Arizona state miner., 1925-02-07
ricks Mother
of Dead Soldier

insisted the prisoner was Urban John
Bergeron.
He's my son, whom I brought to
manhood and l will not be cheated a
second time," she told the authorl-
ties. Her husband, sharing her emo
ton, was just as positive.
Deaf to all persuasion, the mother
made preparations to stay in Atlanta
till cher boy" had completed his term
and could go back to Menasha and
start life anew. The father went back
to Wisconsin to arrange his affairs so
that he too could make his temporary
home in Atlanta. Meanwhile the War
department, determined to find out
whether there had been a mistake in
transferring the bodies of soldiers sent
home for burial, searched it's records
and checked up rosters.
Then a new factor entered the situa-
ter, Mrs. Stella Bergeron Emmerich
Informed by her overjoyed parents
that her brother was not dead, she also
hastened to Atlanta. She took one
look at the prisoner, and branded him
an impostor
But even her positiveness could not
shake the credulity of her parents.
When she persisted in denying the
claimed kinship, they became greatly
embittered against her. Grieving over
the estrangement, she began an inde-
pendent Investigation. She was sure
st. Claire had some definite motive for
imposing on the confidence of the aged
couple.
Forces Confession.
Enlisting the aid of government
agents and utilizing every other agency
she could command, Mrs. Emmerich
began gathering scraps of evidence
here and there, till she had her case
against st. Claire thoroughly prepared.
Then she confronted the prisoner and
delivered an ultimatum. He must re-
pudiate his statements to her parents
and admit he had imposed upon them.
But even in the face of her seeming
ly incontrovertible evidence, he in
sisted he was Urban John Bergeron.
He answered questions put by Mrs EN-
merich regarding their early memories
as brother and sister, showing remark
able knowledge of Urban Johns habits
and incidents of his boyhood. But he
was all at sea on SO many vital points
that Mrs. Emmerich persisted and
finally caught him. She asked him
about Red Wing, Minn., where the fam
lily had lived for some years. and he re-
fused altogether to answer
In the end ST. Claire made a sworn
statement, repudiating all claim to the
identity of Urban John Bergeron and
admitting he had perpetrated an ugly
hoax on the old people. His true name,
he said, was Robert e. st. Claire, born
September IA, 1894, and at the age Of
one year placed an orphan in the Cath
olic protectory at West Seneca, N. Y.
Then he entered a plea in extenuation.
when Mr. and Mrs Bergeron came
to the prison hospital and identified me
as their son." ran the sworn statement,
"they insisted l was their son regard
less of anything said. Never having
being alone, friendless and helpless,
being critically Ill and not knowing
how much time was left me in this
world, permitted these kind old peo-
pie to visit me as their son.
LAS time went on and Mrs. Ber-
geron visited me almost daily, giving
me the love and care / craved my
condition improved and / permitted
myself to believe that when l was
released could go to their home as
their son and begin all over again.
I did not, however, take into consid-
Grafton the sister, Mrs. Emmerich.
From the day she came here and saw
me I knew it was merely a question
Of time before the truth would be
known. Several times since then
have been on the verge of telling Mrs.