The evening bulletin. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1887-1905, 1896-06-27

y
from the minds Of these people the excite
ment caused by the assumed discovery that
we had in this country ut that time an heir
to the throne of France.
The startling announcement of this fact
was made in Putnam's Magazine under
the striking title, Have We Bourbon
Among U.s." Interest in the article was
intensified by the character of the writer
the Rev. DR.. Hanson, widely known and
highly respected as a scholar, divine and
careful investigator
The intelligent American reader does
not need to be told that up TO the reyolu-
ton Of 1893 the heir to the throne OF
France was known as the dauphin.
The last dauphin of the royal house Of
Bourbon would, had he been permitted to
ascend the throne, have been known as
Louis XN1L
This heir was the only child Of Louis
XVI and the gifted and i'll starred Marie
Antionette of the royal house of Austria,
both of whom lost their throne and heads
in the bloody revolution that was the cul-
mination of centuries of outrage and mer-
ciless oppression on the part of the mobiles.
Versailles on the 9th of March, 1885, so
that he was but s years of age when the
red storm broke. He was made prisoner,
with his parents and, though he was not
publicly executed-and the stories as to
his end vary-there can be but little doubt
that he persisted by violent means soon
after the king and queen were executed.
The fact that there was doubt in the
minds of some as to the dauphin's death
brought out a number of impostors, the
most daring, and for time the most sue
cessful, of whom was the elderly man
whom DR.. Hanson-perfectly honest in hiS
belief-sprang upon the world as Louis
XVII, the rightful heir to the throne of
France, which at that time Napoleon III
had just seized by violence.
The excitement caused by Dr. Hanson's
article was not confined to this country or
continent, but spread through all lands
where such matters interest, and within
year the world was divided into two bit
tcrly opposing classes, the first firm in the
belief that Elcazar Williams, nominally of
New York state, was the son of Louis
XVI, and the second that he was an ar
rant impostor and that all who supported
him were either fools or knaves.
Upto this time those who knew the Rev.
Eleazar Williams believed the following to
be his aEteCcdents:
He was born in Caughnawaga, in north
ern New York, it was thought, in or about
1877. On his fathers side he was supposed
to be of English descent. His father was
believed to be a son of Ezekiel Williams, a
well to do textile manufacturer in Ian
cashire.
Eleazars father, so the story goes, was
dissolute and the black sheep of the fam
lily. He came TO the English province of
Quebec, then more French than at present,
and married st. Regis Indian woman
named Mary Ann Korewatewenteta
AS soon as he was old enough to go to
school the boy was sent to an establish
ment at Long Meadows, where he remain
cd as pupil and instructor till his TWEEN
ty-second year
He is reported to have been quiet, studi-
Gus and taciturn, with "a somber leaning
toward the church." After leaving Long
Meadows his father, anxious to crafty the
young mans bent sent him TO Westhamp-
ton, Mass, where he studied theology.
Young Williams was regarded as a wise
upright citizen and most gOdly man. AS
an evidence Of the former, when the second
war with England broke out, in 1872
Elcazar Williams was appointed superin-
tcndcnt of the Indians in the northern part
Of New York.
He had before this shown great interest
In the IDdians, and he had ii remarkable
facility for acquiring their dialects and
languages. Indeed, oven till this day the
Oneida Indians use his translations and
textbooks.
That Williams had courage and spirit is
evidenced by the fact that when the Eng
lish threatened an invasion by way of Lake
Champlain he took his rifle, and, entering
the ranks as n private soldier, was serious
ly wounded at the battle of Plattsburg
Sept IA, 1914
He was not good executive officer, ana
he lost his position as superintendent 1t
Is said that with all his piety he yielded to
temptation. He was handsome man and
showed q greater fondness for the pretty
young red women than he did for their
seniors of either sex. When the debate as
to his claims was on, this fact was cited
against him by his opponents, while his
supporters tried TO turn the tables by show
ing that an ardent love for the other sex
has been considered since the days of Solo
mon a sure if not an exclusive attribute of
royalty.
About this time, being thrown on his
own resources, Williams resolved to enter
on the profession for which his training
best fitted him. He became lay preacher
and reader among the Oneida Indians.
In 1918 he joined the Episcopal church,
and when, in 1920, the greater part of the
tribe removed TO Green Bay, at the head
of Lake Michigan, Williams went with
them. His enemies asserted that it was
his love for an Indian girl rather than his
devotion TO the Master that induced him
to go into what was then q wilderness.
But, no matter the motive, 1t is a matter
of unquestionable record that EleaZar VIII
liams remained at Green Bay as a mission
airy for 20 years, or till 1885, when he had
raoche1 the fnatIlre ACE of 40