| Show I NEW NEWS NEWS OF YESTERDAY I ITHE I ITHE THE GREAT MERCHANT WHO HID HIS PARENTAGE Dr J E This Thin dally daily 11 aerie of anecdotes and incidents that tbt throw new n Interesting and frequently dramatic light on famous e events vente nt and of ot the rut past have been collected by hy durIng nearly forty years year of or mote inora or 1 lees a Inti Intimate mu mate mele acquaintance A with many my of or the tha country leaders leaden sines the Civil war Each anecdote or Incident la is I fresh rh from Mr Air Edward notebook DOI and sillier either In whole or la lit part pert It constitute New Naw New News Of or Yesterday R garnered from the men m who made the new the r from equally authoritative sources As II Im Important Important important contributions contribution of ot the th Human Interest sort eurt of or Am rl an hIStory these th article have a distInctive value vallie all their own One On of the great antebellum rival of ot A T Stewart th the Ant rat of 01 our mer jeer merchant chant prince princes wa Will was John F r 4 LewIs one once said Ud to 10 m me the now ItOW eol 1101 sole survivor of ot Ih the Lincoln electors elector el lo from Pew New N York stats att tal former form Judge Abram J 1 fr who 1 I Is now nearing hi hIs birthday and anil the Incident I am going to tell lell you about bollt him simply ROM gosa to tu prove the U statement that 1 have often orten made mae that lawyers lawyer clergymen and aad phy l clans clana come com In contact with man romances romance In real TeLl life lite that are a Infinitely stranger than Ihan th the fiction Action even ern of ot tit time master mailer writers writer I 1 knew Mr r Lewis 1 In IIi th the latter years yar 18 of hi his life when he be wa was w looked upon aa as one une of or A T Stewarts rival and nd a wealthy man mati It n lie was waa w a aman II aman man mn of or striking personal appearance He lie wa was w aa as erect aa as an lin Indian and aa as muscular hi his complexion was waa w some ome somewhat what swarthy hla his large e eyes e were dark and nd his hla h hair curly Many per persons sons eon were of ot the Ih opinion that there thre was waa a straIn of ot blood In him and nd the common was waa that he Ii had b come eom to tu New Nw York aa as a alad ad alad lad d from the West Wt Indies Indie Hut Hilt he never nr spoke poke lIe of or his hla hi early life not even to 10 hIs hla hi frIends friend and nd all 11 that was waa known to a certainty of ot him was waa that he Ito had hd begun Maun his hla hi mercantile career ca r HC as It a humble clerk Irk In th the great retail establishment which In time he came to head While bU I r was waa w In a year rear or two Iwo after th t the doe close of the Civil war Mr Lewis I died and nd shortly liter after my m re rs return turn tam to this Ihl country I read In a legal leal paper a brief report of th the tha filing of ot the Ut will left by Mr XI Lewis Lewi At once one It U truck struck m me that the condition of ot the will could nt not stand aland the I teat lest of ot a con contest test teat If It any n were er made mad U it provided that the th hulk bulk of the th property r running up u Into the hundred hund of or thousands of dollar should be turned over to and possessed by th Ih young woman named therein an so Ion long aa as ah she remained un unmarried unmarried married Rut In he she married or refused to accept I ept the th sole aole condition Im Imposed posed polled upon her br the he h estate tale was waa w to b be placed In trust and nd the th entire Income from rom It used to Mr WI I Iw burial burlI plot pbs It en an o happened that I wa was retained to aee If It there Ih were any an relatives relative of 01 Mr I lewIs ewla After Atter a It long Iona search the Ih only oRly clue I was waa w able ble to get iret that might lead Iad to th I the discovery of living I relative wa w was th t the fact that Mr I 1011 Lewis wl had haI occasionally received letters letter from froma a little town lown In Canada inacay In north of ot Toronto I 1 decided tu to go to that town and after breakfast on th the day 1 following my arrival I 1 chanced chane to pick up loll a newspaper from a nearby chair while waiting my m turn In the town barber barbershop shop In It I 1 saw w some if re c which l led d me m to suspect u ct that I 1 might be on th the right track I made mad some aum Inquiries and anil was waa w told that I 1 would probably find John F Lew la mother mothr living upon ul on a little farm some out of or the VIIU VIllage e eI eI I 1 went there Ih and found a coal ki newe She told uw iii her story atory tor bh ISh had escaped from slavery lavery In the south years year before the outbreak of ot the tha war wai made her hr way Into Canada Lan by b means mean of ur the underground Settled In the village nearby rby and In time soar mar ned a Scotchman of the name of ot Lewis who WWI was a sort Ort of ot pioneer In I that region John P 1 I LewIs WitS was thon thor th dip dipson on son of or that marriage In early earl b buy boy hood ho Id he had gone fIOne from froni horn home deter determined d determined tr mined to conceal the fact f t that h ha wo was the son eon of 01 a Slave lav woman by a Q white father and being sure ure that hi his hla hsi m cal appearance would make It easy for tor him to do to this Ihla from rum then on until the day of ot hi his death lie he It had been ac accustomed accustomed to send nd to his hla hi mother money present three thre or four tour Union times a ii year yar lie he h hIn heIn In turn receiving from her hr each ach timo a pledge leKe that nh she e would not reveal tile hiM Iren This Pledge tube lie had h faIth fulth faIthfully fully full kept kepi breaking It to me m only when ah she he felt that the death of or her hv son IOn had left lerl her free rree to 10 talk Well 11 to 10 make inaKe a long story tory hoi t I obtained the fullest proofs of ot the tb mothers mother mot he statements statement and wa was Willi authorised by her hr h to contest her herIOn sons IOn will In her lir behalf I did so the tha will was waa 8 set Nt Saute aside and a satisfactory division of ot the Ih estate ette was waa u snide made be between between tween the black mother of or the dead deadman deadman man end and the th voting voun White while whit woman of ot superior attractiveness refinement and amid nd modesty who had been Leon named by Mr Ir Ij as Ru his hla hi sole 1101 legates legatee le atH following l this settlement the mother returned to 10 Canada As A for the Ih young woman she abs a lapsed Into absolute obscurity and anil from that day d to this Ihl her hr Identity haa ha never been n fully tully established Nor was w there over ever ev any satisfactory reason m ad advanced aa am to 10 why Mr Ir Lewis WN have bequeathed his hI property properly In to her herOr he her Or r Imposed upon her the condition that Ihal ho he did In his hi wilt will |
