Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-05-31
A WASHINGTON MYSTERY
SOCIETY PUZZLED BY A BEAU
TIFUL BLONDE,

the Announcement That she was Ii /
Bride Presidential Investments ii
Real Estate AT the CapitAI-kiiling tn
Goose That Lays the Golden Egg.
WASHINGTON, May 29.-For seyera
years past Washington society has beer
puzzling its brains TO unrayel tee veil
ofmystery which enveloped a woman to
whom every door was open and whose
presence at table was always consid-
cred a source for sincere congratulatlon
She was a blonde of tall and graceful
figure with prepossessing face and an
abundance Of beautiful auburn hair. She
was known as $40" Chosney and lived IN
asuite of rooms of which she was the sole
occupant. Washington people sometimes
remarked facetiously that she lodged at
home and took her meals out" This
characterization OF her mode of life was
not inappropriate as she certainly oitener
dined out than a. home, yet her presence
at the tables OF others was SO welcome
ami the invitations she received so num-
erous that she was never looked upon as
"a sponge" Another feature Of her life
which made her the subject Of common
was her apparent utter disregard tor the
to receiving gentlemen al her rooms, and
often gave dinners TO q few OF her more
Intimate male acquaintance. Frequently
she hastily quit ner rooms at miGnlgh; or
syen later and seeking out one OF her
friends OF the sterner sex won d make
tourof the sums of the city in search of a
mau who was always inebriated, when
found he was carried TO the insane
asylum. These midnight sorties were
a lad q : q : "A =
secrets by the participants, and the
identity of the man IN search OF whom
they were made was known to very few.
Despite all these eccentricities the wOm-
ans name was never polluted by even
whisper of scandal, ana lnslnuatlons
even Of anything wrong would have been
promptly resented in most vigorous fash.
ion had any been made in tue presence of
any OF the men by whom she was known.
In the Washington papers of the past
week appeared the notice OF the death of
George II. Butler. nephew of Hon. B. f.
Butler, of Nassac lusetts, and Immediately
beneath it notice Of marriage, which set
forth that George Butler had, in the State
OF Maryland, in the year 1880, been, by
the Rev. Byron Sunderland. ID. D., mar
ried to Josephine Chesney. When So
cIety read that latter notice, it opened its
ewes very wide, drew in it's breath, and
was for once astonished. The mystery,
which enveloped the life ofthe woman who
had puzzled society Tor years, had been
sOlved-sbe was the wife Of the hayward
nephew OF the eX-GOYernor's son. The
man whom she had braVed the slums 10
mud was George Butler. The woman
VINO had borne aud suffered in secret 50
long, in the vain nope of rescuing the
man she loved from his besetting sin was
born in Georgia, the daughter OF a Pres
byJerian minister. When the civil war
began she went u the hospitals, spend
ing tbs Sc four years il caring tor the sick
and wounded. Her first appearance in
Washington was as the Secretary of
Senator Patterson of SOu,h Carolina.
II was here that she met George Butler,
and as soon as his first wife Rose Eytinge,
khe actress, was divorced from him she
secretly married him. and undertook the
hopeless task of curing him of the lis
ease that had stood in the path Of his
honor aud advancement.
WASHINGTON REAL ESTATE.
Real estate in Washington is worth
dfty times as much to-day as it vas a the
beginning OF the century. Out of the
twenty live Presidents who have ruled tee
country, however, President Cleveland
is only the sixth TO invest in the city's
real estate. George Washington was
more tar sighted or more patriouc. pro-
badly little OF both, than most OF his
successors have been, and invested quite
a snug little sum in the city which was
named in his honor. Firsthe invested 1868
in a couple OF lots, on which he SUISSE
quently erected the three story brick resi-
dence which was his home when he lived
in the city. The property is in that part
Of the city which the engines Of the Balti-
more and OHIO road now make almost I'M
bearaOe. He valued the property IN 1888
at $40 eco. or as he expressed it,, thought
'it ought 10 stand him i'm that much
Washington also owned four lots on the
Anacosti8, three blocks from the navy
yard, Whlch he thought worth II cents a
foot IN 1883. IL may be worth a quarter
Of that now although boom has begun In
that section since a cable road has been
talked OF to connect 1t with the city by
rapid transit. Washington also owned
some property in Alexandria, then part of
the district for which he had refused
$4,000 just before his death. Some OF it
be leased perpetually alta valuation of So
foot. Gen. Washington estimated his
wealth at $5OO,OO0, most oft being real es-
tate. lie was, doubtless, worth much
more than that, and judges of real estate
say il is no eXaggeration 10 call him m il
llonaiTe. Had tue estate be left been kept
together and managed with his excellent
business sense, his represent alive would
today have been acenti- lliomaire. John
Quincy Adams was the second President
TO buy land in Washington. lie bought
the house on + street in which he
lived after he was President
on Aug. IA, 1923, paying S20,-
600 for the house and lot. Franklin
Pierce owned considerable prop.
erty IN Washington at one time. 1t was
on sixteenth street, and consisted OF va
Cant lots in a section that promised very
little toward becoming the section Offash.
i0nable residences that 1t now is. 1t is no.
known whether Mir. Pierce realized well
on these lots or not. Gen. Grant held one
piece OF property. Ia addition to the
house in Philadelphia gwen him by
citizens of that city be had a present here
OF the large mansion and grounds on
street, ia which the General hyed lust be.
fore entering the White House. In 1855.
the house and furniture were sold 10 & en-.
Sherman for $G4, 900, and The latter lived
Ia ~ while al the head Of the army. Gar.
field Was the last President 10 be free.
holder in Washington. In lSl0he bou sht
the little drab three-st0ry BRICK mouse on
the corner OF Thirteenth and streets, op.
pOsite Franklin Park. where he did the
hard work OF his Congress career. The
purchase just made 10y President Cleye.
land has already been heralded by tele
gram. While 1t is not actually piece o
city property II is in the district, and sui
dclently close TO entite him TO mentor
among the other Presidents who haV,
been real estate owners at the capital.