The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-15
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Prof. A. ]. Dexter
My Dear Sir-I am this day in receipt
OF your letter addressed to me at Plain
field, some time ago; 1t has been follow
ing me about since, and has finally caught
me at this place l hasten to assure you
by an immediate reply, of the great
importance in which | hold the subject
matter of your communication TO me. In
deed | owe you the most humble apology
for not having preached the matter to you
many long years before l did SO; but you
know the natural dislike one has Of inter-
tering in the domestic affairs of another
family, and TO that natural dislike / can
truly attribute my silence during the life
time of your foster father Dexter. i well
remember the stir made in our little com
munlty by the arrival of your parents,
and shortly afterward became particular
ly well acquainted with your mother,
through the medium of the female MEM
bers of my own family. 1t Is a sad pleas
ure for me to now recall the fact that she
was a lady of exquisite refinement and OF
great personal charm. She contided to
me, In confidence a great deal of the per-
sonal history of both herself and husband,
and from personal knowledge, / can state
that she had In her possession papers
which proved him the heir to an English
earldom, and the entailed estates; also
letters patent establishing her own nobil-
ity in France together with title deeds
to large and valuable properties In thar
country. When they both died. during
the great scourge of 1850, / am unable TO
state what became of these valuable pa
pers; but always supposed that they went
into the hands Of the Dexters, together
with a large sum of money, at the time
they were appointed to your guardianship
by the court ! particularly remember
your fathers name as Judson, and know
that It was correct, as ! very often
brought him mail matter to that address,
and / might add, that 1t was usually dec
GRATED with English monographs and coats
of arms and bearing English post marks
AS to the family name of your mother, my
memory does nor serve me so distinctly
but to the best of my recollection II was
Mont Calm relative to the letters Of nobil-
ity, deeds to property, etc. at this late
date over Q0) forty years having passed,
1t Is utterly impossible for me TO recall
particulars but of this fact ] can positive
ly assure you, II you once get on the right
track you will find yourself the possessor
of immense properties In both
France and England 1. have often
reproached myself for not having
paid close attention to all these matters,
and for not looking into your fate more
closely after your adoption by the pex-
ters but in the first instance / never ex-
pected to have any interest in the matter
and therefore looked over the papers your
mother showed me only casually and more
in curiosity than anything else Afterward,
at the time of their death. you must re-
member that the community was In most
desperate straits and with losses in al
most every family, we paid very little at
tention to the fate OF others. In conse-
quence, as I remember, IL was nearly, or
perhaps over a year after the great plague
that l learned accidentally who you were
and what had become of you. ] expect
shortly to be in your city, and will make
IL my duty to call upon you and discuss
further these, to you, most important facts
of the past. ] by nc means wish 10 cast
invidious suggestions, but l feel justified
in saying that the problem Is not beyond
solution and that by careful effort, rightly
directed, you will yet come to your own
Believe me to be with kind regards,
Il. J. Waltz.
GEORGIA, CHATHAM COUNTY
Personally appeared, Melissa Taylor, who.
on oath, says that her maiden name was
Melissa Westover; that on the 22d day Of
Jan. 1872 she was married to William
Richardson. At the time deponents' hus-
band was a captain OF vessels plying on
the lakes, and during the years 1849 and
1850 the said William Richardson was cap
tain of vessel known as the Morning
Star Same being a passenger vessel ply
ing between Detroit and Chicago.
Deponent well remembers a Mr. Judson
who came sout from England about 1s49
being accompanied by his wife. end lit
tie son, and also by Mr.. Coppins Mr.
Coppins stopped at Syracuse, but Mr.
Judson came on 10 Chicago and settled
there. Deponent became acquainted with
Mr.. Judson on a trip on the lake, and
knew him and his family very well from
that time until she left Chicago. Both MIR
and Mrs. Judson are now dead. The child
was adopted by Mr.. Dexter. who lived
in Chicago, and with whom deponent was
also we'll acquainted.
The Dexter family and the Judson FAM
lily were great friends Of each. other and
of my husband and myself We visited
each other at frequent intervals and both
families on many occasions made trips
with my husband and myself l remem-
Der perfectly well that the little boy Of
Mr.. Judson who was about years old
at the time they came out from England
was adopted by Mr.. Dexter and after
wards took the name of Dexter. My
husband, William Richardson, died on the
2sth day Of January, 1877. / have since
married Mr.. Robert Taylor. | now live at
Savannah, Ca, number nine 90 Howard
street. Melissa Taylor.
Sworn and subscribed before me this
18th day Of March, 1896. G, Goldman.
j. p Of c. c. Ga