The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-04-18
zinc celebrated Gaines case.
The final decision of the suit of

l. uo hual 0CCloloh VI Gio 'oulG w
Mrs. Gaines against The city &C Ncww
Orleans, by the Supreme Court,
terminates one of the most extraordi-
nary cases of litigation in the whole
history of civil jurisprudence. 1t is
remarkable, says the Philadelphia
Erening Bulletin, lin an able review
of the case, } for the curiosity of the
case itself; for the large amount of
property which it involves; and for
the wonderful display of enduring
pertinancity with which the plaintiff
has devoted her life to the prosecu-
tion OF what has long been held to be
hopeless cause. Seven times has
Mrs. Gaines pleaded her case be-
fore the Supreme Court, sometimes
with partial success, sometimes with
none, until. at last, after forty years
of incessant litigation, she has won
the day, and establishes her claim
to large portion of tho city of New
Orleans, valued, very modestly, at
$5,OOO,OO0. This fight has been
fought by Mrs. Gaines singlehanded.
She has literally gone through fire
and food, as she has travelled over
the country, always intent upon the
one great business of her life. With
n buoyancy of temperament that knew
no abatement, with an abiding faith
in the justice of her cause and of its
ultimate success; with few friends
and very limited means; with life
slipping away under the long delays
and slow processes of the law, this
truly remarkable woman has per-
severed until she has conquered for
tune.
A brief outline Of this singular case
will be interesting to our readers: In
1874, Zulime nee Carriere, bcauti-
full Creole of New Orleans, married
one Jerome des Oranges, in New
Orleans. In 1902 or 1908, Daniel
Clark, a prominent citizen Of New
Orleans, became attached to Madame
des Oranges, and, about the same
time, it is alleged that it was disco
vered that des Oranges had q wife
living in France, and that, the second
marriage thus proving void, Daniel
Clark privately married the lady
in Philadelphia. OF this marriage
the present plaintiff claims to have
been born in Philadelphia, in 1902 or
| 1903. Her mother and herself were
committed to the care of her fathers
friend and partner, Mr.. Daniel w.
Coke, of this city. She afterward
became an inmate of the family of
Colonel Samuel 3. Davis, and was
known among her school-fellows,
some of whom still remember her, as
Myra Davis. When she grew up, it
became known to her that her true
name was Clark, and she has estab-
lished the existence of q will of Daniel
Clark's, acknowledging her as his le-
| gitimate daughter. Yet her own mo-
ther, who, during Clarks life, mar
ried NJ. Gardetto, we'll known
citizen of Philadelphia, was never
summoned as witness by Mrs.
Gaines, and her father, Daniel Clark,
during his wife's life, addressed Miss
Cation, of Baltimore, who, however,
did not accept his advances.
! Myra Clark married Mr.. VIM.
Wallace Whitney, OF New York, by
whom she had two children, son
and daughter, still living. After Mr..
Whitney's death, she married Gen.
Edmund Pendleton Gaines, who died
in 1S49. Ono child, the issue of her
second marriage, died in infancy.
Daniel Clark owned large tracts Of
ground within the limits of New Or
leans, which have become immensely
valuable. More than thousand
suits have been instituted by Mrs.
Gaines to recover these properties,
upon which many of the finest i'm
provements now stand. The deci-
sion of the Supreme Court only
applies, directly, to three suits. but
its ruling will cover the whole
ground.
This case has been one of singular