Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-04-14


New York April 13.-Mrs. f. E.
Webster Ross. who has. made several
unsuccessful attempts in Massachusetts
and Rhode Island 10 get control OF the
estate of William Henry King, million
aire, Will continue her battle in this city
this week
King uled in the Butler Hospital.
Providence, r. l., on Marcn last. He
naa been cOnuneu IN insane asylums Tor
81 years. MRS. Ross dppeareu IN 1895.
saIU hlng Was ner iO4s-lOsJ uncle anu
urnleu that ne was rsIal5U 10 the King
Iamiiy OF khOOe ISIand. memoirs Oi
WnlCu had Dau MN pronounced Insane
ana one of WnOm had Ueen appointed
suaTdIan of MS person anu properly.
When ne QIeG one OI these hlnss peU-
toned 10 be appointed administrator
OF MS estate. MIS-. Ross oHered a SIM
liar petition. As King had real estate
IN tAls county, counter petitions were
also MED with Surrogate Arnold
In an her actions heretofore Mrs.
Ross declined 10 say more tnan that she
was next OF kin and the only her 20
William Henry Kings millions. she
Was charged 0y the Kings or Rhode ISL
ana with being an adventures, ana was
given TWO opportunities III court 10 eA-
uialn her history and antecedants but
although directed by te judges 10 do So
she refused. and therefore was not per-
miJted TO De party 10 the actions then
pending.
Mrs. Ross tiled an affidavit with Sur
rogate Arnold, through former Judge
Dittenhoefer. her counsel, on Saturday.
In this she tells all about her family
back 10 the days Of King George. She
saws the man who was known as George
King was not entitled TO that name.
In her affidavit. which is filed as an an
swer 10 supplementary afidavits made
bv the RhOds Island Kings. Mrs. Ross
saws also that she is the widow OF Isaac
Allison Ross. that they lived on a plan
tation i'm Mississippi until 1859, when
they became residents Of this city, and
that her husband died at Charleston, ).
C.. while on a visit there, in 1876. she
AYERS that her father was James Z. Cal
boun a cousin OF the famous South
Carolina statesman; that her mother
WAS Christiana Gordon. and that she
is descended from three of the Oldest
families in America.
when asked about these three fami-
les Mrs. Ross said they were he
Grants of Rhode Island the WebSters,
of Philadelphia. and the Germans OF
Boston. who Originally hailed from
Aberdeen. Scotland She claims Daniel
Webster as a distant kinsman' ana
traces her Grant ancestry back to the
barous of KiNmeachly. She also told
of numerous cousins of wealth and
prominence in New England, Pennsyl-
yania ard the South. Her husband,
she said. was q stan officer in the Con-
federate army and a grandson OF Capt.
Isaac Ross. who died in 1886 and willed
that his 2C) slaves should be returned
10 Africa. and that his estate, valued at
100000. should 90 to them
In her affidavit Mrs. boss further
saws that she is prepared TO prove that
the William Henry King who died IN
the Butler hospital, was not the brother
of George Gordon King, DR.. David
King and Edward King, but was her
uncle. W o. when he was young man,
got into a difficulty in Boston. in con-
sequence of which he left the United
States: that. being acquainted with
Edward King. ne assumed the latter's
family name and Joined him in Canton,
China: that they were known there as
brothers and remained in New York.
where they were known as brothers,
until 1866. when. she alleges, her uncle
was kidnapped. taken 10 Rhode Island
and thrown into an insane asylum by
the men whose family name he took.
Mrs. Ross prays that letters Of ad-
ministratiOn be granted 10 her. or to
her i'm conjunction with some trust COM
pany. or that some trust company be
appointed TO collect and hold the vast
estate until such time as proof Of the
rightful ownership be determined.
An affidavit of Ludlow Patton is at
tached. Patton was a broker at No. 10
William street from 1851 until 1873,
when ne retired. He is seventy years
OLD. He affirms that he knew Edward
and William II. King in New York
from 1851 until William II. suddenly
disappeared in 1866: that the men in
no way resembled each other and that
Mrs. Ross. who Introduced herself to
him recently. strongly resembles Will
lam II. He adds that he has seen pho
tographic copies Of testimony on which
William II. was adiudged insane The
testimony is that William showed signs
of mental weakness for several years
prior 10 1856 Patton denies this and
testifes that he had a remarkably clear
intellect
Mrs. Ross intimated that the diff
Guilty" that led her uncle to leave Bos-
ton and change his name was punish
able bv death. She will set up the
claim that the man who was known as
King was carried from Troy, this State,
to a Massachusetts, insane asylum on
the eve Of what was 10 have been his
wedding day, and that she, not knowing
what name he had assumed when he
abandoned his own, spent twenty-eight
years in travelling around the world
searching for him, and that she was re-
warded in 1898 by finding him in Pro
violence.
The Surrogate's case. il is expected,
will so 10 a referee this week. AT the
hearings Mrs. Ross will. she says. tell
the whole story. including the reason
for her uncle's fight from the United