The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-06-28
GEORGIA WOMAN TO
SHARE RHODES MONEY.
Mrs. Mary Virginia Baker, Dis.
tant Cousin of Cecil Rhodes,
the Lucky Person

ASHEVILLE, N. C.,June 27.-An adj
vertisement which appeared in New
York papers about a year and half
ago will probably be the means of
bringing to Mrs Mary Virginia Rhodes
Baker, of Way Cross, Ga, part of the
valuable estate in England belonging
to her father, as well as share in the
wealth of Cecil Rhodes, who was
cousin of Mrs. Bakers father. The adj
vertisement read:
WANTED-INFoRMA AS TO THE
whereabouts of my daughter, Mary Vir-
ginia Rhodes; a large estate awaits her;
l am living alone ten miles from London.
Any information will be thankfully re-
ceived. Charles W. Rhodes.
Mrs. Baker, who is now in Asheville
doing missionary work, is undoubted-
ly the person referred to. She came
to Georgia when girl and lived IN
Way Cross several years. The adver-
tisement was read at the time 1t APP
peared by business man of way
Cross, but he did not conceive of the
possibility of Mrs. Mary Virginia Baker
of that town being the person sought.
few weeks ago he was in CONVEX
sation with Mrs. Baker, and learned
that her maiden name was Rhodes. IL
was then he told her of the advertise
ment he read in the New York news
paper.
Will Locate Her Father
Mrs. Baker has taken steps to locate
her father, if he is still living. If the
father is dead Mrs. Baker will claim
his estate She has communicated with
Henry Clay Evans, consul general at
London, and asked him to assist her.
If she is advised that her father is
dead she will ask Consul General Evans
to make an investigation to determine
the value of the estate and what dispo-
sition was made of it.
Mrs. Baker says she is also an heir
of Cecil Rhodes.
Mrs. Baker is about forty-five years
DID, and was born in Salem, Va. In
1873 she married and moved to Georgia
Her first husband lived only two or
three years, and at the age of eighteen
she was married to her second hus-
band, who was minister. He was
killed in a runaway in Ware county
about year ago.
Mrs. Baker says that just before the
outbreak of the Civil war her father
and mother disagreed over religion and
separated. Her mother was member
of the German Baptist church. Near
the close of the war her father Joined
a Virginia regiment and when the
conflict ended he did not return home.
It was generally supposed that he was
killed in battle until year after the
war, when her mother learned that her
father had returned to England.
Mr.. Baker Reputed Rich
Mrs. Baker learned about a year and
a half ago, from a friend who had been
in England that her father owned a
fine mansion and was reported to be
very wealthy. She never received a
letter from him and never wrote to
him, and she heard nothing of him
until she was informed of the adver-
tisement which appeared in a New
York paper.
If Consul General Evans informs her
that Mr. Rhodes is still living, Mrs
Baker will go to England to live with
him during his last days. If he is
alive, Mrs. Baker says, he is now more
than eighty years old.
Mrs Baker has a picture of her ia
Their given to her by her mother. She
also has a picture of William Rhodes
her fathers uncle, and Cecil Rhodes
father. Mrs. Baker declares that on
account of the disagreement between
her father and mother her mother new
er communicated with any of her ia
theirs relatives.