Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-26
POSED FOR TWENTY YEARS
Fragmentary Story Shows She Was
a Finished Adventures. ~ --
NICHOLAS SMITH IS BURIED
Brother Says He Will See to the
-Woman's Burial If the Body
Is Not Claimed.

NEW YORK, November 26.-The body
of Mrs. Grace Smith. who Saturday killed
her husband before setting fire to her
| home In New Rochelle and killing her
self. has not yet been claimed. Coroner
Squires says he has learned that the wom-
an, who for years claimed to be the daugh-
ter OF the late Lieut.. Gov. W. H. Buckley
OF Connecticut, was born in Manchester,
England. and came to America when she
was a young child. Samuel T., Smith,
brother of the murdered man, is expected
here from Baltimore today and has said
that If Mrs. Smiths body was not claimed
by relatives he would see to its burial
The true story of the woman who posed
SO long as another probably will never be
known, but day by day new bits OF her
history are discovered which are piecad
together into tale which is astounding.
1t is now said that Mrs Smith. under the
names of Mrs. Acton, Mrs. Van Schaack
Mrs. Curtis. Mrs. Middleton and others
obtained considerable credit at several
large stores IN New York at various times
Many of the bills were not paid, and on
several occasions she was sued or COM
chased.
Story Is Romance.
Another account given Of her says:
Mingled with the lights and shadows of
the woman's checkered career is the
strange tale of what may have been a de-
fusion or may have been a deliberate at
tempt at fmposition-her assertion that
she was the daughter of Gen. William H.
buikeiey, once distinguished statesman
ana business man of Hartford Conn.
Whether it was a delusion or a deliberate
invention, there is no doubt that she in
duced many persons to believe this story.
among, them being two Of the men she
married.
That the time had come when It must
be made plain to Mr.. Smith that her pre-
tension to being heiress to share of the
great Buckley estate was false was
among the revelations of the day. That
this knowledge that she could no longer
deceive the man who had married her in
the belief that she was all she asserted
furnished the motive for the tragedy
seemed reasonable hypothesis to those
who reviewed the crime in the light of
later developments. Many trivial incidents
seemed, however, to indicate the previous
~ accepted theory that her deed was born
or sudden homicidal impulse
Faced Gen. Buckley.
Not the least interesting revelation re-
garding the woman was the discovery that
her relations with Smith were not of re-
cent date, but that as far back as nine
years ago they had lived together and
that all that prevented their marriage at
that time was the fact that Gen. Buckley
refused to acknowledge the woman as his
daughter, and because of this Smiths
father refused to countenance the mar
rage of his son. This fact and many other
incidents Of her life were, known to the
Bulkeley family. and in spite of their con-
tlnuous denial that she was in any way
related to them she chung to her story for
twenty years, and even faced the old gem
eral himself with her declaration that she
was his daughter.
Earliest Of all the clues to the dead
woman's identity, which is still shrouded
in veil of mystery, is the Information
that she came to New York when a girl
In short dresses from a small town in Con-
necticut-not from Hartford, as she al
ways asserted. but from some smaller
manufacturing city. It was learned that
even at that time, which was about 1886.
she used the name of Grace Buckley and
members Of the Buckley family yester-
day said 1t was quite possible that she
might be entitled to 1t. as there are many
Buikeleys. and several small Connecticut
towns have branches of the family.
Nicholas Smith Buried.
BALTIMORE, November 26.-The fu-
neral Of Mr.. Nicholas NJ. Smith, jr., who
was murdered in New Rochelle, N. Y,
early last Saturday morning, took place
yesterday afternoon at o'clock from the
residence of his sister, Mrs. R. H. Digss,
139 Mount Royal avenue.
The services were conducted by Rev.
John Timothy Stone and Rev. DR.. C.. Her
bert Richardson. The interment was in
Greenmount cemetery. The services were
simple and no reference was made to the
tragedy. The pallbearers were Messrs.
William E. Hooper, Louis F. Dietz, Frank
r. Diggs, James Moseley and Samuel
Johnston Of New York and Charles M.
Irelan of Washington. - 49,
The family yesterday declined to make
any statement In regard to Mrs. Smith
and her antecedents.