Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-05-27
WHAT BECAME On
BURR'S DAUGHTFip,
She Sailed for New YORK i.
Charleston and the Fate
of the Ship Is StiIl
a Mystery

EsS than a fortnight ago vo,,s ".
Alwould have gladdened INV 49,, 'ss'er
there is no joy and life is MAJ Sl Now
boy is gone-forever dead and por.m ~s
In these words, uttered in a Io,t..
her rather, Colonel Aaron Burr ~ -
Theodosia Aston, wife Of the youno ss4s
ernor OF South Carolina bewailed ~. Ivy ,O'
that had snatched away her onlv ..s,.s
Aaron, lad of IL years. From IA.
years exile, following his traaso, ~. .yus
Colonel Burr had but lately land.S - y
New York, impatient to see his no.s. =
less daughter and sole Offspring rass,
ing that she had collapsed as n r.-'..'
of her childs death, Burr sent b,s ,r,,seN.
friend, Timothy Green, TO Cbayla.,s.'
with letter, instructing Mrs. A1ston =
sail at once for New York. Prevsn,.s
by law from leaving the State durins ~
tenure, Governor Alston reluctanti,, ~
sented to the arrangement. So the No..
tiful Theodosia, once the belle of M.-
York town. was placed, bag and baRos..
aboard the pilot boat Patriot. wb,oA
passed out over Charleston bar on Dso.s.
Der 80, 1912. Accompanying the ms,sn
choly lady were Mr., Green, her physIclap
several servants, several chests filled with
costly feminine finery and-some sald.s
recent portrait of herself, to be present.d
to her father as Christmas gift.
During the first week of the rev vesr
Colonel Burr commenced his vigil at ,hs
New York harbor front. Day after dav
the dapper little man could be seen pacirs
the Battery, pausing now and then Ia
scan the lower bay In search for tbs
Patriot. Days heightened into weeks
Then, realizing the hopelessness Of his
vigil, he cried out in despair.
"She is dead! Thus is severed the lass
tie that binds me to my kindr'
Neither the Patriot, nor the beautiful
Theodosia. nor any of her fellow passen.
gers were ever seen or heard of again.
Thus befell the great tragic climax in the
life of Americas foremost dramatic figure
Aaron Burr.
Pirates Conflicting Confessions
Almost from the moment of the Pa
triot's disappearance there arose persist.
ent rumors that she had been boarded by
pirates and that Theodosia had been borne
away into captivity. After Colonel Burf's
death two evil shore pirates were cap
tured and brought to Norfolk where
while in irons awaiting execution, they
confessed that, with other bankers" they
had used false lights to lure the Patriot,
upon the rocks at Nag's Head, North
Carolina, and that after blindfolding all
of the passengers and crew. they had
made them walk the plank. This evidence
was later complicated by the deathbed
confession of grizzleo sailor in Texas
who stated that he, with other members
Of the Patriots crew, had mutinied, mur
dered the ships officers and made all x
the passengers walk the plank Dramatic
incidents Of Mrs. Alston's last moments
were dilated upon by this shameless rover
of the sea.
A further complication of the mystey
was yet to come. Shortly after the Civil
War, DR.. w. G. Pool, Of Elizabeth City,
N. c., while staying at Nag's Head, was
called to the hut of poor woman, who,
his choice of many relics adorning her
home. The physician selected an oil por.
trait of handsome woman, which hung
upon the wall, and which seemed strange
ly out of keeping with its surroundings.
Pressed for it's history. the old woman re-
lated that at about the time of the War
of 1912 her husband had been one OF the
wreckers to board pilot boat that came
ashore at Nag's Head. To all who saw II,
this craft had been a great mystery, for
she had been abandoned and sent adrift
with all of her sail set and her rudder
lashed against her stern. Nowhere upon
her was to be found blood or other eyl'
dence of violence or struggle. In tns
cabin the table was all set for meal,
which was evidently breakfast, for the
beds had not yet been made up. Although
chests and other baggage had been broken
open, the booty had not been carrlen
away, for the cabin floor was strewn with
silk dresses, lace shawls and other arti-
cles of value, including the portrait when
she had just given the physician Many
who subsequently viewed this picture pro
nounced 1t a striking likeness to portrais
of Theodosla Burr.
A Body Washed Up by the Sea
The mystery of Mrs. Alstons fate was
made still deeper, only recently when Y
A. Elliott, a resident of Norfolk, Va map'
a written statement concerning CORPSE
which early in 1918 had washed up %
the lonely beach of Cape Charles Ihs
body was that of a woman, showing sf.'