Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1900-08-30
TRAGIC RECORD.
THE HAvEMEYERS AND THEIR
CHAPTER OF SORROWS. q
A Favorite Son Killed by Accident and
Another by Disappointment--Divo
Heart Break, and supposed Suicide. -
A Cory Record.

The ninth In the list of tragic deeds
that have brought sorrow to a family
prominent in the worlds financial
circles was the recent mysterious death
near Ridgewood, n j.. of Mrs. Ma
talit Mayer, eldest daughter OF the late
Theodore Havemeyer, former sugar
king. One theory in the case is that
Mrs. Mayer committed suicide, but an
other is that she was murdered by a
woman as the result of quarrel. This
is but another OF the many strange
and violent deeds and deaths which
have followed the Havemeyer millions
for four decades and have caused it TO
be known as 'the family of tragedies. !"
The first of the Havemeyer tragedies
was the death of George Havemeyer
handsome young son Of old F.
Havemeyer, Jr., son of old F. C..
the great sugar house. II was one day
in 1862. The young man had gone iato
the great Williamsburg refneries to
learn the sugar business from start to
finish. He was % years old when he
was killed in the refneries His father
saw him die. The boy fell down great
shaft and never spoke again. The
fathers heart was broken. When the
building that lost him a son was
burned down later he said he was glad
of it. ...
And that was the first tragedy to
come to the Havemeyers.
Henry O.. Havemeyer became the
business head Of the great sugar trust.
To better improve what he had inher-
tied, he married Miss Louise Elder,
daughter OF the junior partner Of Have
meyer & Elder. All society was at the
wedding and a brilliant social career
was predicted for the happy pair. Chill
dren were born and everything
augured well for society's predictions,
but it was not to be. Despite their
millions. domestic contentment could
not be bought. Eighteen years ago
they were divorced, and the scandal
attending it tore deep into the hearts
of the Havemeyers.
Fate threw Clara Stevens Sutton IN
to the path Of William F. Havemeyer,
Jr., son Of the former mayor Of New
York. The purse-proud family were
against the match. The son loved her,
but the family protested strenuously.
Clara Sutton hadn't cent; he was
heir to millions. But she was beauti-
full and gifted They eloped. The man
was old enough to be Clara Sutton's
father, but she was infatuated. In a
month the glamor was gone, and in a
year she was forced to divorce him.
The family swallowed their pride, but
the second divorce within the same
decade had cut them to the quick. 1t
was another Havemeyer tragedy.
On the heels of the divorce came the
death Of the mother. Mrs. Sarah Have
meyer, and the contest OF her will by
her son. Charles w. Havemeyer, of
Philadelphia, with whom the family
had not been on good terms for many
years.
Theodore A. Havemeyer, brother OF
Henry o. Havemeyer, had spent all his
IS years of life battling for more
money. But there was one thing he
wanted that he couldn't get-the place
as United States minister to Austria.
His wife was the daughter of an Aus
trian. Chevalier de Loosely. Hers was
the ambition to go back to her fathers
land and shine at the emperor's func-
tions. But he never got the appoint
ment and in 1897 he died, broken
hearted man. Charley" Havemeyer,
his favorite son, followed him the next
year. Disappointment led to the deaths
Of bott.
The divorced wife Of William F.
Havemeyer, Jr., married an old lover,
who was considered wealthy, but who
awoke one day to the fact that he was