Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-15
DEATH Of
I. B. LETTER
Had Many Friends and Ac-
QuaintanceS in Montana.
NEPHEW OF L. Z. LETTER
Made and Lost FOrtunes--His Marriage
EStranged Him From His
Uncle.
OF L. Z. LETTER

Letter, of Chicago, and a cousin Of Lady
Curzon, wife of the viceroy of India, is
dead. His death occurred at Mount
Hope retreat, near Baltimore, last Mon
day, news of which was received in
Butte yesterday. Mir. Letter was we'll
known and had many friends in Butte,
who will regret to hear of his demise.
Until about four years ago he managed
the Letter mine, his uncle's property,
which is situated in the Tobacc Root
range about IL miles above Sheridan.
The Chicago Chronicle, of recent date.
contained the following special announc-
ing Mr.. Letters death:
'Baltimore, Md, Dec. ii T. Benton
Letter of Hagerstown died at Mount Hope
retreat here this morning. Mr.. Letter
was a nephew of Levi u. Letter, the Chi
cago millionaire, and for a number of
years was engaged in business in Chi
cago. He amassed a fortune, but lost
nearly all of it. His health gave way
recently and a general collapse follow
ed. Mr.. Letter was 35 years Of age. He
leaves a wife, an actress, who is in New
York. His remains will be taken to
Hagerstown for interment.
Some time ago Mr.. Letter was sum-
Moned to answer a suit instituted in Chi
cago by Levi z. Letter and w. b. Walker
against himself and the State bank of
Bloomfield, I'll. 1t appears that Levi
Letter Endorsed T. B. Letters note for
100000 in favor of Silas r.. Cobb. Pay
ment was secured by the conveyance Of
certain property to w. b. Walker as
trustee and the suit was brought to en-
force the sale of the property held by the
trustee"
Mr.. Letter was sent out from Chicago
by his uncle to manage tle Letter mine
early in the '90s. He was not a mining
n n11 r,r1,r hi~ al 90, -; ,,0 tow, tl,-
property did not pay, but Leiterville and
the surrounding country doomed because
of his li,eral management. He was a
very eccentric individual, strong in his
likes and dislikeS, as many OF the resi-
dents of Madison county have reason
10 know. To his employees he was a
prince, and on one occasion he paid the
fares, overland, of all his men, number
ing about 1GO, from Leiterville to Vir-
ginia City. on the occasion of a Fourth
of July celebration, in order that his men
might enjoy themselves and to make the
Virginia celebration a success. He
built a handsome home at LeitervilIe,
where he entertained mis- friends in royal
fashion. and the place was the summer
rendezvous of young Joe Letter and the
gilded youth of Chicago
Letter enjoyed the favor of his rich
and powerful uncle, and the old man is
said to have thought more of his nephew
than he did of his son. He put money
making opportunities in his way. T. Ben
ton took advantage of these opportuni-
ties and made fortunes which We're quick
~ d~isSipated.
Young Letters e~strangement with his
uncle came about through his marriage.
He became desperately enamored of Mrs.
Kate Churchill, the wife of one of the
employees of the mine. Mrs. Churchill had
formerly been a waitress in a Butte hotel.
She was bright and pretty. and recipro-
plta1 Letters 1TfPrflOn She wont fn
Denver, secured a divorce, and Letter
married her. This brought about a quar-
rel between the nephew and L. u. Letter,
whose daughter. Mary Letter, was then
engaged. to Lord Curzon. The quarrel
was a bitter one. Young Letter refused to
give up his wife. He was deposed from
the management of the mine and thrown
upon his own resources, and the young
man whose personal expenses had an
nually exceeded $40, 900 was forced to ac-
cept a position as a bookkeeper in the
office of the Chicago Street railway COM
pany at a modest salary.
1t is to his wife's credit that when the
of adversely came, she did not de-
sert him. 1t was popularity supposed that
she had married him for his wealth and
social position, but her affection was of
the right kind and with the ebb-tide of
his fortunes she set before herself the
task of doing something for her husband.
Her ambition was to shine on the stage.
The dramatic critics of Chicago and New |
York We're interested in her. through
some of her husbands friends, and COL
Of fairy stories We're written about
her. She was described as a bright speci-
men of western womanhOod, who was
destined to become Il star. But the adver- |
tisement of the Letter name and the clev- P!
er stories that We're written about her, did
not serve to stampede the theatrical pub
lie in her direction. Her stage carer. as a
star, began in New York and was a fall
ure.
Young Letters illness made itself mani