The St. Louis Republic., 1900-07-01

]. l.. White. the hero who lost his life
in fire. and the widow who claims
she was divorced without her knowl-
edge.
after the rope with which he had saved the
lives of others broke when he tried TO save
his own at the Baldwin Hotel fire, praise Of
his name was on every lip. and generous
sentiment of resret that such a man lad
paid for his heroism with his life stirred all
hearts. He was described as "A capitalist.
unmarried and with relatives in the East
II was not known that he had been granted
a decree OF divorce in 1854 by Judge Hunt.
nor was IL known that his wife, ignorant
of the fact that any such decree had been
entered. was then in Dawson City earning
her own living and wondering what / ad be-
come Of her husband
The story is .nid in q complaint filed IN
the Superior Court by Mrs Whites attor-
neys. Ii is alleged that the fortune White
left to his relatives was based upon N oney
loaned to him before they were married
him, and his Will. filed just after his
death. shows that he attempted to cut
her out Of any of his property by pr3vid-
ins 70, Tor any wife or widow who might
prove her Claim.
The plaintiff in the present action was n
Mrs. Jennie Tosney when she met White in
=
property IN New York. left her by her
husband hu, short time dead. and White
Was a struggling clerk in the employ q,
the old dry goods firm az Curtin & Co. He
wooed and WOE the little widow from New
York
She sold her property and gave him si7.-
Or. and then. OH May 30. 1879, she and
White Were married.
For two weeks they lived happily to-
getner, and then Mrs. White discD:ercd
that her husband was not leading the life
TaTIV Shn
braided him, and Ec told her ne had ie-
come 50 en:angled that he could not break
And then he made this proposition. She
was TO 20 East to her relatives and his
and for a year she was to travel in the
East. I'm Ireand-anywhere she pleased. IN
fact. only she was to remain away froIa
this coast. Fly the end Of the wear he
would have sold his business In .;an Fran
gether they would begin life anew in New
York.
Mrs. White did 30 East. She met her hus-
bands mother and stayed with her for sor,e
time. and then crossed the sea and visited,
Ireland. where she WAS born. and where
she had relatives. She came back tc New
York before the year was up. however. and
when she wrote 10 White and told him he
sent word back that she had done wrong.
Then In the spring OF 1854 she came to
San Francisco. White told her he had not
been able to break loose from his old COM
.
remained out here 1t would make II all The
She again wen, back East and waited.
but stu White had nothing more than
promises TO offer.
Up to a short time before his death. in
iss3 White and his wife carried on this
kind of a correspondence. and half dozen
times she came out here. some times for a
few days. some times for q few weeks. but
always White urged her to return and not
endanger him by her presence.
In 1896 She started to come to San Fran
cisco. but on her way out here she head
of the Klondike excitement. and changed
her course and went into the gold fields
In New York she had supported herself by
keeping a boardng-house, and she went
INTO the same S ouSlassS ,r IN IN va lawson, ana ana
heard of her husbands death.
When White died he was worth some
thing over sioo.0do. and his widow wrote TO
arrange whatever formalities were neces-
sary in regard to the share she thought
made no provision for her: that White de-
cared he was unmarried and chiidless. and
had provided for any possible wife that
looking further. Pierce found the record OF
the divorce granted I'm 1854.
He notified Mrs White at once. and she
started from Dawson few days before
Christmas She came out on the ice and
had n journey full of hardshps and perils.
arriving here last April. Work on the papers
in the suit was ut once commenced
Mrs. White rrays that the decree Of 6i-
vorce entered In october of 1884 he set aside
rs fraudulent and false. The divorce was
granted on the ground of desertior. There
is a record that summons had been pub
lished ard there IL an affidavit In which
Charles Koicmqn swears that he personally
served upor Mrs. White copy of tha di-
vorce complaint and n summons 20 appear
I'm court and defend the action. This. he
swore. was done in New York City. Mrs.
White declares she was never summoned.
nor did she know OF the suit until after her
husbands death and when Judge Pierce
wrote to her while she was in Dawson.
There are quite number of defendants
the relatives Of White. The divorce must
first be set aside. and then she will seek
to have one-haf OF the property dis
trihuted to her.
Why White secured the divorce Is what
his wife cannot explain. He was always
well spoken ir his letters TO her. and they
never quarreled. She has numbers Of let
tiers. dated before ami after the decree
which are flied with pleadirgs to he- 10