Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1895-04-29
WORE ACOAT OF MAIL
rHg NOTORIOUS BENsLEy CASE RE-
vIvED IN SAN FRANCISCO.


Not Know TIL Recently His Real Iden.
sity-shameful Life Of . Worldwide Ad'
ventures.
John Bensley, who died June II, 1889,
was one of the best known citizens OF San
Francisco. People regarded him as ono OF
lhe set of moneyed men, placing him with
Mills, Ralston, Friedlander and other mul.
timillionaires.
Time however, developed that this man,
who had been spoken of as "publio spirit
ed, enterprising, broad and generous, and
whc had linked his life with that of beau
tifuI cultivated and designing woman,
was weak, close flsted even mean, and
neither Of the couple appeared to have
code Of nice morals or to be possessed ol
particular scruples.
Facts In the careers OF the Bensleys even
stranger than fiction were developed In the
celebrated Bensley case which occupied the
attention Of the United States district
court for years and which was brought to
o judicial termination In December, 1893
Some time In 1857 or 1858 Mrs. Gre
VILE appeared in California. She said that
she was o widow of George Greville, men,
ber OF parliament, and daughter of the
Earl Of Evelin, Scotch nobleman. She
was handsome fascinating, had travelled
much, could Speak In several languages
and possessed In a rare degree those quail
ties which fascinate men.
She met John Bensley and beguiled
him. Mrs Greville became Mrs. Bensley.
Soon after the marriage the couple went
70 England. Mrs Bensley reached Lon
don first. She represented to tho husband
that she had a castle in Scotland and
town house In London-a stately mansion
In the west end.
Bensley followed, but instead of finding
his bride In mansion surrounded by no
blemen and ladies she was in an ordinary
London boarding house. "How Is this"
he exclaimed. "Not in the mansion of
the Evelinsl" Bensley was forgiving
however, and he and the charming widow
were married over again at st. Georges
chapel in London.
Later they returned to San Francisco,
and the shrewd and cunning woman min
gled with her husband in nearly all his
business affairs For some reason they
conveyed considerable property in San
Diego to Bertrand G. Chandos. In near
ly all communications between Mrs. 'Bcns-
ley and Chandos she appeared as his aunt
and he as her nephew. There was no hint
OF closer relationship.
In 1877 the trouble came. Although
Bensley was supposed to be very wealthy
man, the firm of Linforth, Kellogg & Co.,
Of which he was member, became flnan-
cially embarrassed and went into insol
vency. The creditors became suspicious,
and In the litigation that followed an ex-
traordinary condition of affairs was devel
oped.
1t appeared that after the failure Bens-
ley induced the assignees to enter into an
agreement with him to release his indi-
vidual property and for the discharge Of
all his debts Bensley, having secured
control of his own property, Immediately
proceeded to make the fulfillment Of his
agreement an impossibility by fraudulent
ly conveying all his estate to his wife and
secreting himself from his creditors by go
ing east. Piece by piece his real estate was
transferred to mysterious relatives Of his
wife and by them decided back to her.
For 12 years this remarkable woman,
who was popularity supposed to wear coat
OF chain mail, withstood the questions Of
able counsel and never gave clew as to
band had been secrcted. The litigation
was still pending at the time of her death,
she surviving her husband by only six
months.
Another chapter was added to the re-
markable story Of the Bensley estate re-
Gently by the filing of a suit by Edward
A. Macmahon, who claims to be the nat
nral son Of Mrs. Bensley and her lawful
heir, against B. G. Chandos and others to
whom the estate was recently distributed
by an order Of the probate court
1t Is claimed that since the death of Mrs.
John Bensley some most extraordinary
facts have been discovered as to her no.
mantle career prior to her marriage with
Bensley. The adventures who claimed
to be the widow Of Lord Greville and re-
lated to the noble house Of Evelin wa.
one Of eight children born to John and
Mary Ingles in Virginia She was mar
ried three times Soon after marrying
her first husband she left him, and he OBJ
tanned divorce on the ground Of willfu
desertion.
She was thought by her relatives to b,
dead, but later on was heard from in Eng
land under various names, among then
Mary l.. Chandos and Lou Guise In 1861
she married Edward A. Greville, but
seemed to have no better fortune thar
with her first husband, for they soon quar-
relied and separated. She then came tt
this country and gave birth, in the stat,
OF Virginia, to the plaintiff in the action
She left the boy with her mother and CAV,
out that he was dead The object of thi.
was to deceive the father Of the child, whs
came to this country to search for him, ant
becoming disheartened left for parts un
known. To make the deception more per
feet she changed the boys name to Mac
mahon.
After Greville disappeared Mrs. Grevill'
went to California and married Bensley
After this marriage she had the bo,
brought to her in California. She pait
for his support and also for his education
he attended a school in San Mateo an,
afterward went to the university at Berke
ley. To some of the teachers In thcs
schools the boy was known as Mrs. Bens
ley's son.
B. Q. Chandos, who appeared in the cas-
Of the itigating creditors of Bensley a
having had some propertv In Gan Dieo