New-York tribune., 1922-07-20
Inquiry on Two Cont.
nents Seeks Identity of
Aged Man; Double to
Present Grafton Head
Kept Photo and a
Sketch of Nobleman
Records Show Elder Son
in Family Left Home
Because of Marriage

/ Two continents In an effort to de-
i termine the identity of man of sixty
two, known as Edward Euston, who
died on July 12-in dingy attic at II
Hicks Street, Brooklyn.
With little to grace his quarters but
a strip of faded carpet and an iron
bedstead, he remained an unapproacha-
I Bile recluse, without a soul to aid him
at the end. He refused to listen to
the importunities Of Mrs. Elizabeth
| physician should be called.
He died as he had lived-silent, lone
lN resentful of intrusion.
HIS body now lies in an undertaking
lparlor, unclaimed, while an attempt is
| being made to learn whether he was
! the elder brother Of the present Duke
! of Grafton and the rightful head of
the family. Whatever the secret he
hid with such desperate intensity, the
few belongings he left under the
| shabby strip of carpet-two photo
jsonic apronfurnished the clew that
set detectives working yesterday to
establish his identity.
Had Newspaper Clippings
Newspaper clippings pasted to his
1
| belong to the ancient Fitzroy family,
the lineal descendants of Charles II.
! On the other hand, it might have been
! chance Or passing whim that caused
i him to glue to the back Of a photo
F.! graph, presumably of the Earl Of
/ Euston, who has since become the Duke
of Grafton, this clipping:
/ Lord Eustoh is a widower of sixty
| four and father of three children
Lady Lillian, who married July 20,
1910, Charles Robertson. late Of the
Margaret Fitzroy, and Yiscount Ips-
wich. The viscount is thirty years old,
being eight months the junior of Lady
! Lillian and seventeen months younger
! than Lady Margaret.
Lord Euston married April 81, 1875,
daughter of Eric Darlington Smith,
of Stonewich, Sussex. She died March
! 10, 1918, To-day. Monday, is the Duke
OF Grafton's birthday. He is veteran
/; of the Crimeap War and was badly
wounded at the battle Of Inkerinan."
| The second photograph is Of Edward
! Eu Ton himself, wearing pepper and
| salt suit, wing collar and four in hand
cravat. Detective Frank Upton, Of the
1 Missing Persons Bureau, said that the
two men photographed bear striking
! resemblance. They are enough alike
| to- be brothers
F! Three years ago this strange old
man took up his abode in her house,
! Mrs. Morris said yesterday. He left
| at the end Of two years and then re-
turned. always doing out his weeks
mand he made Of her was that she
/ should tell no one of his comings and
! goings. He pledged her to solemn Sc
! crecy. His pride in his name, amount
! ing almost to fanaticism, was the only
form Of emotion he ever displayed.
/ Cultured Englishman
j "He was cultured English gentle
( man." Mrs. Morris said. "Any one could
see that. He certainly did not strike
me as being the kind of man who might
,'have delusions about himself. The most
! he ever told me was that he had been
! a cook, steward and watchman,
i but l always knew he had seen better
days. He never let me inside his room.
! | had to leave the clean bed linen
outside his door. Another Englishman
| lived across the hall from him, but
! when they met at the same sink to
wash themselves he would not respond
! to the civil remarks of the other"
Mrs. Morris said the last work he
did was house cleaning by the day. He
| was gone from until or o'clock.
The dime-a-week life insurance pol
icy found with the photographs fur
nished no further clew to his identity.
J In taking out the policy, he did not
name beneficiaries, simply stating that
he wanted decent Christion burial"
/ Inquiry at the offices Of the Prudential
Life Insurance Company in Newark
elected the information that he took
out the policy when he was thirty
seven years old and living at 772 Third
Avenue, Brooklyn. He gave his birth
place as New York City and the date
4 Of his birth as April 20, 1860. There
was nothing on the policy to indicate
| thought possible his age was under
.stated, either by accident or design,
! in the application for the policy
| The fact that Masonic apron was
| found with his other belongings
strengthens the theory that he might
/ belong to the British aristocracy. The
present Duke of Grafton is one of the
! principal Masonic dignitaries in the
! United Kingdom.
! theory that the recluse who died in
! Brooklyn may be the real Duke. of
/ Grafton, who dropped out of sight in
favor Of his younger brother after get
ting himself into disgrace. Nearly
| half a century ago, according to rec
| ords cited by The Associated Press, the
young Earl Of Euston, heir to the duke
dom of Grafton, fell desperately in
| love with Kate Walsh, demi-mondaine
| of London, marrying her "out of chiv-
airy" Horrified at what he had done,
| he turned over all his money to her
and went to Australia to begin life
/ anew. While he was gone, according to
! the records, his friends discovered that
! Kate Walsh had husband living when
/ she married the Earl of Euston. The
i young heir to the dukedom hurried
| home when ne discovered that George
! Manley Smith, the alleged first hus-
band, would testify for him in annul.
| ment proceedings. His wife's lawyers
| retorted by proving that Smith himself
was married prior to his union with
Kate Walsh. The court held that the
| woman's first marriage was invalid and
that the subsequent ceremony making
her Lady Euston was legal and bind
/ ing. So she remained Lady Euston up
to the time of her death.
| The records show that Lord Euston's s
| troubles did not end with the death of
Kate Walsh. He was involved later
with chorus girl, and finally, in 1908,
| his creditors swooped down. on him,
/ and after being twice declared q bank
/ rupt he came to America. Nothing
] more was heard of him until it was re-