elder brother,
and lost no time in getting rid of the
true heir. He had him shipped to
Pennsylvania. No ooncr had the ship
started than the Earl died, and James's
uncle succeeded him. The captain
landed the boy in America and sold him
to a rich planter, who took him on to
his estates and treated him with great
barbarity. He was sold to another and
more humane master, who he served for
many years, his nickname ON the estates
being ''the young Baron" From over
work he fell sick and was taken to the
house TO be nursed. Here he fell in love
with his employers daughter, who
accepted and encouraged his attentions.
Unfortunately an Iroquois Save also fell
in love with James, and assaulted his
other sweetheart so ~viciously hat her
life was in danger. This led to the
''yoang Baron" being sold to another
master.
He ran away and got safely to Jamai-
"a, where he secuIeI passage for home
ON a man-of-wa Arriving at Dublin,
his oldnurse speedily identified him, and
said if he was the heir he had a peculiar
mark ON his left hip. Other evidence
vas forthcoming, and the question of
ident ty clearly established. Finally,
the plaintiff gained the day. He took
the estate, but his American experience
had instilled democratic opinions into
his head, and he let his uncle keep the
title. That uncle turned ont to be a
scamp of the worst kind. Much litiga-
ton followed, and the title wa finally
declared extinct.
The Wacker.e case involved q very
interest ng question of identity. Mrs.
Wackerle claimed 81, 900 from the Etna
and Mutual Life Insurance Companies
on the death of her husband. The COM
panies declined to pay on the ground
that Wackerle had not died. They even
produced a man in court who swore he
was Wackerle, and for a time the
plucky little woman's chances of obtain
ing justice appeared very feeble. She,
however, never lost heart, but Travelled
up and down the country in search of
evidence, often having to walk because
her funds ran out. The plaintiffs story
was that she was married t, Wackerle at
~Shakppee, Mimi, and that they lived u
wan 'ering life until the summer of
1872, when they separated, she coming
to St. Louis and he going to Texas, in
which State he was killed in the same
year.
She did not hear of his death at the
finn. o,,J ecrar,oI D,opav tooatbar 70