The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-04-15
R0RN 1884: MARRIED 1885.
.. ARTEMUs WARDS" ALLEGED
WIDOW CLAIMS HIS ESTATE.

Isl was Ouly % ShES OI0 "nen
ga Died in l967-Mrs. Browne Says
s4e Had Borne Him Ten Children
When He Deserted Her in 1855.
From the Neto York World.
! A. Browne. of Bloomington, ILL.,, has
,,me to New York to prove his venerable
r,other's claim, as the widow, to the estate
# the late Charles F. Browne, or "Artemus
ward Mr.. Browne has retained the law
srn of Ten Eyck & Remington, No. 27I
roadway, but no papers will be filed pend
Ing an investigation.
60 firmly convinced are the widow and
her children, the children all grown men,
hat the great humorist was the husband
and father who left them in Kentucky
thirty-six years ago, that they regard with
4isdain even the biographical record OF
he birth of Mr.. Browne in Name in 1884,
only q year before the claimant was mar
RED.
The widows claim is supported by large
numbers of aftidavlts sworn TO by persons
who knew Charles F. Browne in kentucky
and Ohio at the time Of and subsequent to
his marriage, and who afterward identified
him as "Artemus W ard the lecturer and
hnmorist. The Charles F. Browne who
married her, the widow declares. afterward
hecame known as "ATtemus Ward, ~" who
left her to go on a lecturing tour in 1856,
and whom she never saw again. Other
afidavits identify the "Artemus Ward
who wes connected with the Cleveland
Plain Dealer as the Charles F Browne who
had raised large family in Kentucky.
1t remarkable story to support a re-
marKatle claim that is told by this family,
and they are confident of success. notwith-
standing the discrepancy in the dates. Ac-
cordipg to the affidavit of the widow, she
was married in Lexington, KY, on June Z,
1895 to Charles F. Browne, afterwards
known as "Artemus Ward" by the Rev.
James Challen. The biographers Of "Ar-
temus Ward" whose real name was
Charles Farrar Browne, say that he was
horn in 1884 in the town Of Waterford,
Me. Here at once would seem to be a COM
plete barrier to the Identification of Ar
temus " ard" as the husband and father,
but it is not sufficient to convince the
claimants. "Artemus Ward, too, was sup
posed to have lived and died a bachelor.
His death occurred in Southampton, En-
gland, on March 9, 1861
Here is the story as CLEANED from the mass
Of afidavits, statements and other docu-
ments in the possession of the attorneys:
Andrew Stanton was one of the pioneer
land owners of Kentucky, who acquired
possession of large and valuable tracts Of
land in the neighborhood of the towns OF
Lexington and Newmarket. Among his
children was a daughter named Hannah,
tall, good looking and a recognized belle.
When she was II years old she became &C
anainted with young man named Henry
c. F. Brown, who moved TO Lexington
from no one knows where. On June 7,
1885, Miss Stanton was married to young
Browne by the Rev. James Challen, and q
copy Of the record of the marriage is fur.
nshed by Thomas Lewis, clerk of the
county court Of Fayette county.
After the death of her father Hannah
inherited his large fortune, which her hus-
band proceeded to squender in the most APP
proved manner of the time. Continuing
Mrs. Browne, in her statement, says:
I'VE moved from Lexington, KY, to Mont
gOmery county, Indiana, and, after livinG
there one year, we moved back to Licking
ton. We remained in Lexington for four OF
five years, moving then to Randolph county
Missouri, where we lived for eighU years
My husband owned mill near Centerville
Mo, and ran 1t for several years. He wa
millwright in his early years. but tireC
of it,
Prom Randolph county we moved bacl
to Lexington, KY, where my people al
lived, and we stayed there for four or fiv,
years more After that we Travelled about
my husband acting as a mill agent wen
with him to Cincinnati in 1858, where h.
lectured on Temperance under the name o
'Artemus Ward. We returned t.
Lexington and then moved to New
market. In 1855 he went to Louisville, AM
from there to st. Louis on one Of his lectur
ing tours. l received several letter
from him after he went away, bu
they were afterward de ,troyed when
my home was burned. Whom tie fire oc
Cured l was able TO save only his picture
and the family Bible. ! never saw my hus
band after he went away in 1855.
moved back to Lexington two months afte
his departure, and remained there unit
1860, when went to Mississippi for m
health. l never heard from him after golni
to Mississippi When the war began i
1861 | did not expect him to come south, G
he was strong aboitiOnist. | have neye
been divorced from my husband, and neve
thought of taking such step. neve
knew what became Of my husband until
read of his death in Southampton, Enl
land, in 1867. l did not read of his death {
the time, but In 1887, when l saw IN
Bloomington paper reference to bis deaf
and the disposition of his property. M
husband had often asked me to 60 to Ems
land with him, as had relatives there VIII
had left considerable property in Hull.
In her affidavit, to which the precedir
statement is supplementary, Mrs. Brow
says:
IL am the lawful wife of Charles
browne, known throughout Jne OulJt
States and England as 'Artemus Ware
was married to him in 1895. was wit
him in Greensburg, KY, when he Lecture
there in 1858, and remember that he ht
with him Green Clay Smith, Casslus
Clay's nephew. Edward Oldham was wi
him when he ectured in other places.
when my husband went away IN Is
he wanted me to 60 with him, and wou
have gone had it not been for my Ill healt
was aware of the fact that wherever n
husband went when away on his lecturll
tours he passed as a ngle man."
From the evidence it appears that
children were the result of the marriage
Charles F. Browne and Mary Staintc
Four of them died at an early age, and
others all grew to manhood. Only three
the children remain alive. They are Z.
Browne 4S years old, who is now in Ca
fornia; e. O. Browne, 40 years old, and
A. Browne, whose age is 81 and who Is
New York to enforce his mothers claim
the estate of ''Artemus Ward"
The son who is here has In his posSesslo
daguerrotype of his father, who is rep
sented as holding a child on each OF
knees A number of afidevits set forth Il
the picture is that of the man whom the
ponents knew as "Artenlus Ward, the lie
urer and humOrist.
Isaac Johnston, just''e Ut the peace
Bloomington, III. ,- wears in his affida
thai he Tarso,,e'J knew the claimant. nj
Rroy, ~ P go Cthew her family to be hon