The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1895-01-29


On one occasion she went to masquerade
ball in the Pavilion appearing in the char
acter of Queen of the Night" wearing
magnificent jewels which she obtained
from the clerk.
Thus she carried on her plan of getting
even, and in the course OF years that fol-
lowed she got within her web number of
men of more or less prominence. Later in
life the woman returned to Haywards and
there met John w. Van Zandt, the son of
a prominent San Francisco physician. He
was q thorough master of the piano and
gave her music lessons.
Music and love became mixed. The
parents of the young man sought to part
them, but the greater their efforts the less
progress they made.
She left Haywards to return to this city,
and while she exchanged letters with the
doctors son she formed the acquaintance
OF an elderly man who managed her
money which she invested in mining
stocks, but when she got ready to give him
his passport she had induced him to invest
goodly sum of his money for her sole
benefit.
Then came her marriage to Van Zandt,
and after two years of welded misery en-
sued his confinement in the asylum for the
insane at Napa, in which place he died.
She induced Van Zandt, who was quite a
young man, to insure his life for large
sum.
Van Zandt, in one of his lucid intervals,
requested William Cogswell, an artist, 66
years of age, proprietor of the Sierra Madre
Villa in Los Angeles County, to act as
Maud's guardian in case anything ever
happened to him.
After Van Zandt's death she visited her
guardian, who helped her to get her late
husband s insurance, and there were money
transactions between them. What those
transactions were he and she only knew
but before her last illness she made a will
leaving everything to Coggswell. a few
DAYS before death claimed her she ex-
pressed herself displeased with the way
her guardian had invested her money,
threatened to deprive him of his trust and
told Florence Chaffee, who had been her
friend in sickness, that out of her belong
ings she could take whatever she liked.
Florence modestly selected the piano, all
the dresses, the elegant underwear and a
few trinkets in the way OF jewelry, but she
did not get thing, as there was no prop
erty to distribute after the debts were paid.
Mrs. Van Zandt's guardian applied for
letters of administration, but subsequently
relinquished in favor of II. G. Swain, who
in his accounts informed the court that
there had come into his hands the sum of
$1904 IS, out of which had been paid 1854 So
as part of the cost of administration, in
Guiding the administrator fees.
He further stated that claims amounting
to $265S 80 had been allowed against the
estate, but as he had $1,000 q on hand the
money would have to be divided pro rata
among the creditors One of these was
William Coggswell, the guardian, who pre-
sented two claims. One of Coggswell's
claims was "for money advanced Mrs. Van
Zandt, by draft and transfer, $1S45; small
sums delivered in person and by letter,
1882; total, $2767." Against this is a credit
OF $1645 %, leaving a balance of $1141 Y.
The figures given show what became OF
the woman's estate and that there was
nothing to distribute to William Coggswell.
During the inquest an inquisitive Juror
sought to ascertain the precise relations
existing between the guardian and ward,
and II there were any grounds to suspect
that the guardian would be benefited If
the ward was put ont of the way, but he
was not permitted to make the inquiry to
that end.
1t has been intimated that the claimant
for the diamonds is pretender. This,
however, Is not the case. The report that
he bad died shortly after being removed to
New York was false and sent to this city
by the father Tor the purpose of annoying
the mother. Several years after receiving
the false Information she obtained positive
proof that her son was living.
With all her faults Mrs. Van Zandt was
kind-hearted, generous and always willing
TO help those In distress, and, as Rev. DR..
Noble, who was pastor of the church she
attended toward the close of her life, said
at the funeral, ssIf ever there was a re-
pentant woman in this world it was the
one whose mortal remains were in this
elegant casket."