The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-06-21
AARoY BUnN,s DAUaHrER.

Did She Meet Her Death at tho Hands oi Ocean Pirates-A Chain of Evidence, Con-
 tn ming some Links of sand, Indicating That This May Have Been the Beautiful Woman's Fate.
 From the Philadelphia Record.I Elkton, Md, June 4.-The story of
 how Aaron Burr's only child, beautiful young Theodosia, met her death at the
 hands of ocean pirates years ago, and
 how that fact was only recently estab-
 lished by the discovery of a portrait of
 her, rescued from the schooner from
 whence she was thrown Into the sea,
 is told in print herewith for the first time. Involving, as 1t does, the death- bed confession of one of the pirates
 who drowned the young woman, the
 tale seems more like fiction than veri-
 fled history; but there are persons liv-
 ing hereabouts who have verified it in
 detail, and who will youch for it's ac- | curacy.
 | Theodosia Burr, young woman of
 unusual mental attainments, was mar
 ried to the son of Judge Alston of South Carolina, relative of Washington As ton, the celebrated historical portrait
 painter MT and Mrs. Alison resided on their plantation near Charleston.
 When Aaron Burr contemplated return | ing from the extended visit he made to Europe after his trial, he wrote to Mrs. | Alston, to whom he was devotedly att tached, asking her to meet him in New York on his arrival there. MT. Aston, | engrossed with the business of the plantation, found it impossible to ac- company his wife. There being no rail- | roads in those days, and MT. Alston, deeming that summer trip from
 Charlestown to New York by sea would
 be less irksome to his wife than a
 stage journey by land, chartered a coasting schooner. In this Mrs. Aston set out. She took with her, as a pres
 ent to her father, a beautiful painting of herself, But she never reached New York, and down to the present day the fate of Aaron Burr's only child has been
 a matter of speculation among histor- fans, some oontending that the ves- sel and all on board were lost at sea, others asserting, that Mrs. Aston fell
 into the hands of pirates who in those
 days infested the Atlantic coast
 But the mystery has at last been
 cleared up. Its accuracy Is vouched for by the former rector of Trinity Epis- copal church, Elkton, clergyman welt known throughout Maryland and the Middle States.
 About five years ago this clergyman was visiting In his native state, North Carolina, and for several days was the guest of the widow of Dr. William Poole, near Elizabeth City. Above the mantelplece in Dr. Poole's parlor was an old-fashioned painting, exquisitely executed, of beautiful young woman, dressed in white, It so greatly inter- ested the clergyman that he asked Mrs Pool whom it was intended to rep resent. She then gave the following story:
 Eight years previously, she said, Dr. Poole had taken his family to pass the summer at the little coast town of Nag's Head, N. C., where the United States man'of-war Huron came to grief. The place is largely populated by "bankers" generally rough class of men, who mainly earn livelihood by picking up all species of flotsam and ietsam along the coast One of these "bankers," however, was a very respectable and very old fellow, named Mann. His wife was suffering from complication of diseases, and Dr. Poole took great in terest in her case. Under his treat ment she recovered, and as a token of gratitude to the doctor presented him with the painting which so greatly in- terested the clergyman. Mrs. Mann said her husband had recovered it from a wreck, When quite a young man he was walking along the shore one morning. His attention was then call ed to a coasting schooner under full sail, bearing swiftly down upon the dangerous bar, which in later years occasioned the loss of the Huron. With other ''bankers" Mann put out to her assistance.
 They boarded the schooner, but found that the only living thing aboard was a little black and tan dog Careful in- spection of the schooner proved nothing as to her antecedents. Even her name was not ascertainable. But one of the l cabins had been very recently occu- pied by a woman, and in this cabin was the painting which Mrs Mann gave Dr. l Poole, and which Mann appropriated as his share of the salvage. The schoon- CT shortly afterward went to pieces
 Dr. Poole was an enthusiastic student | of national matters. He felt certain | that the picture had very valuable | history, and formed suspicion that it | might have represented the mysterious