The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-10-24
Margaret Todd VIII Controversy
 Ends h Compromise
HALF 4 MILLION DIVIDED
The Five Principals in the Case Have Died and Two Lawyers Have Also Died Since Ltiea-
 tion Began.

New York, October 2S.-(Special.)- Awed by the 'hoodoo' that has resulted in the death of five of the principals and two of the lawyers in the famous Mar garet Todd will controversy In the four years that the case has been in the courts, the remaining contestants today agreed upon compromise. The case was to have come up for trial in the supreme court next Friday. Speaking of the hoo doo," Theron Davis, one of the attor- neys in the case, said today;
 Tn addition to the five principals and two lawyers who have already died, two of the other parties involved are now critically nl st is no exaggeration to say that there seemed to be a hoodoo that l believe would wipe away all of those who figure in the case before the courts would finally settle the dispute"
 By the terms of the compromise the estates of those who had died since the fight began will share in the distribution of the Todd fortune. These are the es- tates of Mrs. RosaIie Tousey- Hastings, Edward Stonehill and Jennie D. Payne. Others who will get a slice of the cash are Carl Stonehill, Gerald Stonehill and Rebecca Neusbaum. No one has ever been able to discover in what manner . Margaretta Todd came to her death. sIIer mangled body, sparkling with jewels, was found on October 27 1905, beside the railroad tracks in Fairmount park, Phl- i adelphia Her head and legs were partly crushed. Like many of the chapters in her dramatic career, her last hours are yelled in mystery. At the time of her death she was 80 years old. She came or l an old German family of Baltimore, where ] she was known as "Margaretta Van Hoff- man, the pelle.' As the wife of Milton Andrews a wealthy jeweler of San Fran cisco, sic first came Into public notice as a social leader of that city. Within year they were divorced Mrs. Andrews sailed for Paris.
 Friend of Napoleon.
 Her marvellous beauty made her the friend of Napoleon H. who is said to have lavished gifts upon her. She was in fact the belle of the fast ball on the eve of the E'ranco-Prussian war. To her fell the honor of dancing with the ruler who went Into exile with the downfall or the third empire.
 She returned to New York under the name of Mime. Margaretta Van Hoffman in the early seventies and set up court of her own in Irving Place, which soon became the mecca for Tammany poll ticians of the Tweed regime. A few years late she established furnished apart ments in West Twenty-sixth street, where Daniel Drew, the close associate of James Fisk and Jay Gould. lived for some time.
 While living there she married Jona- than Weatherhead who died shortly aft erward, leaving her In possession of a large fortune.
 Another man who rented a room in her establishment was Louis l.. Todd. one time proprietor of the Vendome and the Hotel Marlborough. On August IA. 1882, she caused to be published in New York paper a report of her marriage to MT. Todd at Stonington, Conn. Since that day she has been known as Mar garetta Todd although MT Todd has denied the relationship.
 Day of Tragic Death.
 On the afternoon of October 26, 1905. she clothed herself in the finest silks, decked herself with diamond rings, dia- mond ear rings and a diamond brooch. Against the protest of her associates she called q cab and together with mysterious Miss Knight" left her ho- tel The following day her body was found beside the railroad tracks. Her purse was nearly empty but her jewels
 
 An investigation that kept the police of New York and Philadelphia busy for months followed. Either murder or sui eide must have been her fate Detectives who followed the winding trail from New York to the spot where Mrs. Todd's body wns found declared that 1t was physical impossibility for her to have caused her own death. 10-foot wall and a N- foot embanknent blocked the path to the railroad tracks. It Is supposed that she was dead before the train severed her limbs.
 Her daughter. born shortly after her divorce from Andrews, because the wife of Frank Tousey. the publisher One of Ter intimate friends and advisers was Ingersoll Lockwood. He was a scion of well known clubman.
 Immediately after her death Lockwood announced that he had the last will of Mrs. Todd in his possession; that he was the executor of her estate and also the legal custodian of her property by vr- tue of trust deed His claim covered most of the estate of the dead woman.
 Lockwood was accused subsequently, of conspiring to grab al lof the Todd es- tate.
 Lockwood was busted and Mrs. Tousey was awarded the income from trust fund of Sl10;O00 during her lifetime. Fol lowing her death in December, 190S the other relatives began the contest which was settled today. The value of the es- tate is said to be about $500,00o.