Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-05
LAST LINZ OF A TRAGEDY
Cause Of q Killing in the Early '70s
Living in Poverty.
ONCE FAMOUS FOR HER BEAUTY
Woman for whose sake "Jim, Fisk
was KILLED Reveals Her Iden-
tity I'm south Dakota
Town.

woman for whom Edward s. Stokes shot
and killed Jim Fisk, jr.. in the Grand Cen
trail hotel, New York. in 1872, has been a
resident OF watertown for seven years,
under the name Of Mrs. Mary LAWYER, and
that her Identity became known only re-
Gently.
According to the letter. the woman is
70 years old. penniIess and a paralytic. and
Is seeking entrance TO a convent. For sew
eral months she has been living .on the
bounty of friends. and money for her sup
port has been raised by card parties and
voluntary subscription.
The woman who was the cause of one
of the greatest tragedies in the history of
American finance is ending her days in
narrowing obscurity. There was no sus
picion Of her identity when she was brought
to WATERFOWL in 1909 by NJ. ID. Flint. az
that time one of the most prosperous bus
mess men in WATERFOWL.
Flint was her brother, but there was
nothing In public knowledge to connect
with the Woman whose beauty nae
led to the e-stranRement Of Fisk and
Stokes and the death Of Fisk by the hand
of his former friend. Flint lived in the
largest house in WATERFOWL. and close TO It
he built a small cottage for his sister. He
gave her two servants, and for five years
she lived there in ease and comfort Flint
never even limited to his most intimate
friends that the old woman was Josie
Mansfield. and he died without disclosing
the secret.
When she first came to WATERFOWL the
woman was almost a helpless paraIytic.
She gradually recovered strength and
vigor. however. and gave. herself to deeds
Of charity. She went about In a carriage,
helping the poor. For that work she was
supplied literally with money by her
brother. Two years g Flint died. He
had failed to assign the cottage to his
sister. His estate was found to be in
VOWED and only a small amount remained
after all creditors had been satisfied. The
woman lived sparingly on that remnant un-
til about three months ago. when she came
to the END of her resources. She had made
many friends here and they offered as
sistance. At first she refused, but finally
she was forced to accept.
She 10 Recognized.
Her Identity was made known by an old
commercial traveller, who recognized her
by the traces OF the beauty that cost Fisk
his life and blasted the career OF Stokes.
Despite the effect of the paralysis, which
has been growing on her steadily for the
last year. she still preserves distinction
Of fact and an attraction which seems
to defy time itself. She broke down when
Informed her story was known and ex-
pressed the hope she would find shelter be-
hind the walls of a convent.
This Is the first time It has been revealed
that the woman's real name is Flint. When
before the public she always asserted her
full name was Josephine Mansfield. One
report gave her real name as Warrent, but
she put all doubt at rest the other day by
saying Flint In reality was her brother.
She made her first appearance on the
stage In California in 1856. She was about
IS years old, extremely lovely, but ignor-
ant. She became the wife of Frank Law
fence. ar actor, and they came east and
lived In Boston until 1857. In that year
she obtained a divorce. and went on the
New York stage. She could not act, being
cold and emotionless. After appearing in
several companies without success. she
found herself without money. she sought
an audience with Fisk. 1t was said she
told him she had only her beauty to COM
mend her, but that was enough.
Fisk Her Slave.
Fisk became her slave. Her skin was
fair. Her silky black hair was arrayed in
clusters around her broad white brow. Her
ears were small and finely modelled, and
from them depended a pair OF large gold
hoops, which gave her a gypsy attractive
ness. Her eyes were light, but luminous
gray. She flattered Fisk until she met
Stokes. when she promptly transferred her
affection" to the younger man.
The effect of his betrayal embittered
Fisk all the more, as he had boosted in
public of the woman. He had given her
q house on West T~wenty-third street. It
was at a feast in that place he vain
gloriously declared that he held the legis-
lature in the hollow OF his hand. n
thought he would have 1t change the name
Of New York to F1skville.
Fisk tried TO ruin Stokes financially. He
had Stokes arrested on a charge of en-
bezzlement. Josie Mansfield gave away
secrets of Fisk's life to Stokes, and the
war between the men grew until 1t at
tracted the attention Of the country. FL
nally Stokes went from the side Of the
woman to wait for Fisk and TO shoot
him down on the stairs of the Grand
Central. now the Broadway Central no.
tel. Stokes thought that by this act he
would assure a permanent place in the
womAn's affection, but the minute she
heard OF the death of Fisk she turned her
back on the murderer forever.
Stokes was tried three times. The first
trial resulted in a disagreement. the sec
ond In q conviction Of murder. the third
in manslaughter in the third degree. In
1877 the killer was released after serving
four years. On December /. 1884. Grover
Cleveland restored him to citizenship, and
he died November 2, 1901.
Following the Fisk murder Josie Mans
field sued the Fisk estate for $500. 1000. The
case was thrown out Of court. She went
to Boston and was hooted. She fled to
Paris. and in 1891 in London was married
to Robert Livingston Reade, OF New York.
After a few years they were divorced
Ten years ago she was living In Boston
as Mrs. Josie Welton. Then she went to
Philadelphia, and finally she was brought