Show TUk SAU LAKfc- - I'RIHUNfc SUNDAY MORNING JULY 24 1938 rsai i PI m r -O A M Wa f A x v e d id h nj Af M :ev c s fS o m ay e I r im ' Reunited — After 26 Years! Mrs Elizabeth Willis and Her Smile Daughter Nahma Whom She Gaye Away as a 'Baby “ Happily In Each Other’s Arms thi nk w fit mi to By )ve ! P to ke )U rar do iU d t sna a' 1 fi sei 1 ibo fc e he sli he P dc d 1 m ip h Ire-lan- si iy mpi as hed he hurt dan s in escu of h A 1 li V ' i3 v Jv v 7'' ' f ’ ' - A H- Bryant’s Efforts toj Find Out Who She Iteally i ildn’l thou le hi ired iix-- y' lobili nctlj ib out id m s all ig tb dow ch a whe foot fled oase ied t y m -- Vi won med vian ! shi roor ight srnil le sa t up ?£ j A Joy Reigns Supreme in the Home of the BryHere Mrs Willis Feeds Her Granddaughter ants a Bottle of Milk While Her Lohg-LoDaughter Looks Ont certificate was the basis for the action The petition brought a vigorous response from Hoag and his wife In affirming that Mrs Bryant was not their child he said: "It's a fine state of affairs when a man can't do a kind deed without getting into a mess like this She is Just a little child that we took into our home and befriend- merely wantedout to so Vi straighten things ier fr r thi: she could obtain her passport Het lack of a birth tile ed" nd-- ier’s 's prl ike it ent tt n th' iroug! of oth 7 V I Was cowl ) bat little m ( the o y Ma Nahma Was Disillusioned at Eighteen She Declares by the Blunt Statement of the Hoags That She this mghe e all t lint eyes jped 1 e r A Nahma Hoag clog ier he se S Aftermath of t V oba r n Viv i :iX Amazing d mol 1 r-f- the-birt- af i ' - Cedric Clii liners me turn your baby over to this wealthy woman" said Nurse Gertrude Wilkins to the young unwed mother lying on the bed in the University of California Hospital in San Francisco "She can give it a good home— luxury— a line than you can offer it" upbringing-mo- re And Elizabeth Hooper worn out by problems too complex for her upset mind consented The pnthetic scene occurred back in January 1912 But soon the mother wanted her child back Down through the years she searched for it but in vain Even after her marriage of two more chilto a San Francisco policeman and dren Elizabeth Hooper retained an aching void in her heart for the child she surrendered More than a decade and a half after she gave her away she had sought out Gertrude Wilkins but the nurse had refused to divulge “what had happened to the child So the sorrowing mother all but abandoned hope Then just the other day— twenty-si- x years later— Mrs Elizabeth Hooper Willis dramatically found the daughter she had been seeking for so long Fate weaving the tangled threads of two widely divergent lives bestowed its blessing by Joining those threads together again Further bringing joy to the mother was the fact that her daughter was happily married and herself the mother of a baby The denouement to the amazing case came about in so startling a manner that San Francisco seethed with talk of the sensation The daughter attractive Mrs Nahma Prescott Hoag Bryant had filed suit a year ago to establish her parentage and legitimacy in order to obtain a passport Mrs Bryant explained at the time that she was bringing the suit because her artist husband Fitzgerald Boniface Walter Bryant had learned that d he had fallen heir to an estate in and Wanted to go there and collect it He wished to take her along Mrs Bryant exploded a verbal bombshell when she named in her petition Charles Cushing Hoag former publisher of the San Francisco Blue Book and his wife Maud In particular the suit furnished gossip for the society set because Mrs Hoag was a member of the Colonial Dames the city's ultrasmart organization Mrs Bryant set forth that she lived the first eighteen years of her life believing that she was the blood daughter of the Hoags She was treated as their own child she said reared in luxury taken to Europe and recorded on passports as the child of Mr and Mrs Hoag She never had any doubts about her relationship until disillusioned by the Hoag family itself when she reached the age of eighteen Then she declared in the petition the socialite couple told her she was not their child hut the offspring of a German woman and a San Francisco jeweler After receiving this information Mrs Bryant stated she was ordered by the Hoags to leave their luxurious Piedmont home which was located across the bay from San Francisco She found various jobs and supported herself until her marriage in October 1936 to young Bryant Mrs Bryant made it clear in her petition that she was not filing the suit for money or for any right of tpheritance She an yo - K'JVT hha) S 'P'?' - gra organ the a t dres pt he p in She seem' on h song it dri hen s agat gbing ny lai went ig to t Was Not Their Blood Was daughter She Orde'd from Their Home She Supported llerseH Until Her Marriage Then at Twenty-Si- x Fate Reunited Her with Her Real Mother I The Hoags then engaged an attorney and an answer was filed to the suit But the case didn't come to court immediately The hearing was deferred time and again because of crowded calendars Then a few weeks ago fate staged the series of (events that led to the reconciliation of Mrs Bryant with the mother who had given her away more than a quarter of a century before Through the mails Mrs Bryant anonymously received a copy of a birth Certificate recording the birth of a daughter to Lewis Hooper of Detroit and Elizabeth Hooper a San Francisco telephone operator 26 years before With the document was an unsigned note stating: "I beg leave to advise that Miss Buck Superintendent of the Record Department of the U S Hospital will give the data and details of your birth January 6 1912 as well as the names of your parents etc" Excited over the information sjie had been seeking so long— and the unique manner in which she had received it— Mrs Bryant hurried to He turned the story over to Copyright i y took! 1838 the newspaper and the following day it was on the front pages When Mrs Willis picked up her morning paper that day she didn't expect to find anything in it other than the usual Impersonal news She had no idea that it would terminate her long and up td that time hopeless search for her missing daughter In her little home on Plymouth Avenue she read the story with astonished joy With the paper under her arm she hastened to Mrs Bryant's attorney and told him her story Within half an hour he had his client in His office and the long separation was over As the dramatic reunion took place it was easy to note the startling resemblance between the two women "I’m the happiest woman in the world” said Mrs Willis “And here is what really happened Nahma was born January 6 1912 at the University of California Hospital in San Francisco The nurse who took care of me Gertrude Wilkins urged that I let a wealthy woman whom she knew adopt the baby since Nahma's father was gone and I had no way of sup- porting "Later 1 married Mr Willis He knew all about Nahma before we were married and he helped me hunt for her We had two children Mydaughter Catherine died the day before her high school graduation With her gone I became more anxious than ever to find the child I’d given away I went to Los Angeles to hunt the nurse and finally found her She refused information and I had about given up hope of ever seeing my baby again' And now she is at my side What' a joy!" Mrs Bryant was equally jubilant "I never even dreamed I’d ever know my real mother” she said “Through this suit I had only hoped“l could establish the facts of how the Hoags came to rear me But you can’t tell me blood doesn’t tell The moment I saw my real mother I knew she was my very own I love her already" The Bryants are spending many happy hours with Mrs Willis now that everything has been straightened out "Nothing else matters now” said Mrs Willis "I have my baby— and a grandchild besides Why shouldn't I be the happiest woman in the world? If that child isn't spoiled it won't be for lack of attention from her new grandma" Mrs Bryant after consulting her atd torney explained that she would with her suit in order to have all the facts of her birh established by legal record The Hoags meanwhile haven't offered any statements on the joyful reunion It is believed that they are withholding comment until Mrs Bryant's hearing comes up in court San Francisco too is waiting for the suit to come to court Everyone wants to know whether there are any more surprises in store for “the mother who gave-hebaby away" pro-cee- her "No I'm not going to tell the fathHe was a boarder in my parents' home and We fell in love He was eager to marry me But my father wouldn’t permit it and threatened my fiance with a piece e of when he planned to take me to a minister He left ourhoqse and I have never seen him since "Well the wealthy woman whom my nurse knew came to the hospital She liked the baby at once and wanted to adopt her I didn't want to part with her but the nurse insisted that was the best course to pursue “The day I was to leave the hospital my nurse took me for a little walk When we returned the baby was gone A I returned - to my parents' home week later I went back to the hospital and begged the nurse to give me back my baby She told me the wealthy woman had her now and that she could give Nahma better care than I could give her iU st er's name What's the use? gas-pip- Mrs Nahma Bryant Shows Her Husband the Fateful Note Which Brought About a Reunion with the Mother Who Had Given Her Away Y’ears Before She Received It Anonymously Through the Mails t |