The evening world., 1903-02-27
Lawyer Robert n. Waite,
Whose Daughter She
Claims to Be, Pays City
sos a Year for Her Keep
NOT HIS CHILD, HE SAYS.
Attorney Declares that Young
Woman Is the Adopted Daugh-
ter of a Brother, Now Dead,
and Signs Contract with City.

The strange !nsistence of Grace Waite,
an inmate OF the almshouse. that she is
the daughter OF Robert n. Waite. a law
yer, of No. PSI Broadway, in the face OF
his d~enials, comes TO light again through
publicity given a contract made between
Mr.. Waite and the COMMISSIONS Of
Charities. This contract was executed
on Jan. 20. 1908, and by its provisions Mr..
Waite agrees to pay for the mainten-
ance of Grace Waite at the almshouse
at the rate of sos a year.
1T is a puzzling CASE said Superin-
tendent Merwin, of the Department Of
Outdoor Poor. to-day MY attention
was first called to 1t last August. when
l received a letter from Providence say
Ing that a girl in the almshouse there
claimed to be the daughter OF Robert n.
Waite and that this city should take
care of her.
The Providence authorities said that
they had sent several messages to MI.
Waite. but could get no satisfaction from
him Then they SEM the girl to this
city.
Called on Waite to Pay.
. Since taxing cha ge OF his i"p,rt-
ment | have made t a po'nt to Insist
that all persons able - pay anything
TOWARD the support of relatives in TIE
Almshouse snail do SO. l cot after Mr..
Waite and finally he agreed to pay the
city sizes a year. the bare cost Of her
keen.
Mr.. Waite told n:e that the girl was
not his daughter. but a relative who had
1fpa6 In hic family He Soii ha had a
large family OF his own and could not
afford to keep this outcast. although
he had tried to get her taken care of
bv private persons.
II instructed Keeper Roberts to give
the girl extra care and she has shown
considerable Improvement. She con-
tinues to assert that Mr.. Waite Is her
.ather. When she came here hen nerv-
Gus system was broken down as the re-
suit of neglect"
Robert N. Waite is a ~well-known law
yer. He has been married three times.
but had nc children by his last two
wives. by his first wife ne had thlr-
teer. children. Of whom six are said to
be living.
Mr.. Waite was First Assistant United
States Dlstrict-Attoraey for the Eastern
District OF Pennsylvania when only
twenty-four years old. He met the sew
enteen-year-old daughter of a sea cap
tam and married her. She died in 1890.
Welded Two widows.
Two years latet, Mr.. Waite married a
widow, Mrs. Maddox. in this city. The
!is1'' geS Ms' they he! a we eSpPdH iv oRe; and In a1 lssS
Nj. Waite married Mrs. Harriet Bond
a w!dow, Mr., Waite is nearly, seventy
years OF ass His wife was fifty when
55sea al his ONCE to-day. lis the adopted
now 7" dead, o. ae 0F sdopted q her mins Shs sanO sh is
was a little glri. I saw her at that
time. but never saw her again until she
was brought to this city from Provi-
my brother lived in the West. When
ne dledl a Few years 9 suppose the
for her maintenance as an act OF char
ity. Physicians who have examined her
tell me that she is insane, showing
An Evening World reporter visited
Grace Waite in the hospital at the
Almshouse his afternoon. The girl is
greatly improved n the physician In
recover completely. She has some diff
Guilty In collecting her thoughts and ex-
pressing them. but her memory appears
10 ne talrly good
Once Very Beautiful.
Before her illness she was undoubtedly
a very beautiful girl. She has big brown
eyes. regular features and good teeth.
She uses excellent English. Other than
for a demeanor expressing fright she
appears to be as normal as any woman
recovering from a severe physical and
III Robert y, Waite says he Is not my
father he tells an untruth,' said the
girl. at is true that he has disowned
me. But ] am his daughter and his wife
was my mother
II am twenty-three years. old. Ny
mother died when | was eight years old.
We lived then at No, 2ls Garrollton
street, Brooklyn, My school days were
spent in Brooklyn have three brothers
n three sisters living.
when my father moved TO New York
from Brooklyn / met a young man VINO
deceived ms M / had TO leave home.
! went to work as a ~saleswoman In a
Sixth avenue store and lived In West
Eighty-slNth street. The number of the
house j cannot remember.
81 was taken Ill and spent six weeks
In Bellevue Hospital. When i was dis
charged from that institution | went tc
Providence. II. l., where ] lived in Jack
son avenue. ! never fully recovered my
strength, and, finally, | guess | lost
my mind. for / cannot remember much
of what has happened In the last year.
This Is a true statement OF my liie."