The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-10-01
Marriage Is First Notice of
Divorce Obtained by
Previous Wife.
ALL PARTIES WELL KNOWN
President Roosevelt, the Late
Senator Mark Hanna's Son,
Among the Relations, and
Romance and Tragedy Fig
ure Largely in Story.


NEW YORK, Oct. 1.-Society folk
here found a new and delicious morsel
for gossip when the marriage (of Will
ian j. Gordon, member of IA wealthy
family, clubman and Athlete, to his sis
ter-in-law, Mrs. EDITH r. Edwards
Gordon, widow of Carl Gordon and a
daughter of an old and wealthy Staten
Island family. waE announced.
Not only did the act of Gordon in
marrying the widow of his brother,
whom he had loved devotedly for many
years when he was bound to another,
recall an old Oriental custom, but 1t
made public for THE first time the fact
that his previous wife, Maud de l..
Robinson Gordon, d relative of the Van
Rensselaers. the Kings and a dozen
other prominent fanilies~ had obtained
a divorce in the supremeN Court last
August. \
Evidently Gordon. who Married his
bride to the church in an automobile,
had jumped from one matrinipnial bond
to another in rapid transit time. The
ceremony. it has leaked out, was per-
formed last Saturday in Pittsfeld,
Mass.
The story of wedding bells n of
scandal in high places has ks most pa
thetic and most proud character in
Mrs. Maud dc l.. Robinson Gordon.
She stands OUT today in a striking
manner in the ldttle colony of wealthy
and exclusive folk who live in West
New Brighton and have their homes
clustered about (he Staten Island
Cricket Club, between Davis and Bard
Gordon, as president and almost sole
owner of the fashionable club, has u
sway that has made it practically i'm
possible for his FORMER wife to continue
longer a member of the organization.
Nevertheless, she clings stanchly to her
old acquaintAnces. She has attractive
rooms not far from the club, n min
giles With the old gayety with her
friends. They speak Of her as a woman
of remarkable dignity and sweetness of
character who had fought bravely a
disa greealble fight.
AS for Nher former husband and his
new wifeA they are enjoying their
honeymoon In a merry automobile trip
through the. New England States, and
will go soon TO the brides beautiful
country homel near Saranac Lake.
There have been many struggles
against adverse circumstances in Mrs.
Edith Cordon's life. and browning
these were a romance and a tragedy.
She was welded to her first husband
to nurse him back TO health, and was
neal when he accidentally shot him
self a few years ago in the Adiron-
dacks.
AS for the man Who won the heart
of a woman Inc then turned to his
brothers widow. he has a family hat
several times has been in the divorce
court. His sister. who was the second
wife of Dan r. HRnna, obtained a
divorce last winter,
Gordon is related to wealthy families
in this city and in Cleveland. His
father was Charles Gordon, who ac-
ouired great wealth in the Ohio city,
and on his death bequeathed millions
to William and Carl, his sons, and to
his daughter, Daisy. Their mother was
Miss Mamie Smythe, one of three sis
tiers who, in the days when New York's
fashionable centre was at Fourteenth
street, were nicknamed Battle"
Murder and Sudden DEATH
They were the most charming girls
of their set. One became the wife of
Edward Woolsey and then of Edward
M. Padelford, and the third was mar
ried to William Jaffray, of %Irvington.
The Gordon family always maintained
a home in Cleveland, but for many
years had another in West New Brigh-
ton. William Gordon, because of his
relatives and his wealth, had no diff
Guilty in gaining admittance to clubs
where the social bars are high. He
belongs to the Union, the Racquet and
Tennis and several other %organiza-
tons.
Gordon's sister Daisy has passed
through two matrimonial experiences
that have been sad to her. She was
married first to Walter De S. Maud,
an Englishman, but she divorced him
in 1900. She was welded within a few
months to Dan r. Hanna, but the Sec
ond alliance proved no happier than
the first and she obtained a second
divorce.
William Gordon's former wife was a
daughter of Beverley Robinson, of
Staten Island. Her family is related
by marriage to President Roosevelt.
Maud de L.. Robinson's father died
when she and her sister Adelaide were
young. leaving them and their brothers
to carr their own living Both girls
showed the remarkable pluck for
which their family had peer known.
Adelaide started a dancing school, with
which she had great success. Both
girls were unusually attractive, were
good singers, expert tennis players and
cultured.