Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur OrtonAnonymous
History
Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton
Anonymous
Impostors and imposture -- Biography
Later in the same year (1795) two Frenchmen, one of them having the
appearance of a Romish priest, arrived at the Indian settlement of
Ticonderoga, in the vicinity of Lake George, bringing with them a
sickly boy, in a state of mental imbecility, whom they left with the
Indians. The child is said to have been adopted by an Iroquis chief,
called Thomas Williams, _alias_ Tehorakwaneken, whose wife was
Konwatewenteta, and although no proof is offered that he was the boy
called Monsieur Louis by Madame de Jardin, and still less that he was
the dauphin of France, it is said by those who support his
pretensions, that whoever considers the coincidences of circumstance,
time and place, age, mental condition and bodily resemblance, must
admit, apart from all other testimony, that it is highly probable that
he was both the sham De Jardin and the real dauphin.
Thomas Williams, the Iroquis chief, who had some English blood in his
veins, lived in a small log-house on the shores of Lake George. His
unpretending dwelling was about twenty feet square, perhaps a little
larger, roofed with bark, leaving an opening in the centre to give
egress to the smoke from the fire which blazed beneath it on the
floor, in the middle of the ample apartment. Around this fire were
ranged the beds of the family, composed of hemlock boughs, covered
with the skins of animals slaughtered in the chase. The fare of the
family was as simple as their dwelling-place. From cross-sticks over
the fire hung a huge kettle, in which the squaw made soup of pounded
corn flavoured with venison. They purchased their salt and spirits at
Fort-Edward; and the stream supplied them with fish, the woods and
mountains with game. Such was the early upbringing of the missionary
king.
The boy was known as Lazar or Eleazar Williams; his reputed father,
the chief, invariably acknowledged him and addressed him as his own
son; and the lad himself could tell but little of his earlier years.
He had hazy recollections of soldiers and a gorgeous palace, and a
beautiful lady on whose lap he used to recline; but when he tried to
think closely and recall the past, his mind became confused, and
painted chiefs, shady wigwams, and the homely face of the chieftain's
squaw, obtruded themselves, and blurred the glorious scenes amid which
he faintly remembered to have lived.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account