The Washington herald., 1922-02-05
LEGENDS OF LOST :.
=. DAUPHIN REVIVED
George Lenotre's New Book
Recalls Stories Of French :.
;, Prince. =.

The history and legend Of the lost
Dauphin. the ill-fated little son OF
Louis WI and Marie Antoinette who
had captured the imagination Of the
world more forcibly than its Caesars
and Napoleons, have been revived and
clarified by George Lenotre's new
book just published by Doubleday.
Page & Company. In THE Dauphin'
NJ. Lenotre who Is probably the great
est living authority on detail and In
cident of the revolutionary period.
has pieced together all Of the existing
evidence Of the little princes life in
the temple and has established q
strong basis for belief that the royal
child did not die in prison. II 1t
is true that another boy was sub
stituted for the young Louis and that
the prince was spirited out OF France,
perhaps the old legend that he came
to America and that our grandfathers
harboured the uncrowned king in
disguise, is history instead Of fiction.
One OF the most persistent legends
is that the little Dauphin was none
other than the Reverend Eleazar
Williams. a missionary Of unusual
powers who devoted his life to the
Iroquois Indians.
This is the romatic story as 1t
was published by John Hanson in the
early ffties.
Mysterious Strangers Arrive.
In 1895 a French family named de
Jardin arrived in Albany direct from
France. There was a mystery about
the family for madame was an ele-
hao ftfl Af
lineage and Monsieur evidently a
meniaL There were two children.
girl and a boy nine or ten years Of
age. The boy, NJ. Louis he was
called. never appeared in public and
the few people who saw him com
mented that he was a silent child
who never seemed to notice anyone.
Madame de Jardin possessed many
dresses and personal belongings Of
Marie Antionette. Suddenly the
family sold some of their possessions
and disappeared and their interested
neighbors in Albany heard no more
of them. Later in the same year two
Frenchmen appeared in eastern
Canada, with a weak. sickly little
boy in a state Of mental stupor and
left him with the Indians. Was he
the little NJ. Louis of Albany? The
child was adopted by an 1doquois
Chief, Thomas Williams. and grew
up as one Of his eleven children.
His memory, however. dated only
from a fall into the icy waters OF
Lake George, which happened a year
or two after. Thomas Williams was
the grandson of a congregational
minister of Deerfield. Mass. whose
daughter carried off in an indian
raid had adopted Indian customs.
married chief and refused to re.
turn to civilization. Her father ana
his congregation prayed necessarily
that she might be converted but she
died in the faith of her adopted peo-
pie. However. the Puritans OF Deer
field did not give up hope Of redeem
ing her descendants, so deacon
Nathaniel Ely offered to educate two
of Chief Thomas Williams sons.
John and Eleazar, as little M. LOUIS
was now called, were the two VINO
went to Deerfield to receive their
training. Young Eleazar who was
a beautiful child with brown mar,
blue eyes and fair skin. looked not
at all like his brother and soon
DISTINGUISHED himself In all OF MS
studies When he grew up EieaZar
returned as a missionary to his own
people and distinguished himself as
their friend and confdant. But 80
princely was his bearing and SO
striking his resemblance to the Bour-
bons that he always aroused specu-
lations as to his identity.
But the most remarkable part OF
the story Is the visit to America OF
Prince de Joinville, the son of Louis
XVIII and cousin of the little lost
Dauphin. It is a matter of history
that he sought out Eleazar Williams
maid him great Difference and had
long private conference with him be-
fore his departure. Mr.. Williams
whose character and probity have
never been questioned later told Mr..
Hanson that the prince assured him
that he was Louis XVII and offered
him a princely income IL he would
sign an abdication in favor OF his
uncle. The document had already
been prepared and awaited his sigma
ture. When Eleazar Williams read
the abdication paper his native pride
and his long puritan training were
outraged at the suggestion of sign
ing away his royal birthright for
revenue, so he refused the offer and
died as he had lived, a simple mis-
sionary. but princely man.
So ended the story of one who
may have been the Dauphin.
..
The first edition OF John. Drink
waters Abraham Lincoln a play
N the orig nal wrappers is listed at