Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-10-26
FANNY DAyENPoRT's ESTATE n
VALUED AT ONLY s55,OOo.
SURPRISE FOR HER RELATIV
1T HAD BEEN SUPPOSED SHE w
WORTH HALF A MILLION.
She Had Been Very Wealthy. Il
ShrinkaEe in VaIues and Disas-
trOus Theatrical Ventures
Had Eaten Deeply Into
Her store.

NEW YORK, Oct. 2J.-When Fanny Dai
export made her will in 1892 she considert
herself to be rich-one Of the wealthiei
American actresses Of the day. In deediIi
the bulk OF her fortune to her husband
Melbourne MacDowell, she considered ths
she left him at least $4,000, and. If a
went well with her investments, that i
might receive even much more. That wa
in 1852.
When Miss Davenport died recently thos
who knew her best said that her wealt
was greater than generally supposed; tha
Fanny Davenport was business woman d
well as an actress; that she attended !
her own affairs and kept her own counse
letting no one know all that she had accu
mulated in a long ana prosperous CareeI
that the minimum of her fortune was $50
900, its maximum SCJyog5, and that, in leay
ing SJO.000 TO her relatives, she had cut ther
off with comparative shilling and tha
Mr.. MacDoweA by the will became pos
sessed practically Of $4,000; that the youn
actor was made wealthy for life.
1t was this that lent belief in the repor
that the relatives, to whom the actress wa
greatly devoted, would contest the will an
dispute Mr.. MacDowell's receiving such al
enormous sum. As d further evidence O
her wealth letter that she left was point
ed to-not holding in law, but binding Il
misunderstanding additional remem
brances to relatives in the way of jewel
estimated at $1,000 and costly library ol
which she was said 10 have expended $4,000
and many valuable personal effects. Tha
was in 1888.
How rich she considered herself TO b'
was shown in this addition of perhaps $40,
900 to previous bequests. But she was no
cutting deep into Mr.. MacDowelrs fortune
la 1,o1a ma pn hA .
her estate, was TO go TO her husband
houses, lands, bonds. There Were thos'
who believed that when the Danbury coun
ty house was searched, safe deposit com
panies visited, her lawyers tnterrogated
land registers searched, il would be fount
that even the $500. 900 mark would be passed
in the final accounting of the accumula
tions of some eighteen years starring o.
one Of the most popular IN, women tHs sIn, on IN.
American stage. Wait ull the estate
examined" they. said.
The estate has been examined. a careful
search has been made for deeds, p0nds
property of any and every kind. II has beer
counted up in money and estimated wnefe
ii was in property and here is the result:
The relatives will receive about SSg,VN ir
Mr. MacDoweII will receive about $4,000
That is believed TO be all that Is left oi
Miss Davenports estate.
That II was once great estate Is con-
si0ered undeniable-how great no one
knows. What has become of it is not
known now. How II dwindled, Shrunk,
took wings, flew away, 1t Is impossipie 10
Former Judge A. ]. Dittenhoefer, Miss
DaYenports lawyer and counsel for Mr..
MacDoweIl, was seen to-day and asked X
he could give any information as to the
dwindiing of the estate. He declined pos
itiyely to say anything upon that subject
or snswer any questions about the VIII
or the value of the property.
% The authority for the statements in re-
gard to the discovered state of affairs Is
undoubted. And the same authority said
she undoubtedly believed herself as rich
as or richer than the public estimated her
wealth.
I'll is true that she was very rich. but
shrink greatly since she made her will, "
says this gentleman. Then, again, she
had met with some serious losses in her
theatrical ventures, as to which she kept
her own counsel Thirty thousand dollars
was eaten up in no time by one play that
she produced. She was extremely liberal
10 her family. She lived well, but not ex-
trayagantly-still she spent money. Some
of her seasons, presumably successful,
were really disastrous.
Her Chicago property, reported as i'm
menSely valuable, on examination proves
TO be unimproved real estate, of great
value perhaps when the boom was on in
that particular section of the city: but Of
little or no value now-perhaps $4,000 or
Sl5VgO above umbrances. Her jewelry,
believed to be worth $4,000. has been COL
lected by the executors; what they find
she had at her death is perhaps worth
$4,000. Her plays are of problematical
Nalue-not very much-perhaps, though,
they We're of value to her. The DuXbury
property is perhaps worth half the amount
she estimated It at. Some of the bonds
she held are practicauy worth little or
nothing. And so on.
Il don't mean to say that she never was
very rich. She was very rich, but her es-
tate had dwindled at her death to only
enough TO pay the special bequests to rel
atiyes and $1,000 to her husband. OF
course, If nurSed, her estate viii! bring
something more. If its sale is rushed it
won't even bring this much.''