Evening star., 1897-03-27
INTERESTING STORY.
Missing Father Had Been Dead for
Four Years.

The story of Mr.. VIM. \. Groves of 1872
10Th street, who for the past four years
has been searching for his father. only to
find his remains In potter's field, pub
lished in The Star yesterday afternoon, Is
extremely interesting. Behind the mere
feet that he mad found the body after a
long search lies a story of much trouble
arx:ety and expense. The last time the
father was seen alive was in September
of 1892. Then all trace of him was lost
1t was frequent thing for the father
to live among his children. and nothing
was thought of his absence until some time
next year, that is, in 1893. his youngest son
thinking that he was living at the home
of one of the other boys. Inquiries made
i'll 1895 showed that this was not the case
but the whole year passed without any
extra effort being made to find mis- where
abcuts. In 1894 a regular search was
made. No trace of the missing man was
found. All of his old haunts We're Wis
tied, but no one knew where he was, and
1t seemed as though the earth had opened
and swallowed him. All of the surround
ing places in Maryland and Virginia W ere
canvassed in hopes of finding him. but
to no avail. His youngest son, William
to whom the father appeared to he de-
votedly attached did all OF the work him
self. and all his spare time was spent in
was
Wife would hunt around. following up the
slightest clues picked up.
In 1928 the workhouSe, Jail, amshouse
the Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor
and q number of other institutions were
searched, but with no result. Last sum-
mer the son was to have visited Freed
mems Hospital, but being delayed at other
places it was too late to make the trip.
After the lapse of a whole year he visited
the hospital Monday. March s. in COM
looked over the records himself to find
that his father had died at the place June
-, 1888, having entered the institution On
May 81. and buried at potter's field
on June 20 The only record of the hos
pital was the name William Groves. A ma
tive of France. aged seventy-siX. No ward
given and neither the name of the
physician who attended him nor the nurse
who administered to his wants. 1t ap-
pears as if no effort made by the hos
pital people to find the relatives of the
sick man. There was not the best of
grace shown i'll the examination of the
books. The hospital people refused to look
over the records. SO Mr.. Groves claims,
and did not appear over-wlling to let him
search the records himself.
His father was an independent mar and
did not care TO impose upon his children
when sick. and this explains why he did
not himself tell them of his sickness. The
name and address of his favorite son was
always kept posted in his hat for just such
anime the clothes Cor such. Nothing was
placed In tne newspapers al the time
gardins mis- death. so it is alleged, other
wise the body would have been taken
charge Of by his many friends. James
Sullivan, the laborer employed at the Wash
irgton Asylum. who took the remains from
the hospital and Inferred them in potter $
field. recognized the dead man. b,it did not
know that he had any family. and when the
corpse eXhumed he did not have any
trouble In locating the grave. The identi-
fication was sure. The clothe, were read
lily recognized, and also the appearance
of the head and face of the deceased. the
form being familiar, his mustache and
partly bald head being still well preserved.
There six bodies of infants inferred
on top of the remains. The corpse was
in a fair state of preservation, and VIII
be taken up soon as possible and given
a decent and Christian burial
The wife of Mr.. Groves jr.. had placed
the father in an Industrial insurance COM
parry about nine years ago. and up TO the
time of the discovery of his death had reg
ulerly paid the premiums. The amount of
the insurance is small. The dead man,
hose full name was William A. Groves,
perhaps better known as DR.. Groves. was
a dentist by profession. but worked very
little at his art. During the war he work
ed in the Capitol. He enjoyed a large
circle Of acQuaintances, and knew many
pr eminent people of the city.