The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-12-31
old. FADED LETTERS
Worth Thousands TO the
Claimants of the Wealth
|0F A DEAD ADVENTURES
Who Strove All Her Life to
Conceal Her Identity.
OF A DEAD ADVENTURES

ugerrotype-these were the bits of cir
circumstandal evidence that decided the
contest over the estate of Fanny Sweet
and gave her rightful heirs fortune of
s54, 765.
Justice Monroe of the Supreme Court,
has just handed down the decision in
the celebrated case of the succession of
Fannie Minerva Seymour, or Hinkley, or
Brown, or Smith, or Sweet, as you please.
II was bitter contest, though, and
Charles Clinton Brown, of Sacramento.
Cal and Mrs. Rosanna McVey Fuller.
or Huntington, ". Va, are now proved to
De brother and niece of the dead woman,
whose life was spent in the gay under
world of New York and New Orleans in
nygone days. She died in 1896, after a
lie in which she was the adventures in
haf dozen international episodes.
The issue at stake was solely whether
Fannie Minerva Seymour, who left the
$4,000 fortune in United States bonds. was
really Rachael Fannie Brown, of Law
renee country, Ohio. The woman herself
had repeatedly declared that she came
from England on the ship Waterloo in
1916, and had no living kin So the state
prepared to take the fortune to itself by
virtue of the authority of the Public Ad-
minfstrator. Then appeared Mr.. Brown
and Mrs. McXey with their claims and
relationship and after three years of
thrashing though the courts they proved
that they were the woman's kin, and
that she had not been born in London.
n no IN Mt
The establishing of the case hacked up
Fannie Browns life from her cradle in
squalltd little settlement-Paddy Creek,
Ohio-to her death in gilded den in New
Orleans three-quarters of century later.
Her parents were very poor. Two of the
daughters went to the bad-one was Fan
ME.
She drifted to New Orleans in 1S47 and
married worthless fellow named Smith
There she parted with her sister Henri
eta, who went westward with the crowd
of argonauts seeking gold in California
in 1S49. Henrietta left her little girl, Cor
della, for Fannie to care for, and she
put the child with her married sister
Mrs. McVey, whose daughter, Mrs. Full
Ter, was one OF the claimants
Young, dashing, handsome, attractive
Fannie Browns life in the sunny South
and golden West reads like a novel She
followed her sister West and eventually
became prOpriettress. in Sacramento, of
THE Palace" A place the least said
about it the better In 1853, her California
career was brought to- sudden close. She
Shit stage driver named Putnam in a
drunken melee in her place, narrowly es-
capped lynching, was sent to San Francis
co on prison boat, gave bail and jumped
her bond. Ca1iforniaenever saw her again.
Returning eastward bysway of Panama,
she met Abraham Miller Hinkley, scion
Of rich New York family, and mar
ried him. She tried to glide into respect
ability now, but the old spirit awoke af-
ter three years and she slipped away
once more to enter the whirl of New Or
leans as Fannie Sweet
Her modest behavior convinced many
that she was a wronged wife. Two New
Workers Of great prominence-C. A. Stet-
son, proprietor of the Aston House, and R
NJ. Blatchford a leader of the New York
bar-wrote letters attesting to her great
good character when she sued her broth
er in law, McVey, for SANDER. Her law
yer at the woman's suggestion. had writ
ten to these gentlemen and received the
most fiattering epistles in reply.
Forty years afterward when she died
old and broken by a lifetime of excess.
a search of Fannie Browns effects
brought to light sealed envelope, on
which lay the dust of half a century. On
the back of it was this:
Kind Friend: VIII you please, at my
death, burn this package and oblige the |
dead? I will plead for you in Heaven if !
you do as I wish and burn this package. /
MRS. FANNIE NJ. HINKLEY. |
But the envelope was not burned It |
was opened by the order of the court In |
it was the old time decree of divorce |
granted her from Hinkley and the two |
faded old letters certifying TO her good |
character. They had been obtained by |
duplicity. but she treasured them just |
the same. 1t was one of the little fronies |
of life that the one thing that she had
kept as her greatest prize should have |
linked her to a past which she tried so |
hard to evade
In 1851 she sailed for England in mans |
clothing as the companion Of -'ohn Lin !
coin. who had commfSsio~ ~ pow /
der abroad for the COME Il Govern |
ment Soon after Lincoln died g ,hIy. /
and the notorious Mrs. Hinkley t.C9
to New Orleans. She was never -
accused OF causing his death W
shadow Of the tragedy rested or
for many years. She actually reco. y
5000 as her share Of the proceeds Of
contract
She married William Reed Mills at the .
close of the war and actually died %
starvation in 1Ses. never letting a word /
drop about her Ohio family. She always /
declared she was English
Two Witnesses actually went on the 1
stand and swore they had accompanied 1
her across on the ship Waterloo n 1886. 4
But the New York Custom House pre- 4
scented the ships passenger list and Meth /
e. The Witnesses names nor Mrs Sew /
mour's were on Il. Another striking piece I
Of evidence was a daguezroty2e of Mrs. /
Fannie Brown. The Mfsc-ope showed /
that The pair n earrings in the picture .
were The same as those produced by Mr. /
Fuller. who swore she got them from her /
aunt. Mrs. Brown the original Of the pic /
ture
This settled The case Mrs Browns idsr- 1
lily was clearly proven. hard a she had
tried in life 20 hide IL, and in 3 Eek
days her brother and niece viii get the
money Il only nee Is The transfer % The
bonds in which toe n mex is an invested
Ne~ York De- 2t-The cruiser Prairie
has csmpIered The ual #.7~ - he- cargo
% exhibits fo- The Pa-I- Ezxpasll.1a A.
Havre. and vi san tosav from mat
port tor New YORK TIE Prairie VIII take