The times., 1899-07-17
MRS. IDA A. FLAGLER INSANE.
Unhappy Affection of n standard oil
sjngnnte's Wife.

New York. July 16.-Mrs. Ida A Flag
Ter, wife of Henry III. Flagler, OF the
standard Oil Company. is hopelessly in
sane. She is in Dr. Carlos F. Macdonald's
sanitarium, at Plcasantville, near White
Plains Her case Will soon come before
the Supreme Court, when a hearing will
take place before commissioners and
Jury so that she may be legally adjudged
incompetent. in order that committee OF
her person and estate may be appointed.
Mrs. Flagler's mental condition will be
learned with regret by her friends and
those of her husband. The fact that she is
insane has been carefully concealed from
the public.
Mr. Flagler is at Mount Arlington, y.
j., for the summer. When in the city he
lives at the Langham, 655 Fifth Avenue,
where he has made his home since his
wife's Illness. According to DR.. Macdonald
there are many phases of Mrs. Flasler
condition which justify him in asserting
that she is incompetent to manage either
herself or her affairs in consequence of her
mental arrangement He describes her
case as cne of chronic dslusional insanity.
This shows itself in various ways one of
which is imagining that she is being per
secuted.
In an affidavit made by DR.. Macdonald
he declares that Mrs. Flagler is laboring
under the belief that she is the Princess
Ida Alice Van Shotten Teck, and that she
bears evidence of royal heritage in her
arm. She also entertains a delusiGn that
efforts are being made TO poison her; that
she was never married to Mr. Flagler, also
that her husband is dead. She believes at
times that she Is much younger than she
really is; she is fifty-one years old
In addition to these delusions the phys
iclan says. she imagines the Car of Russia
intends to marry her. She imagines also,
that she holds communications with him
frequently through an unseen agency. Still
another deluslcn is that she was divorced
from Mr.. Fiagler two years ago, and will
never see him again. She has a delusion
that her brother Charles Francis Adams
Shourds. a Boston merchant, is a judge of
the United States Supreme Court and that
he was instrumental in obtaining the di-
yorce for her. She also believes she is a
great musician and poet, and beyond this
she collects large quantities Of stones and
pebbles. which she regards as rare and
valuable gems These she keeps in silken
bags. under the delusion that they are of
such great worth that they can be sold for
large sums Of money.
DR. George G. Shelton. of 521 Madison
Avenue, who was Mrs Flaglers physician
| before she lost her reason has also made
| IN affidavit corroborative OF that made by
Or. Macdonald. DR.. Shelton describes Mrs.
| Flagler's disease as progressive incurable
delusional insanity"
Mrs. Flagler was committed to DR.. Mac
! donalds sanitarium in March. 1897 pur-
suant to an order of Judge Gildersleeve.
of the Supreme Court, based on the certi-
| fcates OF DIR. Shelton and DR.. Frederick
| Peterson, both of whom declared that her
condition was such as to justify her deten-
| tion in a private institution for the insane
| She had been in the sanitarium OF DR..
| Choate. at Pleasantville. n. Y, for several
| years before her commitment to DR.. Mac
| dcnald's institution, but she was removed
| from there for time. and was taken care
| of at her country hCme at Mamaroneck,
being under the personal charge OF DR.. Ro-
| land Du Jardin and several nurses.
Her marriage to Mr.. Flagler took place
| on June ;. 1883. The couple have no chill
dren. She has been an invalid for severai
wears. She has a sister. Mrs. Matte john
son, who lives in Granville, n. Y. She
owns. In her own right, property. which is
mainly Standard OIL securities. valued at
about 81, 100000. She also has several hun
| dred thousand dollars in bank. and In
| addition to this owns real estate at st.
Augustine Fla. Mrs. Flaglers father was
| an Episcopal clergyman, OF Philadelphia.