Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1861-04-20
Mrs. Myra Clark Gnins..Who were
fAer Ancestors and How She Came
IN Court--Interesting Partic ulars
Of the Great Suit,

The annals Of litigation furnish no two
more interesting or peculiar cases than
those of Madame Patterson Bouaparte
and of Mrs. Myra Clark Gains, both of
which have for many years occupied prom
inent positions before not only the legal
profession, but the eyes Of the world
These cases are singularly suggestive, and
peculiarly illustrative Of certain phases OF
American society, and as such possess
other interests than those of merely pecu-
mary character. Each has reached, after
protrac.ed struggles, decision, the one
In adverse to and the other in favor of the
cla'mant-ths one loses sll she deemed
worth living for, while the other gains not
only fortune of fabulous amount, but
establishes forever the honor of her mother,
Had the Imperial Court been mere kind,
the American claimant Of kingly hand
would now be in possession of kingly
estate, with her sons Legitimacy acknowl.
edged beiore the world, while, as it is
these are denied her, and perhaps forever.
In view, then Of the interes, of the cele
brated cause which has been decided in
favor of Mrs. Gaines, by full bench of
the Supreme Court of the United States,
a brief resume of its material facts will
not be misplaced.
Daniel Clark who was one of the early
settlers of the colony Of Louisiana, was a
very remarkable person. His sagacty,
prudence and business tact soon placed
him ut the head OF its monetary world
while his beauty of person, popular charac
acter and agreeable manners, afforded him
a similar position in the social circle. In
loV2 he became acquainted in Phiadel-
phia with lady of extraordinary personal
beauty, named Zuhme Carefre. She was
born in the old French colony Of Biloxi,
and her parents were emigrants from the
land OF poetry and romance-Provsnce-
the favorite home Of the Tourbadours.-
When Clark first met her, she had been
living in wedleck with swiudler named
Jerome De Grange, who having dazzled
her with glittering coronet, married her,
and then disclosed the astounding fact
that he was confcct;urcr and a biga-
n's:. Lullme appealed for protection to
Clark, who, being warm hearted and chiv
alrous at once espoused her cause, and
after becoming convinced that De Grange
had another wife living, espoused her HIM
self, The marriage was kept secret, and
in 1906 Myra, now Mrs. Gains, was born.
Being naturally desirous of having her
connection with Clark II publicly ackuowl.
edged one, Zulime went to New Orleans
to obtain legal proofs OF her first husbands
rascality. While she was gone, Clark,
who had grown into an influential politi-
clan, became enGmored Of Miss Cation, a
grand daughter of Charles Carroll with
whom he contracted an engagement tho
when reports were brought to Miss Cation.
alleging her lovers marriage to Zulme,
she at once Insisted upon a release from
the engagement, and subsequently became
Marchoiness Of Wellesly.
In the mean time Zulims had returned
to Philadelphia, and sought to obtain
proofs Of her marriage with Clark, who
had, with singular treachery destroyed all
that he could discover. Finding hersel f
helpless, in strange country, and with a
child dependent upon her, she was wholly
at loss what to do, and in her destitutiou,
driven almost to despair. she accepted the
hand Of Doctor Gardette, who with kind
ness and generosity, united his fortune
with hers. Clark, in the meantime. had
become penitent but, on Fastening to
hnd his former love, ascertained that she
was the wife Of another. He took the
child Myra, placed her under the care of a
friend. and had her most literally educat-
ed. Zulime lived for long time after
that, attained the age of seventy-eigh,
years, and died at New Orleans bu, few
years since.
Clark, whose business talent was pro.
verbal, amassed an immense fortune in
Louisiana, Mississippi and Maryland, which
he bequeathed by will, in 1913, to his
mother, Mary Clark, naming Beverly Chew
aud Richard Reli, bankers at New Orleans,
az executors. Charges have been pre-
terred against the executors of bad faith
and mismsnagement, but however that
may be, Myra-then Mrs. Whitney-hav-
ing discovered at maturity that her mother
had been the wife of the deceased million
aire, with an impulse of honorable affec
ton, for which she cannot be too highly
praised, determined to assert her right, as
the legitimate child and consequent heir
ess to the entire property.
That she met with opposition and with
obstacles of all sorts may be imagined,
but she battled bravely for her mothers
honor, and evineed the most com me ndable
spirit and perseverance in spite of the
most fearful odds Her husband died, but
she remarked, and in SO doing enlisted a
powerful auxiliary in the person of Gen.
Games, who believer in her legitimacy,
and aided her with al his might. 1t would
be wsarisome merely to index the various
legal struggles, the attempted social ostra-
clsm, the treacheries, the sorrows, the
hopes and fears experienced by Mrs. Gaines
in this work Of her lifetime. She sued in
numerous courts, a1l with various success,