Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-06-01
A DISOWNED
SON OF ROYALTY
why Judge Ord, of Omaha and
washington, Believed He Was
Rightfully King James III
of England
BY JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS


i James, you would be somebody very
great It would make you miserable to
know more. God forgive those who have
wronged you, ladF'
No greater satisfaction than this would
James Ord ever give to his nephew and
namesalke, the riddle Of whose identity
gnawed at his soul during fourscore years
and more.
About the time when our seat OF gov.
ernment was being moved to the banks
Of the Potomac this man and boy had
come from Europe to seek their fortunes
in the new Federal City. James, the
elder, became master mechanic at the
washington Navy Yard, where he was
known as Captain Ord.
The boy, James Ord, was entered at
Georgetown College. A plentiful supply
of money, out of all proportion to his
Uncle James wages and apparent means,
was regularly appropriated for his educa-
| ton and maintenance, Throushout his
college days the youth was given to spells
| of brooding over the uncertainty of his
identity. Not until he faced death did
Captain Ord relax his determination to
keep the secret but before he could more
than easp-"James, lad, I've something
important to tell you. Your father was"
the deathbed rattle prevented further ar.
ticulation.
ITO my beloved nephew, James Ord"
the old mans property was devised in
will still on file at Washington. But funds
far greater than the possible yield of this
| meagre estate continued to support the
| lonely boy.
Sudden Prosperity of His Uncle
Even before leaving college young Ord
determined to dedicate his life to search
for his antecedents. The record of Cap
tain Ord was carefully investigated, and
it was discovered that he had never held
officers rank. While but humble sailor
in the British Navy, he had been dis.
charged in 1879. Seven years later he
had enjoyed sudden change of fortepe.
| Through some influence at the Biialsh
court he had been given a fat berth al
Balboa as dockyard inspector, under the
commission of the King of Spain. Jamev
further discovered that his own birth had
occurred in England Immediately prior to
his uncle's departure for Spain.
| That his mysterious patron across the
water continued to fear him was further
evidenced to James during the War OF
1872 when certain persons, later learned
to have been British spies, enticed him to
enlist in the American army. And only
after it was too late did the youth realize
that he had committed technical treason
to the land of his BIRTH an act that invali-
dated any possible claim to British title
| or estates.
After the War of 1912 James Ord prac.
ticed law in New York and married. Then
came the call of the land of gold. He
crossed the continent and fortune smiled
upon him. Having amassed great wealth,
he attained distinction on the bench.
Later ne returned to Washington and
built for himself handsome home on
| Pennsylvania avenue Then he removed
| to Omaha, where he died, at the age of 81.
During his so years of ransacking
through musty records Judge Ord came
upon many bits of evidence. Not until
he was 4S did he gain possession of his
uncles confidential papers. Among these
was letter from one who revealed him
self as priest. 1t came from Europe.
| and asked:
SIS the child alive?"
"Your Father Was Son of King"
At this time there still lived in Wash.
ington Captain ord's confessor and con-
fidant, Father Matthews, of St. Patricks
Church. patriarch of SO years. A sworn
statement from this prelate quoted the
| navy yard master mechanic as having
once confessed 4that the child called
James Ord and his nephew was not his
nephew, but OF royal parentage, the son
of one of the royal families of Europe"
"Your father was one of the sons of
| King George III" the aged priest later
confided to Judge Ord. HE admitted to
me once that his promotion to the Span.
ish service had been obtained by a per,
sonage none other than the Prince of
| Wales himself. And actual negotiations
were carried on by an uncle of Maria
| Anne Smythe Fitzherbert, wife of George
| w."
Judge Ord thereafter firmly believed
that his parents were George ~ and the
widow whom that prince married in 1885.
before he became King His own birth
had occurred within the year following
their secret marriage, and almost imme-
| diately afterward had come his abduca
ton into Spain. Rumors that child had
been born to the morganatic union had
persisted almost from the time news OF
the Princes marriage had leaked out.
The baby was said to have been taken
to the United States. James Ord wrote
to Mrs. Fitzherbert letter. which should
have touched any mothers heart, and Il
was delivered to her in secret, through
the connivanee Of Aaron Vail, our charge
d'affaires at London. She never replied.
Shortly afterward upon her deathbed. she
requested that certain mysterious pack
age OF papers be consigned to a vault in
coutts Bank, London, there to remain
until long after her royal husbands
death. Fearing that this secret packet
contained something that would compro-
mise him. George ~ made many futile
efforts TO obtain 1t.