Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1861-04-05
MISCELLANY.
From the New York Times, Mmehl5
The Victory of Mrs. Gaines.

have, Tor many years occupied prominent
positions before, not only the legal protes-
sionS, but the eyes Of the world, These
cases are singularly suggestive, and pecul-
iarly illustrativeof certain phases Of Amer
lean society, and as such, possess other in
terests than those of a merely pecuniary
character. Each has reached, after pro-
tracted struggles, a decision, the one ad-
verse to and the other ia favor of the claim
ant--the one loses all she deemed worth
living for while the other gains not only a
fortune Of fabulous amount, but establishes
forever the honor of her mother Had the
Imperial court been more kind, the Ameri-
can claimant of kingly hand would now
be in possession Of vast estate, with her
sons legitimacy acknowledged before the
world, while as it i, these are denied her,
and perhaps forever.
In view then of The LIBERATED cause
which yesterday was decided in favor OF
Mrs Gaines, by a full bench of the Supreme
Court of the United States, brief resume
of its material facts viii be not misplaced.
Daniel Clark, who was one of the early
settlers in the colony Of Louisiana, was a
very remarkable person. His sagacity, pru-
dence and business tact, soon placed him at
the head of its monetary world while his
beauty of person, popular character. and
agreeable manners afforded him similar
position in the social circle. In 1902 he
became acquainted in Philadelphia with q
lady of extraordinary personal beauty,
named Zulime Carrifre. She was born in
the old French colony of Biloxi, and her
/ parents were emigrants from the la1d of
1 poetry and romance-P -Provence-th fam
ous home of the Troubadours. When Clark
first met her. she had been living in we'd
\ lock with ,swindler named Jerome De-
/ Grange, who, having dazzled her with a
glttering coronet, married her and then
disclosed the astounding facts that he was a
confectioner and bigamist. Zulime ap-
pealed for protection TO Clark, who being
warm-hearted and chiyalrous, at once es-
poused her cause and after becoming con-
vinced tnat DeGrange had another wife lv-
ing, espousei herself The marriage was
kept secret, and in 1906, Myra, new Mrs.
Gaines, was born. Being naturally desir-
Gus Of having her connection with Clark a
publicly acknowledged 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 influ-
entail politician, became enamored Of Miss
Cation, a grand daughter OF Charles Carroll
with whom he contracted an engagement
though when reports were brought to Miss
Cation alleging her lovers marriage to Zu.
lime, she at once insisted upon release
from the engagement, and she subsequently,
became the Marchioness of Wellesley.
In the meantime, Zulime had returned tc
Philadelphia, and sought to obtain proofs o
her marriage with Clark, who had, will
singular treachery, destroyed all that he
could discover. Finding herself helples.
in a strange country, and with child de
pendent upon her, she was wholly at los
what to do, and, in her destitution, driver
almost to despair, she accepted the hand 0
DR.. Gardette, who. with kindness and gen
eresity, united his fortune with hers. Clark
in the meantime. had become penitent, but
on fastening to find his former love, aseer
tanned that she was the wife of another
He took the child Myra placed her unde
the care of a friend, and had her most lib
erally educated. Zulime lived fer lonI
time after that, attained the age Of 79 years
and died at New Orleans, but few year
since.
Clark, whose bGsrress talent was proven
bial. aHlassed an immense fortune in Louis
lana, Missouri, Kentucky, and Maryland
which be bequeathed by will, in 1918, t
his mother, Mary Clark, naming Beverl
Chew and Richard Ref, bankers of Ne'
Orleans, as executors. Charges have beel
preferred against the executors Of bad faitl
and msmanagement, but however that ma.
be. Mvra-then Mrs. Whitney-havini
discovered at maturity that her mother ha
been the wife of the deceased millionaire
with an impulse of honorable affection TO
which she cannot be too highly praised
determined to assert her right as the legiu
mate child and consequent heiress, to tn
entire property.
That she met with opposition and wit
obstacles of all SORTS may well be imagined
but she battled for her mothers honor, an
evinced the most commendable spirit an
perseverance, in spite of most fearful odds
Her husband died, but she remarked, an
in so doing enlisted powerful auxiliary il
the person of Gen. Gaines, who believe
in her legitimacy, and aided her with al
his might. 1t would be wearisome merel
to index the various legal struggles, the at
tempted social ostracisms, tue treacherie'
the sorrows, the hopes and fears expert
enced by Mrs. Gaines in this work OF he
= lifeii ne. She sued in numereas courts an
with varied success, until her fortune wa
gone, her friends convinced of the useles:
ness of further trial. and all but her ow
h indomitabe spirit fed. She still struggle
e on. and as last resort, brought the case
h its amplitude and lis labyrinlhs of legf
lechuicaiiies to the Supreme Court OF th
land. There, after a long and patientbea
y ing, she has obtained her victory. Th
n court has unanimously decided that Myr
II CLARK Gaines is the only legitimate child !
Daniel Clark, and that, as such, she Is ent
Is lied to all the property left by him. Nc
n are the years aud energies OF the cour'
K geous woman too far speot 20 prevent he
ienioyment Of her vast wealth. Mrs. Gaine
though now in her fiity-ffth year, is repr'
/. sented as being an agreeable specimen I
wha; old people delight in calling = ladi'
"a of the old schccl" She is in eoUd heali
and possesses an abundant fiow Of animi
y spirits. which have b8oyed her up for loy'
IN thirty years under circumstances Of an u
= usually trying nature.