Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-04-11
TIE GAINES IAwsrIr.

" EAAfN 1Ncb|Ahhy VI AOl aOSSA 6SerOA
the decision by the Supreme Court of the
United States os the suit of Mrs. General
Gaines for the recovery of the estate Of
her father, devised to her by viii, with
which the public has been familiar for
long time. The validity of the will was
sustained by five out of the eight Judges,
and comprehends all the possible features
of the case, and is a final legal conclusion
of the matter, to be followed, of course,
by the necessary DEGREES and precepts tc
place the courageous old lady in possess
sion Of the vast estate in question. The
story OF her thirty-six years Of legal war
fare, with the previous incidents of her
life and family, is a romance stranger
than fiction, and under skillful hands
could be woven into a work of thrilling
interest. The wealth. influence, and in
trigue, she has at length successfully com
batted in maintaining her rights, and
the disappointment she has survived
under unfailing spirits, prove her
to be woman of remarkable
powers, for though she has spent
one or more large fortunes in employing
eminent legal talent, il is stated as a
fact that she has mastered thoroughly the
law of the complicated case, and has been
for many years the real conductor of the
intricate business The general public
is gratifed at her triumph founded as it
is in justice and achieved after so much
toll and trouble.
The property she obtains is very large,
nearly all Of it being in louisiana and
the city of New Orleans 1t consists OF
immense cotton and sugar plantations on
the Mississippi river and its tributaries
and connecting bayous, city lots improved
and unimproved, and realizable debts for
large amounts. The total value is estis
mated at six or seven millions under the
inventory accompanying the papers that
have Just received the sanction Of the
court of last resort.
Mrs. Gaines is the daughter of Daniel
Clark and Zulima Carriere, and is about
sixty,four years of age Mr.. Clark, her
father, was born in Sligo, Ireland, and
came to this country on the invitation OF
a rich bachelor uncle, who made him his
heir. To the great wealth left him he
added greater wealth, and golden tide
flowed into his Golfers. Disagreements
arose between Mr.. and Mrs. Clark, and
in 1907 they separated No public ac-
acknowledgement of her marriage was ever
made, and Mrs. Clark again married. In
1881 Daniel Clark made a will, wherein
he recognized the legitimacy of Myra,
and devised to her his immense property.
Yet of this his daughter was kept in
ignorance. She was reared by Mr..
Davis, and knew nothing of her parents
or her rights. In 1892 she married VIM.
W. Whitney In examining some old
papers, by mere accident he obtained an
intimation of his wife's parentage and
claims.
She forthwith proceeded to an investi-
CATION of her case Z but before she. had
unravelled its mysteries her husband
died, from the violence and persecution
OF her enemies; and she, in the struggle
for existence, was left poor widow, with
three helpless children upon her hands.
In this extremity, though resolved to
establish her good name and her rights
as the one great purpose of her life, she
was shortly brought to the verge of de-
spair, when Major Gen. Gaines, of the
United States army, learning of her story
and her distress, and believing in the
justice Of her cause, sought her out in
her humble lodgings at New Orleans and
volunteered his assistance Such an
offer at that crisis, from such a
man, was like the veritable appears
anee of a good fairy. The Gem
eral was captivated by the fair widow !;
but, a chivalrous soldier, lie stated that
considering the disparity in their ages he
could not presume to talk of marriage.
He would leave her perfectly free upon
that point, but in any event she might
count upon his services in her cause.
The young widow accepted the offer and
the man, and as the wife of General
Gaines, worth a quarter of million, she
soon brought her case before the courts.
In the course of time the gallant old Gen
eral died also but not so did the pluck
and perastency of the offspring of the
Celt and the Creole. 1t knew no such
word as fail, and now at green andhale
old age, she is the wealthiest woman on
the continent