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Show If YOUNG WIDOW mi FIGHT FOR MILLIONS f OF HER FATHER-IN-LAW I Disposition of Estate of 'Samuel S. Brown, Pittsburg f Magnate, Heveals Scandal. LEFT MUCH MONEY TO HIS LATEST PET Girl at the Last Supplanted Wife of Dcntl Son ill the Old Mali's Affections Will Was Made as lie Lay on His Death tied. I "Better an old man's darling than ft young man's slave," runs Urn old song. Probably Marthu E. Lewis will concur, con-cur, but Mrs. Grace McGoodwIn Brown, dnughtcr-lu-law of the lato Samuel S. Itrown, Smoky City magnate mag-nate and multi-millionaire, can hardly hard-ly be expected to. Idolized and petted by her father-in-law far 15 yeard, taught to con-Bldor con-Bldor herself his heiress, and introduced intro-duced everywhere as his daughter, sho finds herself left n paltry $30,000, while her supplanter, Martha 13. Lewis, has been given a sum exceeding exceed-ing $250,000. , And a contest In the courts which "V will enrich lawyers and furnish sensations sensa-tions to satisfy the most scandal-hungry scandal-hungry dame Is promised. I For Mrs. Brown and nil tho rcla- tlvcs of the dead millionaire assert that his latest will, executed on his I death bud, was made under undue f Influence and Is unjust nnd unfair. I Worth Over $20,000,000. ' Samuel S. Brown died last Decern- :' bcr. Ho left nu estate scattered all tho way between Pittsburg, Now York j and New Orleans which Is conscrvn- I lively estimated at $20,000,000. Ho -. nlso left n will which Is tho bono of I contention. I Mrs. Brown, young widow of tho i dead magnate's only son, had been . told that sho was to bo his bene- i flclary. A goodly portion of tho cstato was to havo been hers. Yet, j when the will wns read, sho found I herself cut off with n paltry batch of I brewery bonds, and these to go should 5 she remarry. I But Miss Lewis, bitter enemy of tho j millionaire's daughter-in-law, bene- f fltcd to the extent of a quarter of a I million and more. Sho had already I supplanted tho beautiful Kentucky bello as the head of tho old man's J household boforo bis death. That wos I tho last straw; tlteu camo tho open f breach. It Is a strange Mory how theso two I young women camo Into tho life of the millionaire. There were a son I and a daughter whom tho old man . . , l'lttsburff, Va.. Wllllnm Hrnwn, l'rfncoton, Ky.: Wait. I am comlntr down thnt way thin week. S. S. HHOWN. For nn nnswer this camo back: Cnn't wnlt. WILL. And this was tho reply: All rleht. Oo nhend. God bless you both. Urine her homo. PATIIElt. But it was not so fated. Will Brown, undisputed heir to tho lnrger sharo of his father's millions, did not bring his brido home. Sho hi ought him home In a coffin. Almost tho next day ho fell 111 and was dead within a week. Tho bride-widow, almost al-most ill with her grief, met her father-in-law and went straight to his heart. "You must Btay here with ub, my dear," said tho millionaire, "and be my daughter, too. I know Will would havo wished It so." Old Man's Daughter Dead. So tho girl stayed nlong with tho old man, nnd year after year made herself better loved by him. Then camo another blow his only living child, his daughter Nellie, died in Italy. "I am afraid my poor old heart will break," Bald tho old man, bowed under un-der this added weight of woo. Thero was no ono to turn to savo his daughter-in-law now. He called her to lilm ono da;' soon nftcr the funeral, and said: "Stay here with me, for I nm left alono. Bo the head of my household, and when I die you will bo tho same In my will ns If you were my own daughter. And why not? Aro you not tho wlfo of my dend son, my only boy?" But the girl did not need this promise. prom-ise. Sho loved tho old man as tho father of her boy husband. Her sister sis-ter camo to live with them and sho took her place at tho head of tho Brown household. Tho servants wero Instructed to obey her In everything, and wherever sho went sho wns Introduced In-troduced by tho millionaire ns "my daughter Grace, my son's widow, dear to mo ns my own." Everywhere It wns understood that tho young widow was to bo his heiress. heir-ess. Folks wero told that Mr. Brown's I idolized. When they grew up nothing noth-ing was too good for them. Inception of Ilomance. . Fifteen years ago William Brown, I -, iho millionaire's only son, was sont 'T to Kentucky to superintend tho build-ri build-ri Ing of a railroad In which his father was Interested. Thoro he met a bluo grass belle beautiful Graco McGoodwIn, McGood-wIn, barely turnod 1C. Tho hoy's head was turned. It was plainly lovo nt first sight. Thoro was an ardent courtship, nnd tho youthful suitor won. Tlut day thoro camo to the old man In'Plttsburg this dispatch: dis-patch: l'rlncoton, Ky. 8. B. Drown, PltUburR, Pa.! , I am irolnB to tio murrlcil to tho dearest Klrl In tho world. WILL. That same day this wlro went back to Kentucky: Ufa was Insured for $100,000 In her favor, Martha LewlB Appears, Mrs. Brown's sister married and sho went back to Kentucky with her for a visit. That was tho beginning of tho end. When sho returned she found that Miss Lewis had been asked to live at tho Browns'. "Grace," said -tho old millionaire, by way of making clear how things stood, "Just tako Marty and buy her somo things, nnd show her how to wear them." "Marty" was what Mr. Brown elected elect-ed to cnll tho pretty girl ho had Installed In-stalled as his protege In tho big house. Young Mrs. Brown balked some, but , she did ,ns sho wns told, But she refused t'o Introduce tho girl to hor friends, and alio still was Mr, Brown's iaaentor when Tic went to New York on matters social. Mnrtha 13. Lewis -was the daughter of a boat caulker employed by Mr. Brow. When only n child in short dresses the mllllonalro had taken to her because sho reminded him of his dead daughter when sho was a tiny girl. When sho grew older ho made her his almoner In his many charities, and when she was out of her teens ho had her inndo secretary of tho Sunday Sun-day school which ho had endowed. Gifts wero showered upon her Just ns tho wero upon Miss Grace Brown. For nwhllo things went along smoothly smooth-ly enough on tho surface, but Mrs. Brown gradually discovered that sho wns being undermined. Miss Lewis finally got control of tho establishment establish-ment nnd ran It with nn Iron hand. Family Makes Objections. The other Browns brothers, cousins cous-ins nnd nephews didn't like this nt nil. They demanded thnt Miss Lewis be at least sent to live elsewhere nnd that Mrs. Grace Brown bo brought back from Kentucky, where sho had gone, to give toiie to tho household. "Not for a minute," retorted tho old man. "Grnco has chospn to live away from me nnd I will not trouble her." Apparently, howovcr, the aged millionaire mil-lionaire wns still fond of his sou's widow. Sho spent a part of the season sea-son with Mr. Brown Inst year and ns tho Christmas holidays wero approaching approach-ing she received n hurried call to como to tho old man's bedside. Ho was dying. Tho young widow caught tho first t rain. But ns sho sped through the darkness nnothcr will wns being made in Pittsburg in tho old Brown mansion. man-sion. With a few strokes of tho pen all she had believed was to. bo hers was blotted out. But' no ono told her this when sho reached Pittsburg tho next morning. Young Mrs. Brown was received with open nrms. Twenty days later Samuel S. Brown died. During those 20 days the deathbed will did not coma to light. Mrs. Brown's friends sny that it was purposely hidden so that sho would know nothing about It until It should bo too late. Tho mllllonalro mll-llonalro died, surrounded by his family, fam-ily, whllo Mrs. Brown knelt at tho bedside. Will Kept Secret. Never wero greotcr efforts made to keep a will from becoming public. It was filed secretly. The authorities wero ordered to keep it secret and meekly compliod. Tho family lawyer furnlHhcd an extrnct to the newspapers, newspa-pers, but nil reference to either of tho young women In tho case was carefully careful-ly eliminated. "That's all wo caro to glvo out to tho nowspapers," was tho lawyer's curt rejoinder when pressed for nn explanation. ex-planation. But tho Now York Sunday World's correspondent In Pittsburg made things so Interesting for all concerned that finally tho cutlro contents of tho will were made public as provided by law. Then tho storm broke; Tho feud became public property. Promptly thero camo a demand from the officers of tho Mary Brown church thnt Miss Lowls resign her position In the Sunday Sun-day school. Forced to Leave Sunday School. Tho church had Mr. Brown's $70,-000. $70,-000. They cared no longer. They had bowed to his will In llfo, and they had Installed his protego to a position posi-tion of distinction In church affairs. Now they would havo no moro of hor. At a public hearing sho was asked to resign, and sho did. Then sho announced that she intended in-tended marrying and that was her ostensible reason for retiring. Sho nnd Wllllnm Arthur Porter, u rneo-track rneo-track employe of old man Brown's, had long bpen In love. In fnct, they loved ach other before he was taken ill. Hero wore tho provisions of tho will concerning tho young women In tho case: Bequests to Mnrtha Lewis. Second. "I kIvo nnd bequcnth to tho Union Trust company of l'lttsliurc first mortRnKe bonds or tho 1'lttsburK Hrcw-Imc Hrcw-Imc comiinny to tho itKKreKnte vnluo of J3o,0f), In trust nevertheless, to pay tho nut Interest nnd Income therefrom to my rinUKhter-ln-law Ornco M. Jlrown for nnd during tho term of her natural life. If sho ho lonir remain a widow nnd from nnd after her marriage or death, In further trust to divide or distribute the principal or said trust fund to tho Iiercons hereinafter provided for In tho case of my residuary estate, and I nil-thorite nil-thorite nnd empower said trustee to sell wild bonds, nnd to reinvest the proceeds pro-ceeds of sale at Its discretion." In striking contrast with this arc the clnuscs In which Miss Lewis benefits bene-fits In the following sections of tho same will: Ninth. "I glvo and bequeath to Miss Mnrtha K. Lewis, of tho city of Pitts-liurK. Pitts-liurK. one-half of tho residue of my library wherever the same may bo slt-uato slt-uato at tho apprnlsed vnluo thereof, sho to have tho rlKht to select books to the amount of one-half. 1 nlso (rive, and bequeath to tho said Martha K. Lewis my Aslorln States HncliiK trophy and tho box of silverware which 1 re- mHivtNfsoH X'xnryMiiS Lew5 fS&JqMm, ecMromutrcir. cently purchased from Ilcrun Ilros. & Co." Tenth. "t nlso Rlvo nnd bequeath to Miss Mnrtha IS. IaiwIs aforesaid, first mortKiiKo bonds of tho Pittsburg llrew-Ing llrew-Ing company to tho aggregate par valuo of 30,m, which I direct shall bo delivered de-livered to her by my executors within 30 days nfter my death: and If for nny rensnn tho said bonds nro not delivered within tho period nforesnld, I direct my executors to pay to her on tho first day of tho mouth following my death thu sum of J 125 nnd a llliu sum monthly thereafter until said bonds nre delivered deliv-ered to her." Tho librnry from which Miss Lowls wns empowered by tho will to select ono-hnlf of tho books Is worth $50,000, nnd ono of tho most complete Hbrnrle3 In tho city. Tho Astoria rnclng plate, which also went to Miss Lewis, was of gold, valued at $10,000. It was won by Sito Smith. Received Mony Presents. By tho will Miss Lowls got In all $60,000. This was only a small portion por-tion of hor benefits. When she wob 23 hor last birthday Mr. Brown handed the delighted girl $20,000 In new bills. Only a few months before he had given her a beautiful big houso on Greenfield avenue, worth $20,000. This is where tho bride will live when she returns from her honeymoon. Sho got $20,000 worth of diamonds, too, and In all $125,000 in cnBh, say Mrs. Brown's friends, befbro tho old man's death. Tho Browns havo taken the daughter-in-law to their hearts. 'She Is again mistress of the old Brown mansion, man-sion, thero to stay as long as sho pleases. W. Harry Brown, tho brother, broth-er, even wealthier thon S. S. Brown, who Inherits tho bulk of tho estate, Is understood to bo against Miss Lewis' claim. Thero was a tragic sceno when the will was read. Mrs. Elizabeth Wll-lard, Wll-lard, sister of tho dead man, knew nothing of It. When sho heard It .gava tho young widow but $30,000 In beer bonds sho burst out weeping and ran from the room crying: "Oh, Samuel, Sam-uel, how could you have done this thing?" A strangu feature of this Strang case Is that tho mllllonalro provided better bet-ter for tho young widow after her death than during her life. A niche by his direction has been reserved for her In tho rich marblo mausoleum out at the cemetery. There sho will rest with tho others of tho family's dead. And whether nn old man's fickle fancy changed at tho last or a design-lug design-lug girl succeeded In a plot to secure wealth at tho expense of reputation and standing In society, Is the question. ques-tion. Probably it will bu answered in thi courts. |