Omaha daily bee., 1885-03-03
DEAD AND
Virginia Gertrude Stevens Dies in
n New York Hospital I'm Pc
nuty-For Merely an
Actress,

NEW YORK, February 20.-Mrs. Nir-
ginia Gertrude Stevens, once a beautiful
%a:tress, the daughter of an old Cintin-
NATHAN, was buried In Woodlawn
try yesterday, having died a. the New
York hospital Monday. Her history is
one of the saddest. Years ago r. L,
Stevens, then a Cincinnati cattle dealer,
took q drove of cattle into Texas and
settled in the city Of Houston. He be-
came q merchant and accumulated a
large fortune. He was q prominent citl-
zen and was elected mayor of Houston
several times. On his death. bed he msr.
rled The mother of Miss Stevens, and had
bis daughter legitimized. The condi-
tlons OF his will provided that his wife
should support, maintain and educate the
daughter, Gertrude. and Immediately
upon her marriage $3.50, 600 should be-
come hers.
Even this large sum taken from his
fortune left the mother immensely
wealthy. They resolved to enjoy life and
see the world. Houston was too small
for their sphere of action, and they came
to New York. Gertrude was IL years
| old, but very precoclous and almost full
grown in size. Their stay In this city
was brief, and she winter of 1868 found
them In Paris, the daughter, scarcely ID,
but a young lady. Five years later they
returned to New York. Miss Stevens
was then highly educated. She spoke
several languages, and was beautiful.
Mother and daughter rented a neat little
cottage on Staten Island.
Henry j. Fiske, a handsome young
man, clerked In the wholesale drug store
of McKeason e Robbins, Fulton street.
One Sunday he took a jaunt to Staten
island and met Miss Gertrude Stevens.
The attachment was mutual to all ap-
p%earances, and several weeks after Nc
Kesson 81 Robbins received a nots from
Mr.. Fiske telling them he had married
Miss Stevens who was heir to $3.50, 900.
His wife gave him $4,000 to go into
the fur business at Montreal, which he
lost. The incompatibility of temper be-.
tween husband and wife became apra.
rent, and she intimated that she simply
made him her husband to get the sum
left by her father. Flake obtained con.
troll of tho bulk of her fortune. She
employed lawyer Sidney F. Sh%elbourne,
of 81 Wall street, to get a divorce from
her husband, end subsequently, to start
suit agoinst him to compel him to render
an account of the money. She vent to
Europe after the divorce and lived in
Paris principally. She frequently Wis.
tied Berlin, Rome, Nice and st. Peters-
burg. Her life was changed after her
separation from her husband, and she
became reckless. The American colony
in Paris, who had admired and received
her with open arms years before, refused
her recognition. The gay courtiers and
g~allants who once thropged around her
knew her no more, and the beautiful Ger
trude, who formerly could not ride In
the Bois de Boulogne without being the
oynosure of many admirers, passed unno-
tlced. She sank deeper and deeper Into
the glddy whirl of dissipation In gay
Paris, and aged SO rapidly that few of her
former acquaintences knew her when
they saw her. She returned to America,
expecting to get a decision soon In her
favor, compelling her husband to render
an account of the money he took possez-
sion of when he married her. She ar
rived last week on the Amerique from
Paris. On Saturday she went to the
custom house to see about getting some
fur released from duty, fell on Wall
street and hit her head, which brought on
tetanus and caused her death. On her
deathbed In the hospital she often spoke
In French, and recalled the happy days of
the past. She repeated the lines written by
the Inflated Queen of Scots, beginning,
"Adieu, pays PLEASANT di France" and
moved the nurses almost to tears. Mr..
Flske still resides in Montreel and coca.
slonally visits New York during the sum
mer.