Evening star., 1950-07-16
By John CIooett Proctor

wi" s0SStA IVNtOt
widow Of the deceased and that
she was married to the general in
Philadelphia on August 6, 1S45,
but by whom she did not know,
except that Van Ness addressed
MIN at the time as "Mr. Alder
man."
Naturally, since the question of
marriage and widowhood were
matters of fact, this phase of the
case had to be settled by the Cir
cult Court and for this purpose a
jury was impaneled. The case
came on for trial at the October
term Of court, 1886, and, finally,
on January l, 1847, the court took
the case from the jury because of
lack Of evidence.
Usually, the press of bygone
days did not devote much space
to such matters, but this case
being an exceptional one, the In
4telligencer printed the following
statement:
"CloSe of the Van Ness Case
On Wednesday, after the prepara-
ton and sealing of IL bills of ex-
ception on the part of the plaintiff
In this case, Mr.. Brent asked the
privilege OF addressing the jury
upon the evidence of the case. The
court denied that there was any
evidence before the jury and re-
fused to hear further argument
upon the testimony. After
some consultation. the foreman of
the jury asked the court If IL
jurors could make a verdict. The
court said they could not. Mr..
Easily was then allowed to retire
from the jury box and the remain
ing II jurors returned to the court
a paper, stating, in the form of a
verdict, that. under the instruc-
tions, they find that Mrs. Mary
Ann Van Ness is not the widow of
John P. Van Ness The return
Of the jury was then recorded and
the jury discharged"
Christioncy Divorce
"The suit for divorce brought
by ex-Minister Isaac P. Chris
tiancy. which had occupied the at
tention Of the courts, was brought
to an abrupt end in the Equity
Court, Judge Hagner presiding
The court simply said, while dis
posing Of the case. that after a
careful review of the case, he had
decided to grant a decree of di-
vorce on the grounds of desertion.
The sad part about this case
is that Mrs. Christiancy's mind
was wrecked by the proceedings
and she died soon afterward in
Brooklyn. N. Y.
Another case that attracted much
attention in Washington. particu-
larly because one of the parties
had made this city her home
when not living in Rhode Island
with her husband, was the divorce
proceedings between Gov. William
S. Sprague of Rhode Island anc
Kate Chase Sprague. his wife, anc
the daughter of Salmon P. Chase
Chief Justice of the United States
Supreme Court.
Governor and Senotor
Not only were the parties to the
cause prominent in themselves, but
they were members of distin-
yuisfed American families. Sprague
was a war Governor of Rhode Is
land and represented that State
in the United States Senate from
1863 to 1875. Salmon P. Chase
was almost a Washingtonian. hav-
ing taught school here at very
early date. and also studied law
in this city, where he was ad-
mitted to the bar before engaging
in practice in Cincinnati. Ohio
Before his appointment to tht
United States Supreme Court hi
was twice elected to the Unitec
States Senate.
i Kate Chase Sprague. who theI
lived with her father in the large
plain brick building at the north
west corner of Sixth and E street
NV, was regarded as a hand
some, vivacious woman. and al
unusually good lobbyist, VIII
usually got what she went fol
Her fathers notable positions il
Washington naturally brought hi
attractive daughter into the lime
light. and thus she became &C
quainted with and married Sena
tor Sprague. All went well TO
a while until the Governors for
tune began to wane. when th'
love on both sides decreased &C.
cordingly.
Just what sort of a divorce the
Governor obtained, if any. the
writer does not recall, but the
matter at the time kept the peo-
pie interested for quite awhile.
Ann Royan was one of Wash