The Western news. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1933-current, 1942-07-30

hhON VA WI AND
how interesting 1t Is when. now
and then, someone opens his
/ heart and unfoIds a bit of fam
lily history that Is as fascinat-
ing as any work of fiction.
Il very much enjoyed reading
your column last week" said man
to the Stroller few days ago 1T
set me to thinking about little Incl
dents out of my own boyhood and
+ il called back memories of family
tales that we listened to when. as
small children, we clustered around
] mothers knee and importuned her
to tell us story Mother was a
pioneer woman and oftentimes her
tales had to do with Indians, bears,
panthers and other similar adven-
ture stories that held her Young
audience in Wide-eyed and breath
less awe. At other times, she reached
into the story Of our own family
history and recounted to us tales
of our ancestors said this Libby
man to the Stroller. And in the
STORY he unfolded to me there are
lessons for all of us who have prob
lens to meet today.
Il liked the sort of people you
talked about last week. said nv
visitor. Il liked the sturdy manhood
and Womanhood of your characters,
perhaps because my own parents
were very similar and my own ear
ly life much the same as that which
you pictured in the lives of those
self-reliant immigrants.
THE history of my family reach
es much further back than does
that of the family whose father came
to America in l849 My forefath-
ers were here in Colonial days and
they fought to help free America
and set up here the greatest govern
ment the world has ever seen. One
OF the. favorite stories mother used
to tell us was about her grandfather.
my greatgrandfathe She told us
of once having visited her grand
fathers place and there having no
ticed, hanging on the wall in one of
the closets, a faded coat and hat.
She was told that the coat and hat
were parts of the uniform grand
father wore when he fought the
Red Coats. And she noticed hole
through the top of the hat. In an
sWer to her childish inquiry she
was told that grandfather was car
rying important military dispatches
at one time and was chased by the
enemy. The hole through the hat
was left by shot from a Red Coats
rifle. But they didn't catch him
and he succeeded in delivering the
dispatches to the general for whom
they were intended.
And in that connection there is
another bit of history that always
held the interest of us children.
It's story that has come down
through the family since Colonial
days. 1t appears that grandfather,
according to this family story, was
the third son of a titled English
family. The first son, the one who
held the title, died without children.
The title then passed to the second
son and he too died without chill
dren. That left the title and the
estate to the third son in America.
Apparently there was some bit of
family discord because the brothers
in England had lost track of the
wandering brother in America. And
when the title and estate were left
without known heirs court officials
began to advertise in America in an
attempt to locate the missing son.
The task of locating the heir was
placed in the hands of a firm OF |
New York attorneys. In the adj
vertlsements they inserted in the pa
pers was the statement that the
missing man was known to have,
had with him an old family Bible
containing the family records-a pc
culiarly bound Bible, with gold
hinges and gold clasp. The adj
vertisement said if the holder of
such Bible could prove proper
ownership, it would go long way
in establishing claim to the English
title and estate.
-l1ie-St6f y-TeC0uI1IS now grand |
father read the advertisement, then
dug up the missing Bible and re-
marked in an Unconditional tone of
voice, Well. I guess I'll have to 20
down to New York and set the
minds of those people in England
at rest And straightWay, within a
few days, he took the Bible and
went into the city.
When he returned, it was diff
cult to get anything out of him
regarding his trip to the lawyers
but he finally did tell grandmother.
According to his story, he said he
had laid proofs of his relationship
before the attorneys and after ex-
amining them, the attorneys ex-
claimed, Why man, you're just the
person we're looking for. Well
proceed at once to establish your
claim SO that you can take over the
title and estate. And what was
grandfather's answer Remember.
he had been in America for sew
|eral years and had fought the
English Red Coats in the fight for
freedom. And this was his reply,