The St. Johns herald., 1889-03-07
MOSES TAYLca.s WIDOW.
Her One Remarkable y;-,ii-1 of Extraya- ! Gance Diagnosed by a COrres a:,sIent.

Her One Remarkable y;'ii-1 of Extraya-
 Gance Diagnosed by a Cores io3dept.
 There is a wealthy New Y ork widow who has Q church and 8 chaplain of her own, writes New York correspondent She is Mrs. Moses Taylor. The church was built by her at Long Branch at cost of about s70,O00. It is Presbyterian, and there is nominal board of trustees, but Mrs Taylor paid every dollar of the cost and is the owner outright. It is an ornate Cdiicc and one of its features IS a memorial stunned glass window inscribed to her dead hus- band. "Blessed arc they that die in the Lord," it says. The sinner might aid that they are considerably blest who live possess- ors of the enormous wealth accumulated by Hoses Taylor. He was rather loose and luxurious in his earthly methods Of blessed ness, but he prOfessed Christianity little while before he dled, and so the witness Of the window is not to be impeached. Mrs. TaylOr's chaplain is Rev. J. Fl. Young, who conducts the services in the church during the summer months, but it is at her com mand the year round, for she p.ys his sal- ary of s3,5O0 out Of her own pocket. This religious, benevolent and aIaiGble lady does not put on airs over being the richest widow Tn America The fact is, she ana cYerv- body else were astCnishcd by the amount of fortune left to her. One of the cxecu- tors of the will has just been telling me about it. The document cid not enurerate the testator's possessions, but merely Jumped the personal property, "consisting of bonds, stocks and otLer securities" The general impression had been that Taylor was worth fifteen to twenty millions. He had made great property ty i'm &iV1rr ships, but as to his investments he had never been communicative. On an ap- pointed day the widow and the executors opened the doors of the particularly so.iG vault which the old man had built into his o:-ice. This structure was banI7-iilzo in vul- nerability, and the investigators expected to find the proofs of ownership to the cx- tent of many millions in it. But they were not prepared for what they found The in- nermost compartment was large enough to hold certificates of stock and the like se- critics without folding. There was high stack ot these papers, lying nearly top of one GECc3cr, urWrinklcd and increased. They represented Taylor's investments in hundreds Of rGIrOads, banks, insurance companies and all manner of the soundest financial ventures. The amazed finders of this store of wealth handled them over in hGH-d2Zcd way for an h0ur or two Then ,-'oy set about making an inventory. When they cano to aid (hc totals 1t was seen that the market value of tho lot was about thirty millions, and when other property was added to this the aggregate reached forty millions, or more than double the current estimate. Taylor had disI!scd to figure as supcrlatively rich man, and, therefore, without any of the miser's instinct, had concealed the facts from even hls most in- innate friends. As to the widow and heiress, she denies herself nothing that her fancy demands, but shc is as unostenta- tious as her late husband, and her indul- gcncc in church and chaplain of her own constitutes her one remarkable whin of ex- tr2Yagance.