Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1897-06-04
A GAMBLER
Was Col. William L. Blanchard
lie Wac Entertained in Brsttltboro a. a
View York Business Nsn.-Left an r.
tste Of $4,000 which wall go TO a
Rrnthar. q Rapman.

yulg u AZ Oi lL.s County a. Inc BERN p as
The previous winter. a11 through this &C.
suaiutauce Vas Induced 20 come here. He
ye1 al the Brooks House. and made many
acs "a utances. He was entertained a: the
houses Of seyera. well.k1Own citizens and
of.el joined Ia a game % whist q, the
hotel Re was aDJu, - years Old. large
and pJrly, smoothly sLAven With the eN-
cep,On Of uyus,ache. and the from, OF
b. head entirely bald. Blanchard died a.
Oceanic, New York, March -. l,e5, leav-
ing fortune Of $500 The true story
Of nls life was FRS: aie public this week.
through the se.,.emeu, Of his estate. which
vi. -. with the exception q a feg be-
quests. % a brother who is rag man 10
New York city.
"COL" Blanchard vas native Of Nue-y.
Ireland. AMI a, the age Of il be came %
this country with relative. H. vas EN-
ployed a. welder 2 the Ames shovel
foundry a, South Braiutre-, Mass. and his
real name was Leggett. Al the breaking
on, Of the var be enlisted 10 company Of
the 4;h Massachusetts Infantry a. a three
months man. lie was six fee, ami i've
inches IL height and weighed 80 pounds.
He was known a, South Bralntree .. B 2
Bill L-gge.t." He was an occasional VS.
i.or 70 south Bra.u,ree after the wa and
he was welcomed there a. a succ-ssfu!
New York business man and - degree
Mason. /, was known tina, the money
tha. be displayed 50 layishly was won a.
night. much OF j., from wealthy men whom
be met a. their summer homes and fash
ionaDe clubs, and With whom he would
no, play cards until they cOaxed him and
apparently shamei him INTO H.
..r.Fl 49,. f~f-a.~
entered the game when the pot was largest,
and when he bad won everything in sight
invariably received a telegram from some
where which made ), necessary fOr him %
depart on urgent business. He made thou
sands Of dollars in this way, and those
from whom he won never suspected that
he was anything more than h. pretended
70 be-a wealthy man who played for The
fan there was in il.
Blanchard was proud Of his appearance,
his physique aud manners, and b. took
every precaution % keep from the public.
and even some Of his mos, intimate friends,
his real character and business.
This is the only reason known for his
change Of name. H tried % make people
believe tina, be was the scapegoat Of an
arlstocratic family. and. while h.s brother
b
streets Of New York, Blanchard told bis
friends stories about a sister who married,
BE- sad. millionaire, living on Fifth ave
nue.. NeF York. She would no, recognize
lin, her scapegoat brother, le wa, Won,
20 remark.
At the time Of Blanchard's death hi,
physician found among his effects bank
books, securities and bonds representing
$50 90. Il became known before be died
that he had kept a gambling house OF
West 4Zi street in New FORK for 30 years
| He also had gambling house on How
ard street. Boston. When asked during
| his last illness If there was any one b,
would ike 70 have come 10 See him he
mentioned Fanny Belkeiser, a mulatto
| She and two or three others attended tbs
\ funeral. The mulatto claimed to be hi,
| wife and took legal action 70 secure his es
| tate. Blanchari's physician could Learn
nothing about the dead mans relatives
| and be put the case into the hands OF Law
| yer Smythe OF Boston, who has been re
| markably successful in finding missin!
| heirs Of other estates. The story OF tbs
mulatto woman's alleged claim upon thu
| estate was published in the New York pa
! pers last February. and the next day Tom
! Leggett, the ragman, appeared at the pub
! lie administrator office and claimed 10 b.
! Blanchard's brother. Tom Leggett lef
| Ireland in 1855 and searched for another
! brother in New Zealand for several year.
| before coming to this country. He founC
several persons al South Braintree who
! had known his brother William, but al
that they could tell him was that the lattei
was a New York business man. Tom Leg
| gett walked the streets of New York fo
| days, confident that he would find hi,
/ brother. His search was al last rewarded
| William az first declined 10 recognize him
| but after a short time admitted his identit,
| and took Tom TO a clothing store anC
bought him a complete new outfit. SOor
after Tom was robbed Of 500 while un
/ der the influence OF liquor. When III,
gambler saw an item in the paper abou
the affair he was greatly alarmed, paid til,
brother 500 and hushed up the matter
This transaction ended in a quarrel anC
! William said he would never give hi,
brother another cent. The brothers die
not meet again for several years, and theI
William said he had been to the old h IN,
al Nuery, where he had erected the ines
monument in the cemetery over his moth
er's grave and had an iron fence built abou
the lot.
Then he went on TO tell how he had beer
received by the officials of the town. The
gave dinner in his honor, he said, and b,
had dined and wined them. He was en-
thusiastic over the dash he had cut in hi!
old home as a successful business maj
from America. The brothers met fire.
quently after this up 10 1890. After a few
years Tom also went home TO Ireland, AM
there he found the monument and tn
fence around the lot in the graveyard, jus
as his BROTHER had described it. On his re
turn he settled in New York, got married
and started out as a collector of old junl
and rags. Tom had married a widow will
a grown-up son, but his brother was no
aware of the latter fact when he called a
the house one evening, This young mai
was introduced to the gambler, and "Bill'
was very angry.
"Why did you not tell me there was
young brat like that around?" he demand
ed, taking Tom into another room. Don
you know he will point me out on tn
street the first time he sees me? Yol
should know better. You know the posi-
ton you place nae in"
"Bill' left the house in huff, and tina
was the last his brother saw of him. II
pushed his rag cart about the streets da,
after day. He heard seldom of "Bill'
afterward, and that was when he read il
a paper Of April II, 1896, that Col. Blanch
ard, wealthy man stopping at Atlanti
City, had been robbed of 500 by his valet
and that the police had discovered plo
by which a gang of thieves had intende
robbing him of much more money, togethe
with his jewelry.
After Tom Leggett told his story t