Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-21

IH@tEEP . originator. Neither
did he develop the resources surrounding
him. He had a knack for taking full tide,
and every tide he took bore him on to great
err fortune. He came all the way from Kin
derhook as a member of the first second
Congress that assembled in Washington.
He was a republican, and walked into the
White House arm in arm with Jefferson
over the ruins of federalism. He was ex-
PEELED from Congress for accepting the gen.
eralship of the District militia, and he had
his revenge in a kind of daredevil, Cata-
line Grafton against Congress, which gave
him national prominence at the time. He
localized his fame by marrying the richest
heiress in the city. Then, with the title
deeds of her property in his name, he turned
a harvest of brick and mortar from her bar
rem farm lands. He was president of one of
the largest banks in the city, well as one
of its heaviest stockholders, nearly all his
life. He was mayor of the town. He was
the idol of the hour. Everything he touched
seemed to turn to gold and silver. If he had
been Moses and struck Horeb with his rod
gold. instead of water, would have spouted.
He was breezy, too, and evolved mild
scandal after his wife's death by establish
ing over his palatial household Ann Wight,
runaway nun from the convent in George
town. People used to stop when the two
rode by, and indulge in backyard gossip.
But the tongue of calumny was never very
loud over the affair." for Ann was Johns
niece and John was AIMS uncle. If in
quisitive people inquired why Ann never
found reason to run away from the convent
In the lifetime of Mrs. Van Ness, surely
John could not be expected to answer the
question. He hadn't time. Besides he did
not know. After holding every office within
the peoples gift, and after a long life of
every enjoyment the world could give, John
Z. Van Ness went down as the sun sets in
splendor on summers day. And he left
behind the largest fortune existing in the
District to the day of his death, March l.
1916
A "Widow' Appears.
His heirs We're all collateral; they were
many and they were sensible. They did
not seek the law to settle the estate, but
proposed dividing it amicably between
themselves in a sort of tea-table fashion.
But the law was not to be sighted. If
the heirs would not go to law, why the
law would come to the heirs, and it did
cone in the romance of one of the most
important causes celebres of the District
of Columbia.
a matronly lady in black and tears liv-
ing in one of the houses belonging to the
Van Ness estate, refused to pay rem. to
the agent on his monthly call She wrote
letter to the heirs proposing to share the
estate with them, and minated In Ian
guaSe. gentle but positive, that she would
like the division to begin at once. In the
blacll-bordered letter she was very dicta-
torial. When the heirs demanded her au-
thority for such insolence she went into
the Orphans Court and announced herself
as the lawful widow of the deceased Gen.
John P. Van Ness by a clandestine mar
riage. legally performed. Her name ap-
peared in the directory as Mrs. Mary Con-
nor, and her advertisement in the daily
press as far back as 1885 announced that
ION Pennsylvania avenue one door east
from AZ street she could accommodate
summer or yearly boarders in rooms suita-
BILE either for single persons or families"
The heirs were Mortified at the thoughts her
language expressed, for one of them was
a Vermont governor and another New
York supreme court judge. They called
the widow blackmailer. The old Dutch
Van Nesses in pictures at Undertook
turned their faces to the wall and wept
at the disgrace Of a scion of their house
having his name coupled with that of a
Washington boarding house mistress. Men
wondered and laughed and laughed and
wondered. The topic was the theme of
every household. In the meanwhile a
jury was summoned to try the question,
rs Mrs. Conner Mrs. Van Ness?" Robert
S. Brent represented the interests of the
mourning widow; Joseph H. Bradley, Hen
ry d. Gilpin. former attorney general,
and Richard S. Coke, those of the heirs
The court room was densely packed dur
ing the three weeks trial, the legal COM
bats were many and well fought and the
stories from the witness box were spicy
revelations The chances for a verdict
either way were even.
Her Story of Courtship and Marriage.
Placed upon the witness stand under
oath the widow told her story, simple
enough, and consistent with truth in every
detail. She narrated how the festive John
P. Van Ness loved her. and how she re-
ciprocated his love. With a plaintive
tremor she dwelt upon their courtshp
days and his proposal, asking a private
marriage in Difference to his worldly posi-
ton until circumstances might suggest its
publication. She told how she accepted his
proposal and consented to his plan. She
detailed her journey to Philadelphia with
Van Ness, their appearance before an alder
man, officially empowered to tie the nuptial
knot and the solemniZaton of their mar
riage then and there. She took her we'd
ding ring from the third finger of her left
hand and passed 1t to the jury for examina-
his address, appearance and manner as
well as the day and hour of the ceremony
with exact minuteness. CroSs-eXamination
could neither weaken nor contradict her
in her testimony. She was even right by
the weather reports in her description of
the atmospheric condition of the day she
described as her wedding day. When the
widow left the stand every man said all
she needed was confederation and her case
was won. Van Ness stock was down; the
widows was up.
And then a series of surprises came as
thunder claps come in the lul of twilight
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