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An American Tichborne.
A CASE IK WHICH SOME OF THE MOST PROMINENT
MEN IN PENNSYLVANIA ARE INTEREST
ED—THE WONDERFUL ADVEN
TURES OF A CLAIMANT
TO $40,000,000.
A Manch Chuuk letter tells the following
remarkable story:
There is now pending in ihe State courts of
Pennsylvania one of the most important law
suits on record. It was instituted by Mr. O.
H. Wheeler, a lawyer of this place. It is for
the recovery of 4,000 acres ot valuable coal
lands in Luzerne county, Pa., said to bo worth
$40,000,000.
The hietory of the proprietorship ot the
land is full of romance.
Some forty years ago there died in a hos
pital in Philadelphia a man named James
Turnbull. He had been a man of means, and
was one of the first to invest in land in this
region when the discovery of anthracite coal
was tardily followed by mine developments.
He purchased the tract of 4,000 acres in Lu
zerne county. Bad speculations subsequently
led him into dissipation, and he died as stated,
declaring that he still had a title to the coal
land in Luzerne, although others claimed it
by virtue of tax purchase.
A short time before his death his wife was
divorced from him, and given charge of their
only child, a son, also named James. He
lived with his mother in Philadelphia about
ten years after his father's death; then, at the
age of sir teen, went to sea.
In 1852 the divorced widow, being in desti
tute circumstances, and believing that her
sen, if living—for she had not beard ot him
for years—was the real owner of the coal
lands in Luzerne coanty, which her late hus-
brtitd bad neglected, came to Manch Chunk
and called on Mr. O. H. Wheeler. He had
formerly beeu a tnend of her husband's the
two Laving bad years before real estate
transactions together. To hitu she stated the
cased the ownership of the land, and exhib
ited certain papers .n Lei possession that once
belonged to Turnbull.
Wheeler t xitiuiucd the paper and searched
the record. The result convinced him that
young Turnbull had. through his father, a
perfect title to the property. He at once set
about to find, if possible, the whereabouts of
the wandering heir. Advertisements were in
serted in the journals of all countries, in all
languages. Letters were written to every
point where it was at all probable that James
might be, but without avail. Not a word
could be obtained that gave any clue to his
whereabouts. The laud meantime had fallen
into the bands of Asa Packer, the Pardees,
and other famous and powerful capitalists,
who still hold them.
THE SON HEARD FROM.
One day, in the fall of 1871, James Turn-
bull's mother received a letter posted in the
city of Mexico. It proved to be from her
son. He whs living in Mazatlan, on the west
ern coast of Mexico, and wonld, in all proba
bility, be home in another year. Thus, after
a ceaseless effort of twenty years, the lawyer
and the mother were At last rewarded with
news of the lost son.
Mr. Wheeler employed a man to go at once
to Mazatlftn and bring James to America.
This was done, and about a year ago Turn-
bull landed in Philadelphia.
His career has been one of petil, hardship,
and udventure. The vessel he left Philadel
phia in was shipwrecked, and he and eight
others of the crew were the ooly ones saved.
When the boat which they succeeded in
launching was picked np near the Island of
St. Thomas, after boating nine days on the
ocean, Turnbull was the only living occu
pant. He was laid up three months m St.
Thomas before he recovered from the effects
of the fearful voyage after the wreck, and
then embarked ou a British trader. Subse
quently he went to Central America. He
worked on the Isthmns of Panama until the
stories of the discovery of gold in California
reached that section, when with hundreds of
others, he hastened to the spot.
He was a Forty-niner, and made several for
tunes, w hich in turn he lost at the gaming
table. He tired of the reckless, lawless life
of the mines in two years, aod went to Mexi
co, and subsequently to Texas, where he mude
money in capturing cattle for speculators in
New York and Philadelphia. On the way to
Mazatlan he w as blown up by the explosion of
the steamer he was ou. Hundreds perished,
but he was again providentially saved, lie
finally leached Mazatlan, where be went to
work on a canal that was being dug. He was
placed over a gang of natives, and kept a ranch i
where they obtained their supplies. This was !
broken open several times and robbed. One
night he was attacked by a party of Mexican
soldiers, and left for dead with twelve dag- i
ger wounds in bis person. Recovering from
these, he again became a wanderer.
He spent a year among the silver
mines of Pern, getting possession ot a piece
ot land said to contain silver deposits. Fail
ing to find them, he disposed of the property
for a song. In less than a month a rich vein
of silver was opened upon it. He then went
to Chile and worked under Harry Meiggs, the
great South American railroad prince. By a
sub-contract under Meiggs he made several
thousand dollars, and bad he possessed a less
roving dispoaitien could have remained in
Chile and accumulated a handsome fortune.
Completing his contract, he weDt to Brazil
nnd endeavored to get himself appointed as
an overseer in the diamond mines, and failed.
After roving through South America for sev
eral years, leading a life of the wildest ad
venture, he again visited the western shore of
Mexico, and then determined to return home.
He wrote his mother, not knowing whether
she was dead or alive.
When the agent arrived from America,
Turnbull had changed his mind as to retnrn- j
ing home, and would eoon have been on bis
way to the diamond field of South Africa.
To cap the climax of his eventful life, the
boat which was conveying him to the steamer
which was to bear him to Philadelphia cap
sized, and barely escaped with his life, losing
many valuables.
THE SUIT.
Upon the arrival of Turnbull in this i
country arrangements were at once pelected
lor commencing the proceedings. The funds
for conducting the suit are furnished by a 1
stock company at a venture. If it is sucess- !
iul the members will be richly rewarded; if
not, they lose all.
Some of the most prominent men in Penn
sylvania are interested in the case, and it will
be prosecuted to the fullest extent. Eminent
lawyers have been engaged on both sides. It
came np at the last session of the United States
District Court, at Williamsport, bat was post
poned on application of the defendants, as
Judge Woodward, W. H. Armstrong, Esq,,
and others of their counsel were members of
the Constitutional Convention and could not
be present
A London letter to the Tribune says that
Mr. Motley’s convalescence continues to show
none but favorable symptoms. He returned
to London, this week, from bis visit to Mr.
Levenson-Gower, who left nothing nndone
to make his guest’s stay delightful. Lord and
Lady Granville were of the party. When Mr.
Motley quitted town, he was still so weak that
he had to bo carried down stairs to bis car
riage. When I saw him Ibis afternoon at bis
hotel, be was just in from a walk, and bad
been driving in the morning boride. Ho it
is pretty clear be is going on well. To-mor
row be goes to Naworth Castle, in Cumber
land, on a visit to Mr. Howard, a brother of
Earl Carlisle, his family accompanying him.
His physician says be may make the Journey,
which is some seven hours by rail, without
risk, and the railway authorities, with much
politeness, have placed a saloon carriage at
£i* disposal. From Naworth Castle Mr. Mot
ley will go to Scotland, visiting Sir William
Stirling Maxwell, at Keir, and perhaps ac
cepting some other invitations.
At&BFffYLY
WHOLESALE
Grocers aod Commission Merckiils,
CORNER PRYOR AND DECATUR STREETS.
THANKFUL for the Liberal Support Extended them by
the
Retail Dealers of Georgia,
for the PAST FOURTEEN YEARS, take this method of assur
ing their friends that they are better prepared to serve them and
help them make money now than at any period in the past.
Seeing is Believing-
MARK
JOHNSON,
DEALER IJST
Agricultural Implements. Guano, Seeds, Machinery, Live Stock,
ALSO,
Breech Loading Double-Barrel Shot Guns, Single and Double-Barrel Muzzle Loading Shot Guns’
Rifles, Pistols, Ammunition of all kinds, Paper and Metallic Shells, Game Bags, Flasks, Pouches, Belts,
i Powder, Hhot and Caps, Wads, and the
CELEBRATED GYRO PIGEON AND TRAP FOR SHOOTING CLUBS.
Liberal Discounts to Dealers.
The Most Reliable Brands of Fertilizers Now Ready For Delivery.
Woodruff <2t Johnson,
asnsw g.ajr,i?.:la.gkej REFOsiTORir,
EVERY STYLE OF CARRIAGES, BUGGIES, AND WAGONS NOW ARRIVING AND IN STORE,
AT
Mark W. Johnson’s Agricultural Building,
CORNER ALABAMA AND FORSYTH STREETS, ....
ATLANTA.
AMD ENCYCLOPEDIA.
A complete Directory and Book of Reference for the use of Farmers, Mer
chants, Manufacturers, Professional and Business Men generally.
COME ANI) SEE.
A. C. & B. F. Wyly,
W. F. PECK <& CO..
WHOLESALE DEALERS IN
Dry G-oo&s and Notions,
Kimball House, Dccater Street, ATLANTA, GA.
H ave the following goods for sale, which were bought early and at ex-
tr mely low prices:
500 Pieces ('assimeremx! Jeans,
1,000 Ladies’ and Gent’s Shawls,
200 Pieces Flannel,
200 Pieces Linsey
500 Dozen Corsets,
ONE THOUSAND CLOAKS AT LESS THAN NEW YORK PRICES,
And everything that Is kept in a wholesale Dry Goods House.
Call and Examine before you buy.
W. F. PECK & CO,
The Most Valuable and Practical Work ever Published in The South.
6. Cm Rogers,
IVt^INTUTiFU^OTTUiEUElIFt. OF 1
SADDLES and HARNESS
And Dealer in
Saddle Hardware, Carriages, Buggies, the celebrated MILBURX
CONCORD IRON AXLE WAGONS and Carts, Baby Carriages,
Rocking Horses, Doll Carriages, Children Carts and Wagons, Goat
Wagons, Velocipedes, Whips. Buggy Umbrellas, etc.
«. onnnns phomptly piliiEd. **
14 Decatur street and 15 Line street, Atlanta Ga., opposite the II. I. Kimball House.
The Georgia Gazetteer and Encyclopedia of Knowledge useful to every Farmer, Merchant, Manufactu
rer, Professional and Business Man in the State, compiled by JAMES P. HARRISON, will be published on
or about JANUARY i, 1874, by the Franklin Steam Printing House, Atlanta, Ga.
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lication of the kind ever brought out in the United States. The work will probably be the largest ever
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Among the leading features of this great and unique work will be a complete BUSINESS DIRECTORY
of every city, town and village in the State; giving the names and kind of business of every business and
professional man in each of them, alphabetically arranged; also, the name cf
Every Parmer in Georgia,
with such information as will contribute toward a correct estimate of the financial standing of every tarmer,
compiled from Official Sources. The work will also give the name and office of every public officer and
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and Societies, with the names of their officers; also, a list of Churches, Schools, etc., throughout the State;
also, interesting tables from the most reliable sources of the condition of our State Finances, and its transac
tions; also, a valuable history of the material wealth and resources of the State; its railways, chief manufactures,
and internal improvements completed, in progress, or contemplated.
It will also contain a census of the State, arranged by counties, with the value of Agricultural, Mining
and Industrial products of each county; also, a complete list of Post Offices, Internal Revenue Offices, etc., etc.;
also, an accurate TRAVELERS’ GUIDE, with such other Statistical, Historical and General information as
will make it unsurpassed as an
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J. M. WILLIS.
BELL & WILLIS,
S53& I.AVSRE
P
TWENTY-THREE YEARS! IN THE JEWELRY BUSINESS!
IN ATLANTA!
Has withstood every storm, and is still unscathed.
WHOLBBALB 3DIE3ALLIE2
IN
American Watches and Clocks,
AND
Watchmakers' Tools and Materials.
SOLE AQENT FOR THE CELEBRATED WILSON’S ARUNDEL PEBBLE SPECTACLES.
Call and examine them aud send for circulars.
I can aril Ibe-te ^oods to merchants upon as favorable terms as they con bo purchased ;d
the Northern markets.
ER LAWSBE.
Sept U
PLANING MILL AND LIMBER YARD,
OFFICE AMD FACTORY NO. 336 MARIETTA STREET,
ATLANTA, GEORGIA.
Chas. Bohnefeld,
Residence for Sale.
XjV)UR LA HOE, ELEGANTLY FINISHED ROOMS,
B*th room. Store room and Fan try, 3-room Kitchen,
lathfd and plastered, Urge front yard, choice shrub
bery aud abade tree*, all on a large, beautiful lot 100
by *J*J( set, In a most excellent neighborhood, and Just
: at thv *erminn# of ona of the Street Car lines. Im-
UNDERTAKER AND DEALER IN METALLIC ! n <>
U Estate Agents,
No. 9 Alabama at.
B URIAL CASES. 0A8KKT8, AND COFFINS OF
all sixes and descriptions. Also agent for Taylor's
Corpse preserver.
No. 1 D.tUVK’B OPKRA IIOI SK.
MARIETTA STREET ATI*
THE "VICTOR
8«>uth for the Victor Sewing Machine.
The •• Victor*' will sell on lie merits, and requires
io ••puffing." For terms, address
aug.l tt K. J. WILES Atlanta. Qa.
PEASE AND HIS WIFE,
FASHIONABLE RESTAURANT!
ALABAMA STREET,
STILL ALIVE AND HAPPY.
CALL AND SEE US.
Harrison Bradford & Co’s
STEEL PENS.
fipaoial attention called to the wall known numbers,
76—k tt.
FACTORY, MT. VCItNM; OFFICI, 75 JOUR ST., R. Y
angtusas
ATLANTA PAPER H1LU.
IBook sad News,
JAMES ORMOND, Proprietor.