The Portland daily press., 1879-03-12
New York's Philanthropic Widow.

Correspondence of the indianapolis Journal.l
Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, the philanthropist
is now in Washington directing the medical
machinery which is to checkmate yellow fever
next summer. 1t must already have cost her
$4,000 or $4,000 Mrs. Thompson was poor
girl some years ago and got her living by Dress
making She was bewitchibgly handsome and
uncommonly bright and piqusnt, when Mr..
Thompson, rich young Boston merchant, Of
fered her his hand and fortune. After short
married life, he died and left her his entire
property, something more than million.
"Or rather, said she in a confidential mo-
ment, "he lef; me the interest on it; and have
never ceased to bs grateful that he put the
principal out of my reach. Every cent would
have been gone before this time if could have
got hold oft"
Finding herself young and attractive wild
ow with an annual income of $50 600, her ten
denotes and inclinations manifested themselves
in novel directions. She declined to have any
thing more to do with Hymen; she excluded
herself from general society; she thought and
passed through the phases of religious be-
lief from Untariansm to Rationalism and
heresy of the most advanced type, where she
still fingers; she was Mortified at the wretched-
ness around her, and invented methods of giving
away her money to the best advantage-that
is, where it would do the most good. For
years she gave thirty or forty thousand dollars
year in miscellaneous charity.
81 should think" said to her once, "that
this miscellaneous giving would give you, from
time to time some doubts as to its wisdom"
"Doubtsp she exclaimed, as if half afraid
Of herself; 'why, sir, have done more harm
than any other woman in New York;
L knew by her expression that she felt what
she said most keenly, though she smiled, for
it sounded so whimscally extravagsnt.
"You have seen harm come of it some
times?" l asked.
"Oh, often and much," she said "and do
not doubt that much harm has come of it
which never knew"
Therefore," she added, after minutes
thoughtfulness, 81 have mostly stopped miscel-
laneous giving to strangers. If you could see
the pile of begging letters l threw into the
crate this morning-and some of them without
reading through, though got the gist of all.
You would get an interior view of human
nature by looking over my mail, and it looks
DARK
"Do they ask for much,'' said.
"Every sum you can think of. One woman
requested the loan of ten cents, knowing i
would make it more or nothing, and woman
in Kansas asked me boldly to give her $4,000
lit wouldn't hurt me bit. she Said"
"I should think all this would make you
malevolent, or at least misanthropic," L ven-
tured.
at does make me feel rather streaked to-
ward the world sometimes" she admitted, "es-
pecially where have given my confidence to
some persons or cause and have been grossly
| deceived and robbed, which has happened Of
| tener than 1 would like to confess. And then
| it makes me fairly sick when my judgment
compels me to refuse money to Door men and
| women. l still give occasionally to promis-
cuous beggers in cases of peculiar suffering,
| bat know that much free charity breeds beg
gary rather than diminishes it, and there are
wiser ways to invest money"
Mrs Thompson's most striking features are
cheerful, coal-black eyes, and black hair, lying
| like pair OF ravens wings across the corners
| of forehead quite Websteran in form and
| size. Her head is large, her face comely and
| impressive, with sizable mouth and q square
| chin, the symbol of resolution. You feel thai
| you are in the presence OF no common charac
| ter Most of her talk is in the discussion oi
| phianthropic schemes; she Is bent on doing
| good as she finds opportunity. She is dee ply
| interested in the labor question:; indeed in al
\ questions which involve human suffering. One
| Of her largest gifts was the S25,O00 she paid
| last year for Frank B. Carpenters great paint
| ing the 'SigDiDg of the Emancipation Procla'
| nation" which she presented to Congress.
| will only add that Mrs. Thompion is abso.
| lutely alone in the world. She never had any
| children. She has survived her parents and
| brothers and sisters as we'll as "her neices ant
her cousins and her aunts". She is full of gen
| erOus Impulses and uvolo puI puses, Dut the,
mostly incline her to large sized phlanthrop.
to schemes which she can personally direc
and BE- certain that her money does what sh
wishes it to do. Though she has strikingl
fine face and is lady who could be decorated
to much aesthetic advantage, she robes hersel
uniformly in black, and dresses with almost
Quaker severity. She lives in developing va
rious plans of benevoence and finds little en-
| joyment, fancy, ontside of their realization.