The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-06-25
FORTUNE foR 4 MISSING 4ela.

A Scion OF Southern Family Who Was
Cast on for wedding Poor Girl.
A romantic story of the disinherited
scion of one of the most aristocratic of
South Carolina families, which contains
the elements of the popular tale of fiction,
with the thread lost in San Francisco, has
just come to light.
The Lees of South Carolina trace their
ancestry back for couple of centuries.
One of their great-grandfathers planted his
cotton seed and tobacco with the pioneers
of the Carolinas. Each, generation added
to the family possessions, until thirty years
ago the possessions of the Lee estate ex-
tended for miles on either side of the old
family manor house and the planter count
ed his slaves with three ciphers. Then the
war came The Lee gold was contributed
generously and the Lee blood flowed freely
in the cause of the Confederacy.
When the end came the Lees, though
their magnificent estate had been sadly di-
minished, found themselves still rich, but,
crushed by the failure of the cause, for
which they had sacrificed so much, they
retired to their country home and lived in
the exclusiveness of the little world en-
compassed by the boundaries of; their
plantation. The years went on, and d.
McCord Lee, the eldest SON and the hope
of the family, grew to manhood. There
was great future intended for the hand
some boy, and money was spent lavishly in
his education. -
All went well until he met and loved
pretty Gretchen Flemming, young Ger
man maiden of the neighborhood who had
nothing but her beauty and a warm heart
to exchange for the patrician name and
wealth of her suitor. Young McCord told
his father of his attachment for. the lowly
child of the people, and there was scene.
The elder Lee storined, but to no purpose.
- 4
to family prejudice. There were stolen
meetings and delicious rambles for months
until McCord, finding he could never gain
his fathers consent, boldly married the
girl in the little village church. The mes
alliance WAS the last straw to the family
pride of the Lees The son was disin-
herited by his father, and the doors of his
childhood home were closed upon him for
ever.
Young Lee determined to make a start
in the world for himself, and, with his
young wife, came to San Francisco. That
was twelve years ago. Finely educated,
but totally unsuited to the ordinary ways
of gaining a livelihood, the struggle forex-
istence was hard. Then domestic troubles
began, and the home of the young couple
was far from happy Four years ago a
separation was agreed upon, Mrs. Lee re-
turning to Germany, where she soon after
died
During all of these years not word had
passed between the estranged son and any
member of his family. The father kept
well his word, and the son was too proud
to seek reconciliation.
After the separation from his wife Lee
disappeared, leaving no clew by which his
future could be traced. A few days ago a
lady of this city, who has been intimate
with the family since her childhood, re-
ceived a letter from the missing mans
brother in South Carolina stating that the
father and mother had died, leaving the
estate to the children, and asking that the
lady should make every effort to ascertain
the whereabouts of D. McCord Lee.-San
Francisco Chronicle