Arizona republican., 1910-08-02
AN AMERICAN CITIZEN
WHO IS WORTH WHILE
What Is Great Britain's Loss Is the
Gain of the United States.

An important thing happened in the
office of the clerk of the district court
yesterday when Reginald Melhuish de
Gex filed a final petition in his pro-
ceedings for naturalization, thereby re-
nouncing King George V. the world.
the flesh and the devil. clinching his
determination to be an American citi-
zen.
So many foreigners go through the
naturalization process in the court Of
this district that little mention is made
of it. for as a general thing they were
the commonalty in the countries
whence they came They are, many of
them. excellent citizens or have the
making of excellent citizens in them,
but their previous station in life has
not been such as to attract the notice
of the tuft hunters and most Ameri-
cans are tuft hunters.
But the naturalization of Mr. de GeX
is no ordinary triumph over foreign
power. When Great Britain lost this
subject and the subject of our sketch"
she lost something worth while.
What is hereinafter said about him
has not been gathered from his own
words. for he is a man of great mod
esty. All this information is derived
from Burkes Peerage.
Mr.. de Gex was born at the ances-
trial seat of the de GeXes in Somerset
shire some years ago. His ancestry is
traced back through the trOublous
pages of French history to the time
of the Hammerer, but the Peerage
treats only cursorily of the family pre-
viously to the Conquest, when Duke
Godfrey de Gex siganlly distinguished
himself at Senlac, which is sometimes
loosely descibed as the battle of Hast
ings.
After that nothing was too good for
Duke Godfrey. and when order had
been partially restored by the Norm
ans he was given a grant of that en-
tire region since called SOmersetshire.
then known as Gwlad yr hat or
country of summer"
1t was such a grant that less brave
man than Duke Godfrey would not
have accepted. for the Welsh were in
possession and il was not until near
the close of the ninth century that the
de Gexes had fully extended their au-
thOrity as far north as the Bristol
channel.
In the tenth century a union was
established between the house of de
Gex with the great Welsh house of
Melhuish. whose sovereignty extended
over that vast region now included in
Glamorgan and Carmaethan. separated
from Somersetshire by the channel.
Edward Beaufort in the fifteenth
century was created the first duke of
Somerset and though he was of the
de GeX family the name of de Gex
figured less prominently in history
though members of the family took an
active part in all the wars of England,
always on the side of the king
In the rebellion of the duke Of
Monmouth. though Somersetshire was
were found fighting on the side OF
James, Bridgewater. ExmoOr, Sedge-
moor and Taunton.
When this rebellion was crushed the
de Gex family. which had been OBJ
scured during the Protectorate and had
not emerged from its obscuritX during
the restoration. was given royal recog-
milton and since then has always been
in royal favor.
Reginald Melhush de Gex is prob
ably the first of his name to sever the
ties which old Duke Godfrey estab-
lished almost nine centuries ago. Mr.
de Gex has preferred not to mask any
longer in the glorious achievements Of
a splendid ancestry. He chooses
rather to carve a new career and for
tune out of the ore bearing hills of
Arizona