The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1892-04-23
RICH WIDOWS.

Ihere Are many wealthy women OF
Whom the World Seldom Hears.
The marriages of Mrs. Marshall o.
Roberts and Nine. de Barrios remove
within very short period two promi-
nent names from the list of rich widows
of the country, At the same time there
are many of them left. A gentleman
who makes a study of widows, as it
were, informs me that he can name
thirty eight widows whose combined
fortunes represent more wealth than
that of any thirty-eight men in the
United States, barring the Astors,
Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Jay Gould,
John w. Mackay, Senator Stanford and
Mr.. Carnegie.
This lump sum of the value of the
country's widows Is of course measur-
ably increased by the widows in the
Astor and Vanderbilt families. Like
Sallie Hargous that was, and few other
people prominent in society, some of the
very rich ladies of New York and else
where have been 80 much exploited in
the newspapers that the public has
grown slightly blase on the subject. We
are falling upon sad times when the
| mention of ten-millionairess creates
no more of thrill than the news that
member Of congress has come to town.
And yet such is the melancholy fact.
Take the reporters old standby, Mrs
Hetty Green. She Is worth $40, ,0O0, 900,
or if she isn't, she has been told 50 often
that she Is that she believes it herself.
She has been written up q hundred times,
and the last reporter to write her up does
not scale down her fortune single dol
lar. So there it stands like an unf1inch-
ing and financial Gibraltar at $40, ,0OO,-
600. The tax man might tell different
story, but that Is neither here nor there.
Mrs. Paran Stevens is another wealthy
many write-ups stale. Her fortune is
usually placed, for convenience in writ
ing, at $5,0OO,0O0. l understand, how
ever, that Mrs. Stevens would sell out
at less figure, even If she lost money
by it. It isn't matter of much cOnse-
Quence, but the late Mr.. Stevens left his
wife, by will, the use Of his New York
and Newport houses, 100000 in cash to
be paid as soon as possible after his
death, and trust fund Of 81 ,OOO,0O
Recent litigation before Judge Ingra-
ham developed that these bequests had
been paid, with the exception of bal
ance of $265, 900 of the trust fund, and
that Mrs Stevens was indebted to the
estate to the amount Of $83,611. Still,
Mrs. Stevens Is very rich woman, and
the impression is that she is shrewd
enough to keep right on getting richer.
There Is quite long list of these ex-
cessively rich widows.
Some of the richest widows in the
country the world knows the least Of
And among these are some who do the
world great deal Of good too. Every
city has its wealthy widows, and if you
look over the glittering galaxy they will
in most cases be found to be women of
rare good sense, managing their affairs
with Judgment and bearing themselves
in very proper way before the world.
The fact that woman Is rich mans
widow is always something to her credit.
Men who do not have good wives to
help them in the worlds strife rarely
have the chance to leave rich widows.
How often do the people of New York
hear Of Mrs. Schenley, Of Pittsburg?
Yet she is worth geo, ,OOO, 900, according
to the estimates Of those who know
where her property is and the value of it.
Mrs. Thomas A. Scott, Of Philadelphia,
is modest woman, notwithstanding her
$5,OOO,OOO or more. Our neighboring
city OF Hartford has two or three rich
women. and one Of them, Mrs. Leonard
Church, worth 81, ,00O, 900, is not above
taking her outing in q turnout worth at
the outside figure about dxty-iive dol
Lars. / used to hear occasionally, through
some clever business turn she had made,
of Sarah Cataa- Of Kansas City. Shs q