The San Francisco call., 1910-05-16
BUTCHERS BOY
LAYS CLAIM To
GERMAN BARONY
Son of Exiled Warrior Seeks
Restoration of Fathers
Title and Estates
Parent of Young Wagon Driver
Fled From Hanover After
Fatal Duel
ESPECIAL Dispatch 10 The ColIl

lhe poor garb OF a butchers boy, Ar
thur Won Gieglingen, 81 years DID, the
grandson of a Hanoverian baron and
the son of a distinguished exiled war
rior, is laying claim to the ancestral
titles and estates of which an affair of
honor deprived his sire nearly half a
century ago. The barony is known as
Schloss-G -Gieglingen.
In the last year, while the young man
has driven his butcher wagon through
the streets of this city, there has been
secret correspondence between Oakland
and Germany. The result of the ne
gotiations has been that men of high
position in Hanover have recognized
Won Gfeglingen as the legitimate heir
to one of the richest baronies of that
little kingdom. The lands and appur-
tenances which once were held by feu-
dal right by the family, it is said, are
worth fully s2,0Oo,oO0
Aided by Official
The long research of the last year
into the young mans claims has been
conducted in Hanover by Karl Reichert.
the justizrat at Oldendorff. That Of
fetal has been retained by Won Gieg-
hngen to wage the legal fight or to
make the intercessions with the i'm
perial government of Germany which
viii be necessary to put the butchers
boy OF Oakland in the seat of his fore
fathers. From Reichert has come to
Won Gieglingen history connected with
his fathers enforced exile which never
before was known to the claimant.
Won Gieglingen has learned that his
family name is really not Gieglingen.
but Hodenberg. Arthur knew that his
sire on reaching America had assumed
a disgusting name, hut his meager N,
formation was that the true name was
Holienberg. He vaguely remembered
having seen papers bearing the words,
'Frei Herr Won Hollenberg," and he
knew that BY that title his father was
sometimes addressed.
Confided to Veteran
This fact and the knowledge that his
descent was from nobility was tho
total of the young mans information
when he conceived the idea. of reclaim
ing the ancestral estates and titles H.
cohhded his intentions to ]. W. Dutton.
Grand Army veteran of this city. and
a local writer. Dutton, because the
elder Won Gieglingen had served in the
union army, took up the butcher bov.s
case and has carried on the extensive
correspondence which has put the dis
carded heir on the road to honor and
affiuence.
Franz Bopp, the German consul gem
eral at San Francisco, was interested
and wrote to Hanover in Won Gier-
hhseh interest Then Richard
Knabbe, an Oakland man, went to Han
over on a visit and he. too made
search for information Through these
lines Dutton and the young man were
put into communication with the ius-
tizrat, who as an authorized official can
make the youths fight for his lost leg
acies.
Court Scandals Involved
Ao 'ooiouS search Tor information
covers a romantic family tale. The
court scandals that are the history of
George, the old blind king of Hanover
before the days of the new empire. are
part of the narrative. 1t was while
military attache of that rulers person
and soon after his accession to the
barony. that Frei Herr Won Hodenberr
Arthur Won Giegiengen's father. trained
as a soldier and filled with the chiyalrv
Of the German, forfeited his estates.
One of the high dignitaries of the court
offered an insult to a sister of the dead
baron, an aunt of Won Hodenberg. Tho
young soldier at once challenged the
offender, and a duel at night was ar
ranged.
Kills His Opponent
The challenged duelist chose swords.
and with the traditional weapon the
contestants met. The baron. who died
in San Francisco several years ago, has
said that it was not his intention To
slay the antagonist. but merely To
mark for life the man who had in
suited his aunt But his foe fought
for death and pressed the young officer
SO fiercely that at last Won Hodenberg
thrust his sword point into his ad-
versary's heart.
That night the baron fled from the
kingdom. His estate was confis-
Gated. Not he alone was Obliged to
seek refuge in strange land, but
claimant to the titles and fiefs of the
dukedom of Cumberland and Bruns-
wick, who was a son of the blind Han
overian king, was also Implicated in
the fatal fray. and he, too, escaped
from Hanover. That duke, according
to Won Gieglingen, is now closing his
long life in obscurity in Austria.
Fought in Civil War
The young baron Won Hodenberg fled
to Prussia. When the Crimean war
broke out he entered the sultan's army.