The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-07-08
FIoREss. BLfTHE'> MILLIONS.

ia. &4e ) tkfE 0ss4- aksg OF me SAFE
Thomas n. Blythe there IS no doubt: and
there Is 20 doubt THAI under the CaHfor-
ria law. which recognizes contract mar
rlaEes and fully legitisnatlzes children
Acknowledged by the father IN the prss-
ence az witnesses. she Is mis- heiress.- Vet
she may not enjoy that 10 which she be-
lieyes she has a stronger right than any
other.
The Blythe case Is one OF the most in
teresting in the annals of Jurisprudence
in this country. not only because OF the
novelty ot the law points raised IN II,
but because q the romance 0: d certain
character which enyelops II. Thomas II.
Blythe was an English pioneer OF Cali
fornia- Where ne came from nobody
snew. and duriRg hts residence Of more
than thirty years, during which he
moved freely among his feilow-fn men. the
secret Of hts life remained He accumu-
lated millions and became the owner Of
most valuable improved property in san
Francisco. living ia one Of his buildings
the life Of a bachelor and apparently at
sensation was created by the appearance
of woman who claimed 10 DC his wife,
accompanied by the little girl Florence.
then about or years old She told
that she had been married 10 Blythe by
contract, bst had been content 10 have
the marriage kept unrecoguized public
~. although no reason for secrecy has
ever been made apparent She was able
10 prove that she had met Blythe
while he was on a trip to England. and
produced a scrap OF letter IL which
Blythe promised TO take care of the little
one. His visits to the mother were also
established to some extent.
The publicity given 70 the remarkable
story and the fact that he was known TO
be an EngHshmau led TO the presentation
of a large number OF claims by people
in England. There were no less than
three distinct sets Of claimants one Of
which proceeded on the theory that
Blythe was not the true name OF the de-
ceased bat that for some indiscretion he
had fed from Liverpool. assuming the
MIA SO rich a prize naturally attracted
the best legal talent, and attorneys from
England. as well as from several claim
ants in the United States. were engaged
in the litigation. 1t ran through several
years, and was finally decided in favor
OF Florence, who had in the meantime
lost her mother by death and been mar
ried herself and in turn became widow.
This was one OF several cases Of mar
rage by contract that started in the Cal
ifornia courts after the death of nearly
every millionaire for many years. In no
case, however, was more sentiment mani
Tested than in this, especially during those
years, when the rich heiress was passing
through her teens and became mar
riageabie prize. The loose customs in the
early days of san Francisco had done
much to suggest and encourage laws
which took away from bastardy much of
the odium, provided only that some sort
Of agreement existed between the man
and the woman. So far as the California
law goes, there was no question that Flor
the leading case prior thereto II had been
decided that the requisite declaration
must be by writing. executed for the
express purpose OF changing the status of
the child. 1t was held that where in a
Will. the tcstator simply spoke OF the He
ultimate child a. my daughter" that
was not sufficient to make her an hei-. In
Indiana, another state which IS very lib
eral on the subject If a man dies without
any legitimate heirs resident in the
United States or children capable Of in
heGiting outside Of the United States his
Nlegi,imate children who have been
Acknowledged by him ia his lifetime may
take.
Now the Federal court steps in and
holds that although Florence Blythe may
be The natural child Of Blythe. she WAS
born an ilegiumate child while her pro-
geuitors were subjects Of England. The
court does not question that the law Of
descent Of the state in which the property
is situated VIII govern but it evidently
holds, which would be good law as a gen
eral principle. that the laws O: the state
could not affect the marriage status Of
persons wko were not citizens Of that
state or 81 the United states. OF course.
tho validity % n marriage * % be de-
term.ued by the Law Of the place where il
VAS celebrated Ordinarily. where g par
ty. upon n change 81 do9alcile. goes iato
smother stste or country. the personal
q. D. g ,