Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-03-18
MRS. GAINES.

Who she is--TVhO her Ancestors
Were.-IIow she came to hs In Court
--IIer Immense Fortune--Interest.
Ing Particulars OF the Great Suit.
The annals of litigation furnish no two
moro Interesting or peculiar cases than
those of Madame Patterson Bona partc.
and of Mrs. Myra Clark Gaines, both of
which have, for many years, occupied
prominent positions before. not only the
legal profession, hut the eyes Of the whole
world. These cases are singulnrly sug-
gcstive, and peculiarly illustrative Of Ger
tain phases of American society, and ns
such, possess other interests than those of
merely pccnnihry character. Each has
reached, after protracted struggles, n de-
cisiom, the one adverse to and the other in
| favor ofthe claimnnt-the ono loses all sue
deemed worth living for, while the other
gains not only a fortune of fabulous
amOnmt, Gut establishes forever the honor
of her mother. Had the Imperial Court
been more Kind, the American claimant of
(" kingly hand would now be in possession
offs kingly estate, with her sous Iegitima-
cy acknowledged before tho world, while.
as ii is, these are denied her, aud perhnps
forever.
In view, then, of the interest of the cell
ehratcd cnnsc which yesterday was deci-
ded in tHvOr OF Mrs. Gaines. by full
bench of the supreme Court of the United
States, n brief resume OF its material Etcts
will not be misplaced.
Daniel Clark, who wsrs ono of the carly
settlers in the colony of Louisiana was a
very remarkable person. His sagacity,
prudence and business tact, soon placed
him at the head of it's monetary world,
while his beauty of person, popular char
acter, and agreeable manners afforded him
n similar position in the society circle. In
1902 hc became acquainted in Philadelphia
with lady of extraordinary personal beau
ty, named Zulime Carrefrc. She was born
in the old French colony of Biloxi, and her
parents were emigrantS from the land of
poetry and cc-Provrnce-the Tt-
vorite home of the TrOubadours When
Clark first met her, she had been living in
wetilock with a swindler named Jerome
DE Grange, Who, having dazZled her with
II gllttering coronet, married her, and then
disclosrtl the astounding facts that he was
conteCtiOner and bignmist. Zulime
appealed for protection TO Clark, who
being wNrn-heHrted aud chivnlfous, ut
once espoWscd her cause. and after becom-
ing convinced that De Grange had another
wife living, cspOused herself The mar
riHgc was kept secret, and in 1860 Myra,
now Mrs. GHines, was born. Being natu.
rally lesirous of having her connection
with Clark ii publicly ncknowled Scd one,
Zultme went to New Orleans to obtain le-
gal proofs of her first husbands rascality.
White she was gone, Clark, who hud grown
into an influential politician, became cnn-
mored of Miss Cation, granddaughter of
Charles Carroll, with whom lie contracted
an engagement, though " hen reports were
brought to Miss Cation alleging her lovers
marriNge TO Znlime, she ut once insisted
upon release from the engagement and
she subsequently became the MArchioness
of Wellesley.
In the meantime, Znlime had returned
to Philadelphia, and sought to obtain
proofs of her marriage with Clark, who
had, with singular treNchcry, destroyed all
thnt he could discover. Finding herself
helpless, in strange country, and with Il
child dependent upon her, she was wholly
at a loss what to do, and, in her destution,
driven almost to despair, she accepted the
hnnd of DR.. Gardette, who, with kindness
and generosity, united his fortune with
hers. Clark, in the meantime, had be-
come pcnitent, but, on fastening to find
his former love, ascertNined that sne was
the wifo of another. He took the child
Myra, placed her under the care of a
friend, and hnd her ncst literally edn-
Gated. Zulime lived for a long time after
that, attained the age of T8 years, and
died at New Orleans hut few years since.
Clark, whose business talent wns pro-
verbal, amassed AN immense fortune in
Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky, and Mary
land, which he beauentlied by will, in
1918, TO his mother, Mary Clark, naming
Beverly Chew and Richard Relf, bankers
OF New Orleans, as executors Charges
have been preferred against the executors
of bad faith Nnd mismnnNgement, but
however that may be, Myra-then Mrs
WhltneY-haviNg discovered at maturity
that her mother lad been the wife of the
deceased millionairS, with nm impulse of
honorable affection for which she cannot
be too highly praised. determined to assert
her right; as the Legitimate child and con-
sequeEt hetrcss, to the entire property.
That sue met with opposition aud with
obstacles of all sorts may Wellh ina
gined. but she battled for her mothers
honor, and evinced tie most CommendabIe
spirit and perseverance, in spite of most
fearful odds. Her husband died, Init she
remarried, and in so doing enlisted 4 pow
ertnl auxiliary in the poison of General
Gaines. who believed in9 her legitimacv.
and aided her with all his might. II
would be wearisome merely to index the
various legal struggles, the attempted So
eial ostracisns, the treacheries, the sor-
rows, the hopes aud fears experienced By
Mrs. Gaines in this work of her lifetime
She sued in numerous Courts, aud with
varied success, until her fortune was gone,
her friends convinced of the uselessnass
of further trial, aud ail but her own in-
'domitable spirit fed She still struggled
on, aud, as u last resort, brought the case
in its amplitude and its Iabyrintbs of legal
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