The Washington herald., 1912-10-13
His First Marriage Led to the Killing OF Grandson Of
the Author Of The Star Spangled Banner for
an ENHANCEMENT with His Wife Political Career
Was Checked at Its Start by His Defiance of So
cial Convention in Forgiving the Erring Woman.

The widest ills fhct ddrkes life
Are rupture TO the bosomS strife;
The tempest, in its bldckest form,
Is beauty 10 the bosoms storm,
The ocean dsled to fury IoSd,
Its high srope m:ngiing stsA the cloud,
Is peaceful szoeet serenity
To .Angcrs dark and stormy sea.
). w. Edsfbarn.
Gen Daniel Edgar Sickles. grim. griz-
zled, and as warlike as at Chancellors-
vile or Gettysburg. Is now subject OF
the worlds sympathy and the world s
criticism as he wages relentless war
with his own flesh and blood. Occa-
sional passionate outbursts give evil
dence Of the whirlwind OF emotions
that stir in the bosom OF the veteran
who has resisted the storms Of nearly
ninety years. In his lonesome home in
New York there is little to disturb the
= recollections Of faded flowers along
life's pathway. The poet Eastburn,
whose philosophy has just been quoted.
died at twenty-five; Gen. Sickles would
find each line too weak to express the
bitterness boiling within him. His way
of life to paraphrase some lines OF
Shakespeare has fallen into the sere.
The yellow leaf, and that which should
accompany old age, as love, obedience'
troops Of friends. he must not look to
have. Honor he enjoys, for We read In
Buffers Hudibras:
What more honorable than sears
Or skin to tatters rent IN warss
But recollections of honors won in
battle, in courts of law, in political de-
bates, and in the diplomatic world fall
to blot out the bitter memories OF the
tragedies that have marked an unusu-
ally tragic career.
The ..Unwritten Law"
In the public mind the greatest trag-
edy of Sickles' life was his killing Of
Philip Barton Key. grandson of the au-
Thor of The Star Spangled Banner"
and the sensational trial-one Of the
most famous in the annals of American
nourts-in which the ''unwritten law.
perhaps for the first time. served to ac-
auit an assassin. His daughter. who
once graced receptions at the court OF
Spain, quarreled with her father,
squandered a generous fortune inher-
ited from her grandfather. became a
butterfly of the gilded purlieus of New
York City. and died in disgrace. Three
half-sisters of Gen. Sickles were not
recognized by him. Each had COM
Portable fortune. and each was said 10
have made poor choice In the matri-
monial market, one of them elopfng
with a bartender. Loss of a leg in bat
tie would ordinarily be classed among
the tragedies in a mans life, but to
Gen. Sickles it was more OF an incident
helping him to regain lost popularity
and win coveted honor.
The latest tragedy in his life was but
recently brought to the attention of the
general public and its last act has yet
to be played. The curtain for the first
act went up more than forty years ago
in Madrid. It began with romance and
the wedding OF Sickles, the American
envoy. and a Castilian beauty. A few
years later there were dissensions and
long separation. The daughter by this
marriage won conspicuous place in Old
World society. but never added any
measure Of happiness to her fathers life.
The son for several years has been try
ing to bring his father and mother to-
gether. The results so far have had
bits of comedy and melodrama, but as
a whole have intensified the wretched-
ness of the old mans stormy life.
Marries n Beautiful italian.
Sickles was an interesting figure in the
affairs of New York for some years be-
fore his life was seriously stirred by the
emotions either of love or hate. He was
born October 20, 1873 His father had
acquired considerable wealth by hard
work and good luck, and as he did not
appreciate the value Of education insist
ed upon the young man learning a trade.
Before he was twenty years old Daniel
had mastered the secrets of typesetting.
He inherited force OF character and a
fine physique and by persistent effort OBJ
tanned a sufficient knowledge of law in
the office Of Benjamin F. Butler to be
admitted to the bar. He was elected to
the New York State Legislature when he
was twenty-five years old and soon be-
came leader in Democratic politics.
Teresa Bagiola. dark-eyed. black haired
and vivacious, the daughter Of an Ital-
ian music teacher. became the bride of
Daniel E. Sickles away back in 1853 He
was then corporation attorney for New
York City and in his thirty-first year.
His bride was only seventeen and has
been described as being as beautiful as
an Italian morning. full of the choicest
Of feminine physical charms, capable of