St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-08-06
WAS She JAY GOULD'S WIFE?
Woman Claims She Married the
Dead Financier in 1853.

woman Claims She Married the
Dead Financier in 1853.
NEW YORK, Aug. 5.-A suit has
been brought against the estate of Jay
Gould by Mrs. John Angel on the
claim that she was his first and only
legal wife.
1t Is asserted they were married in
Rouses Point, N. Y, in 1853. She was
then Mary Brown. Gould was a young
engineer and the Rev. DIR. Clayton per-
formed the ceremony in the parlor of
his house. Gould at that time, was en-
ployed to survey the Ogdensburg &,
Lake Champlain railroad route. He
was then seventeen years old. The girl
was fifteen.
Mr.. Gould had taken no witnesses
along, and when it was necessary to
secure a witness a servant employed by
Dr. Clayton was called in. This SER
want has been found in a small Cana
dian town not far from the New York
state border, and according to the
statement of Mr.. Angel is ready to be
produced.
The Rev. DR.. Clayton is alive today,
says Mr.. Angel, and he is now living
in Pennsylvania. Several letters have
been received from him, and during the
last few days he has written that he is
making a thorough search among his
papers forhiS private memoranda of the
ceremony which he Inen performed.
Although he is an old man, his mem
DRY seems to be perfect, and he has re-
called many little incidents in connec-
ton with this event.
The story of the marriage certificate
is one of the most remarkable in con-
MI f1,o o1o+ - l,;e
ordinary case. Just at present the fate
of this certificate is a mystery. Mrs.
Angel says it was destroyed, and this
is corroborated by her husband, al
though he did not witness the alleged
destruction.
Mrs. Angel admitted, 1t is said, dur
ing the last week that after the de-
parture of Jay Gould from Rouses
Point she made no effort to communi-
cate with him and followed his career
with but languid interest. The story
goes on to say Mrs. Angel has a
daughter in the West, the first child
born after this marriage. Mr.. Gould,
says Mrs. Angel, left her soon after
the marriage and she never saw or
heard of him agin.
Lawyers in the case say it was a boy
ish freak. 1t was nearly ten years aft
er this that Gould married Miss Ellen
Miller, the mother of the Gould chill
dren. The lawyers say he probably
thought Mary Brown was dead, and it
is intimated he changed his name from
Jason to Jay to hide his identity.
Mrs. Angels allegations, If estab-
lished, illegitimatize the present family
of Jay Gould and upset the entire es
tate and throw into ineXtricable tan
gle the vast millions of the late million
aire. More than all this, if Mrs. Angel
establishes her claim, every title, every
deed and conveyance ever made by Jay
Gould is Initiated, according to the law
of the state.
The law firm of Amasa ]. Parker and
Amasa j. Parker Jr., of Albany, has
been retained by Mrs. Angel, and Law
yer Stern, of Rouses Point, is her local
attorney. Other specialists on tesla
mentary law have been retained
and taken into consultation. If the
case comes to trial there will be array
ed a most extraordinary number of dis
tinguished jurists in behalf of the de-
PENDANTS. The case of the plaintiff in
this suit is not free from legal compli-
cations