The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-11-10
A RICH MANS RICH WIDOW.
Some Facts and Rocollections of Mrs. Aleaar
der I. Stewart

der T. Stewart.
Mrs. Stewart always called her hls-
band .sHoney" and he always called hoy
"NIy dear.
Now that the millionaire and his
widow have passed from earth it is said
they never spoke harshlv to each other.
but always lived 4 devoted and happy
pair.
Mrs. Stewart survived her husband
ten years and six months. Her death
was comparatively painless The fuGtr-
al took place Thursday. At one o'clock
there was a private service at the beauti-
ful marble palace. The remains we're
taken to Garden City and the services
were held in the Cathedral OF tie Incar.
nation which was erected through Mrs.
Stewards muniticence. After the SER
vices the remains were deposited il tie
crypt under the altar and elaborate pre-
cautions will be taken to guard against a
desecration Of the grave
The death of Mrs. Stewart arouses a
fresh interest in the husband. One OF
the remarkable things about Alexander
L. Stewart was the brcvity Of his will.
It would occupy only four or five inches
and he disposed of fifty OF sixty million
dollars in less than five lines. Said he:
''First-All my property and estate,
of any and every kind Of description,
and wherever situated, I give and devise
and bequeath to my dear wife, Cornelia
N. Stewart, her heirs and assigns for
ever"
After appointing Judge Henry Hilton
his executor and directing him briefly
about the affairs OF the estate he added:
'For which service, as mark OF my re-
gard, 1 give to said Henry Hilton ST.
600, ,000."
There were number OF lcgacies 10
various friends, employees and servants
in the household.
When the death Of Mr.. Stewart was
made public Mrs. Stewart was consid-
cred the richest woman in the United
States. When the bequest of al her
husbands property to her was published
in the daily papers the enormous burden
put on her aged shoulders was universal
ly believed to be greater than she could
sustain. Fortune favored her, however,
and she sold to Henry Hilton al her
right and title in the business of y. T.
Stewart and Co., for the sum of $1,000,-
600 cash, which sum had been bequeatl-
ed to Henry Hilton by her husband.
Whether this was in accordance with a
pre-understanding Of Mr.. Stewart's de-
sire was never publicly explained,
though it was an open secret that such
was the fact. But that fact in nowise
altered the legal aspect of the case. She
was the absolute legatee and could have
done with the property precisely as she
pleased. That her action in parting with
a business believed to be worth from
twenty to thirty millions of dollars for
the comparative triiing sum Of one mil
lion, and that gift, was the sensation
of the day and excited widespread COM
ment.
The theft of Stewards body is still 4
mystery. Since the theft various expla-
nations have at different times been as
serted, the mostfrequent statement being
that the body had been privately recov
cred by Judge Hilton and placed il the
mausoleum at Garden City, but no state
ment has been authorized and supported
by any show of proof, and the where
abouts of the body Is still secret, which
the death of Mrs. Stewart may finally
open the door to disclosing.