The Helena independent., 1889-11-01
How Clara Huntington's Mother
Views Her Daughters Marriage
TO the German Prince,
Bought With the Magnate's DOL
lars and sold to the Man
With the Title"
sac is the Adopted Daughter of the Million.
sire and Her own Father wa.
Groceryman

iu the hands of its readers, Clara Hunting
ton. or, more properly speaking. Clara
Prentice. heiress TO all the millions OF CONS
p. Huntington, whose adopted daughter she
ia. will be the wife of the scnpegrace Ger
man prince, Francis Hatzfeldt, says the san
Francisco Examiner. While the bells Oh
Brompton church in "Merrie England are
pealinc forth the wedding chimes, a woman
whose form is bent and whose hair Is whit-
ened by the storms of seventy years VIII be
mourning in San Francisco for daughter
who il dead 10 her forever. The broken
hearted old lady is Mrs. Prentice and the
dauphter for whom she weeps il the lady
who this morning becomes Princess HAITI
feldt.
Instead of placing orange blossoms on her
daughter's head this morning, the aged
mother. 6 200 miles distant from the we'd
ding ceremony, Ilace ilacs on omb
The heiress whose adopted fathers dollars
bouoht her a husband with name written
high up i'm the list of Germany's nobility
never knew who her mother was until she
reached the age of fourteen years. Mheh IL
downed upon her that MIR. huntingdon
whom she had always been taught to call
father, was in reality not her parent, and
that his wife was not her mother, the blow
was such shock to her that she WAS pros
trated by severe illness.
Mrs Prentice has never known Claras
lips TO frame that hallowed word-mother.
When by accident they chanced To meet
few times the heiress has maintained cold,
austere demeanor. and has never Ventured
beyond extending the tips of her fingers for
her mother to grasp. There have never
been any of those afiectionnte intlnacles
between them that mark the lives of other
mothers and their daughters.
Twenty-seven years ago Clara Huntington
WAS born in Sacramento. Edward Prentice,
an obscure groccryman of the Capital City,
was her father. They had another child,
son, Edward IA. Prentice, who il now
clerk in the railroad building AT Fourth and
Townsend streets. Coils i. huntington
married a sister Of Mrs. Prentice, and still
another sister is the wife of John L. Hayl-
land, VINO is connected with the liquor house
of Wilmerding & Co.. and who lives IN
richly furnished residence at 1909 Van Ness
avenue.
In the great flood of 1862, that left death
and devaston III the valley of the Sacra-
mento, the father of Clara Huntington was
drowned. He left nothing but poverty as "A
legacy TO his widow and orphans. Hunting
ton had no children 10 brighten his mansion
with their presence, - his vile offered 70
adopt and care for her sisters baby girl,
who was not born until after her fathers
death.
The poor widow fought brayely To provide
for her children. but the fates were against
her and she was worsted in the struggle.
Huntington got the baby. He was not
then the great railroad magnate whose name
IL known IN the four quarters of the globe
to-day. But there came a change. The
golden spike WIS driven in the last rail of
the Central Pacific railroad and Hunting
ton was power in the financial world al
most before he knew it.
During the years that followed her adop-
tion 10y the Huntingtons Clara was not en-
lightened as 10 her real parentage, until a
gentleman calling at her adopted fathers
residence unintentionally allowed II few re-
marks to pass his lips that opened up to her
the truth.
She called upon Huntington for an ex-
PLANTATION, and he related 10 her the facts III
the case. For long time after that Incl
dent Miss Huntington wiis despondent and
refused To be comforted. The knowledge
that she did not have mn undeniib bic right TO
the name she bore peyed upon her mind.
She was nj that time about fourteen years
old.
The old order of things was not changed
however. So Mr.. huntington aud his wife
were as they always had been. papa" and
mamma" Her mother and brother were
'auntie" and cousin" Her depressed
spirits continued. and Huntington thought
change of residence would cifnce from
Clara's mind the phantom that haunted II.
besides placing her where daily association
with the mother and brother, whom she
longed 10 forget. would cease to remind her
OF the fact that she was not his child.
L..
there until her education was completed
and she entered society.
Mrs. Prentice was III the meantime es-
tsblished i'll house which Huntington had
provided for her On NJ. street IN Sacra-
mento.
When Miss Huntington met her mother
on the occasion of her first visit to Califor-
MIN after erlong absence there WAS nothing
but the iciest formality visible on the part
of the young woman. The glamour of
wealth and society had done its work; the
child was estranged from the mother who
bore her into the world. Clara avoided
meeting her mother on every possible ocoa
sion, and her brother suffered likewise.
So II has been through all the interyen-
ing years.
Clara has visited her native state often.
but To her mother she has been hut little
better than a stranger.
a llttlt over u year HEO NllSh huntington
was in Chicago. Her brother went there
for the purpose Of seeing her. She heard of
his coming and before his arrival she had
sailed for Europe. Mrs. IL. Meriens, the
wife Of grocer at 1892 Mission street, and
who resides mt ~ Fulton street. has a daugh-
ter bya former husband married 10 the
brother of the heress, Edward Prentice,
who resides at 22i Devisadero street.
From Mrs. Mehrtens the facts concern
ing the strained relations existing between
the child of the sacramento groceryman
and her mother were obtained. Mrs. Mehr-
tens blames Mrs Prentice roundly for Civ
ing Clara 10 the Huntingtons and SAYS that
she deserves no better treatment at the
hands of her daughter than she now re-
ceivea.
"Clara has never been legally adopted by |
Huntington" said Mrs. Mchrtens IN con- |
tinuing the interview. II know this from |
her mothers lips, but suppose the long |
time she has been under his care gives him !
a legal claim upon her. Mrs. Prentice was |
in 10 see me to-day, and she was the most |
s0rrowful woman | ever SAW. She mid to |
me: To-day ! am going 10 the funeral Of |
my nephew II Is very sad affair, but TO-
morrow will be the snddest If my life. |
10 me my daughter will he buried, for after |
she becomes the wife Of Prince hatfield /
never expect 30 see her face again..
Then tue poor lady burst into tears
and would not be comforted. Miss Hunting
ton never consulted her mother about her
marriage. and that fact almost broke her
heart
'She will never be received in the Ger.
man court circles. Dollars do not carry all
before them there. She must have lineage.