Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-09-18


lives was cleared away, and after 1t was all
over Mrs. Smell and her family gave up
the contest they had thought was justified
by the facts.
Until few days ago Mrs. Hulda Smell
was convinced that she was the widow of
the millionaire miner Of Montana. In 1855
her husband, A. J. Davis, disappeared.
No one knew where he went. No one
heard from him or Of him. He was as If
dead to the friends and relatives that knew
of his struggles for wealth In the Golden
State. In 1880 A. j. Davis Of Butte,
Mon, died, leaving ON estate the esti-
mated value of which was between SIC,
900, 600 and &C, 200, 900. In the accounts
then published of the millionaire there
were many circumstances that seemed to
connect, with convincing proof, the hus-
band Of Mrs. Smell, who had disappeared
In 1866, and the wealthy miner of the
northwest. A. j. Davis Of Butte had work
ed in the early flfties on the Tuolumne
river. He had suffered reverses and In the
washing away Of dam saw his hopes OF
golden wealth vanish.
. Among the old letters that MrR Smell
treasured from her first husband, A. J..
Davis, was one In which he told of bis
fight for fortune and Of the despair that
overcame him when bis dam on the Tuo-
lumne river was washed away. There was
no question that A. J. Davis, the miner of
Montana, and A. J. Davis, the wandering
husband Of Mrs Smell, were on the Tuo-
lumne river at the same time. 1t seemed
almost impossible that there should be two
men of the same name, both at the same
place, at the same time and owning inter
ests in the same property.
But the revelation Of condolences had
only begun. A. j. Davis Of Montana bad
never married, and there was some hidden
episode Of his early life that he never cared
to discuss. A. J. Davis, the husband Of
Mrs. Smell, had told her more than once
that his first name was assumed to hide
his identity and connection with an early
indiscretion that separated him from bis
friends and drove him from his Illinois
home.
Still further investigation showed that
A. J. Davis, the millionaire Of Montana,
and A. j. Davis, the first husband Of Mrs
Smell, were in many places always TO-
gether, it seemed, and always In pursuit
OF the same object. Both were men Of
mystery, with dark years In their career.
Both were fortune hunters, and when Hra
Smell remembered the parting with her
first husband and recalled bis promise that
be would never make another woman bis
wife she seemed to understand why 1t was
that A. J. Davis Of Montana had never
married In bis later career, when he had
almost inexhaustible wealth. The proof
Of identity became almost absolute when
Mrs. Smell learned something Of the phys
ical characteristics Of A. J. Davis. She
discovered that the millionaire had pecul-
lar mole upon his neck, and she recalled
that her husband had the same curious
mark.
With these facts In her possession Mra
Smell wished to make her claim for the
millions that had been accumulated In
Montana, but her husband, Ansel Smell,
would not listen 10 such proposal. A
year later, In 1890, he died, and the friends
of Mrs Smell persuaded her to pursue hen
inquiries
The investigation was intrusted to the
care Of G. J. Stilwel, and for three years
he has been engaged upon 1t. When he
had finished, he had proved that, in the
face Of series Of remarkable condolences
of identity, A. J. Davis of Montana and
A. j. Davis, the first husband OF Mrs. Smell,
were two different men The history Of
that investigation Is Of exceptional inter
est, for 1t reveals singularly romantic
life history.
The history of Abraham J. Davis, the
first husband Of Mrs. Smell, begins In 1911,
when he was born In Kentucky. In 1926
ais parents moved to Illinois, and there
the family lived for many years. In 1883,
when Abraham Davis was % years of age,
he eloped with Leaner Chapman, the
daughter Of neighboring farmer. The
young people were married and moved tc
Iowa, where the husband engaged in farm.
ing. The married life Of the couple wa
not happy one, and In 1889 Abraham de.
serted his young wife and three sons, The
youngest Of whom Is still living In Edgaz
county, Ills.
Davis went at once to Carroll county,
Ark. In his wanderings he stopped at the
home of Hulda Queen, who lived about es
miles from Carrollton. Hulda Queen aft
erward became his wife and Is now the
aged woman, Mrs. Hulda Smell, who until
few days ago believed that the A. J. Da!