| OCR Text |
Show YOUNG WIDOW mi PIGHT FOR MILLIONS OF HER FATHER-IN-LAW Disposition of Estate of !Samuel S. Brown, Pittsburg r Magnate, Keveals Scandal. LEFT MUCH MONEY TO HIS LATEST PET i !GtrI at the Last Supplanted Wife of Dead Son 111 the Old Mart's Affections-Will Was Made as He Lay on His Death Ocd. "Better an old man's darling than a young man's slave," runs tho old Bong. Probably Martha E. Lewis will concur, con-cur, but Mrs. draco McGoodwIn Drown, daughtcr-ln-law of the lato Samuel S. Hrown, Smoky City mag- !nato and multl-mllllonalre, can hardly hard-ly be expected to. Idolized and petted by her father-in-law for 15 years, taught to consider con-sider herself his heiress, and Introduced Intro-duced everywhere as his daughter, aho finds herself left a paltry $30,000, while her supplantcr, Martha E. Lewis, has been given a sum exceeding exceed-ing $250,000. . And a contest in tho courts which V will enrich lawyers and furnish sensa-fj sensa-fj tlons to satisfy the most scandal- Ex hungry dame Is promised. m For Mrs. Brown and all tho rcla- ?? tlvcs of tho dead millionaire assert & that his latest will, executed on his W death bud, was mado under unduo j$ Influence and Is unjust nml unfair. ' Worth Over $20,000,000. Samuel S. Brown died last December. Decem-ber. Ho left an estate scattered all tho way between Pittsburg, Now York and New Orleans which Is conservatively conserva-tively estimated at $20,000,000. Ho also left a will which Is tho bono of contention. Mrs. Brown, young widow of tho I dead magnate's only son, had been , told that sho was to bo his beneficiary. bene-ficiary. A goodly portion of tho cstato was to have been hers. Yet, when tho will was read, sho found herself cut off with n paltry batch of brewery bonds, and theso to go should sho remarry. But Miss Lewis, bitter enemy of tho millionaire's daughtcr-ln-law, benefited bene-fited to tho extent of a quartor of a million and more. Sho had already Riipplanted tho beautiful Kentucky bello as tho head of tho old man'B 4 household before his death. That was tho last straw; thou came tho open breach. It Is a strange fciory how theso two young women camo Into tho llfo of tho millionaire. There wero a son and a daughter whom tho old man Pittsburg, ri. Wllllnm Hrown, Princeton, K: Wnlt, t nm coining down that way Ibis Wick. K. 8. HHOWN. for an answer this camo back: Cnn't wnlt. WILL. And this was tho reply: All rlelit. Qo nhcml, (Jod blown you both, UrhiB her homo. FATlIElt. But It was not so fated. Will Brown, undisputed heir to tho larger share of his father's millions, did not bring his brldo home. Sho brought him homo in a coffin. Almost tho next day ho fell 111 and was dead within a week. The bride-widow, almost al-most ill with her grief, met her fa-thcr-ln-law nnd went straight to his heart. "You must stay here with us, my dear," said tho millionaire, "and bo my daughter, too. I know Will would have wished It so." Old Kan's Daughter Dead. So tho girl stayed along 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 ray poor old heart will break," said tho old man, bowed under un-der this added weight of woo. Thcro was no one to turn to savo his daughtcr-ln-law now. Ho called her to him one day soon after tho funeral, and said: "Stay here with me, for I am left alono. Bo the head of my household, and when I dlo you will bo tho same In my will as If you were my own daughter. And why not? Are you not tho wlfo of rny dead son, my only boy?" But the girl did not need this promise. prom-ise. Sho loved the old man as tho father of her boy husband. Her Bister Bis-ter camo to live with them and sho took her place at tho head of tho Brown household. Tho servants wero Instructed to oboy her In everything, nnd wherever sho went she was Introduced In-troduced by tho millionaire as "my daughter Grace, my son's widow, dear to mo as my own." Everywhero It wns understood that tho young widow was to bo his heiress. heir-ess. Folks wero told that Mr. Brown's Idolized. When they grew up noth-I noth-I Ing was too good for thorn. I Inception of Romance. B Fifteen years ugo William Brown, M tho millionaire's only son, wns sent 9 V to Kontucky to superintend tho build- Ing of a railroad In which his father I was Interested. There ho met a bluo I grass bello beautiful draco McQood-I McQood-I win, barely turned 16. I Tho boy's head was turned. It was I plainly lovo at first sight. Thoro was I an ardent courtship, and tho youthful V suitor won. Tlut day thoro camo to I . the old man In 'Pittsburg this dls- 1 patch: Princeton, Ky. 1 B. B. Hrown. PlttsbuiR, Pii,: 1 I nm KoltiK to bo murrled to tho donrost 1 girl In tho world. WILL. , 1 That samo day this wlro went back ft to Kentucky: .flBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBJ llfo was Insured for $100,000 In her favor. Martha Lewis 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 nt tho Browns'. "Grace," said -tho old millionaire, by way of making clear how things stood, "Just tako Marty and buy her boiiio things, and show her how to wear thorn." "Marty" was what Mr. Brown elected elect-ed to cnll tho pretty girl ho hud Installed In-stalled as his protege In tho big houso. Young Mrs. Brown balked some, but sho did as sho wns told, But sho refused to Introduce) the girl to hor friends, and she still was Mr. Brown's ocntor when rrc went to New York on matters social. Martha 13. Lewis "was the daughter of a boat caulker employed by Mr. Brown. When only a child In short dresses tho millionaire had taken to her because sho reminded him of his dead daughter -when Bhc was n tiny girl. When sho grow older ho made her his almoner In his many charities, and when she was out of her teens ho had her mndo secretary of tho Sunday Sun-day school which ho hnd endowed. Gifts wero showered upon her Just as tho wero upon Miss Grace Brown. For awhile things went along smoothly smooth-ly enough on tho surfnee, but Mrs. Brown gradually discovered that she was being undermined. Miss Lewis finally got control of tho establishment establish-ment nnd ran It with an Iron hand. Family Makes Objections. Tho other Browns brothers, cousins cous-ins and nephews didn't llko this nt nil. They demanded that Miss Lowls bo at least sent to live elsewhere nnd that Mrs. Ornco Brown bo brought back from Kentucky, where sho had gone, to give tone to tho household. "Not for a minute," retorted tho old man. "Grace has chosen to live away from mo nnd I will not troublo her." Apparently, however, the aged millionaire mil-lionaire wns still fond of his son's widow. Sho spent a part of the season sea-son with Mr. Brown Inst year nnd ns tho Christmas holidays wero approaching approach-ing she received a hurried pall to como to tho old man's bedside. Ho wns dying. Tho young widow caught the first train. But as sho sped through tho darkness another will wns being made In Pittsburg In the old Brown mansion. man-sion. With a few strokes of the pen nil sho 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 wns received with open arms. Twenty days later Samuel S. Brown died. During thoso 20 days the deathbed will did not como to light. Mrs. Brown's friends say that It was purposely hidden so that sho would know nothing about It until It should bo too late. Tho millionaire mil-lionaire died, surrounded by his family, fam-ily, whllo Mrs. Brown knelt at the bedside. Will Kept Secret Never wero greater efforts mado to keep a will from becoming public. It was filed secretly. The authorities wore ordered to keep It secret and meekly compllod. Tho family lnwyer furnished an extract to tho newspapers, newspa-pers, but all 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 newspapers," wns tho lawyer's curt rejoinder when pressed for an explanation. ex-planation. But tho Now York Sunday World's correspondent In Pittsburg mndo things so Interesting for all concerned thnt finally tho entire contents of tho will were mado public as provided by law. Then tho storm broke; The feud became public property. Promptly there camo a demand from tho officers of tho Mary Brown church thnt Miss Lowls resign her position In tho Sun-dn' Sun-dn' Thool. ItiCetl to Leave Sunday School. Tho church had Mr. Brown's $70,-000. $70,-000. They cared no longer. They had bowed to hU will In llfo, and they had Installed his protego to a position posi-tion of distinction In church affairs. Now they would have no moro of hor. At n public hearing sho waa asked to reBlgn, and sho did. Thon sho announced that she Intended In-tended marrying and that was her ostensible reason for retiring. Sho nnd Wllllnm Arthur Porter, a rnco-track rnco-track employe of old man Brown's, hnd long rcn In love. In fnct, they loved nch other before he was tnken 111. Hero wero tho provisions of tho will concerning tho young women In tho case: Bequests to Martha Lewis. Second. "I Rive nnd bequeath to tho Union Trust company of Pittsburg first inortRnwe bond of the I'lttsburK llrew-liilt llrew-liilt company to the iiKKreKntc vnluo of 3o.00O, In trust nevertheless, to pay tho net Interest nnd lnconio therefrom to my dnUKhtcMn-lnw Ornco M. Hrown for nnd durlnir tho term of tier natural life, If slm so lontt remain n widow nml from nml after her marrluRe or dentil, In further trust to dlvldo or illstrlbtito the principal of said triiHt fund to tho persons lierelnnfter provlilrd for In tho case, of my residuary estate, and 1 nil-thorlze nil-thorlze nnd empower said trustee, to sell said bonds, nnd to reinvest the proceeds pro-ceeds of sale at Its discretion." In striking contrast with this nro tho clauses In which Miss Lewis benefits bene-fits In the following sections of tho samo will: Ninth. "I Rive nnd hciiucntli to Miss Martha K. Lewis, of tho city of ritts-btirc ritts-btirc one-half of tho residue of my llbrnry wherever the same may be slt-ualo slt-ualo nt tho npprnlseil value thereof, sho to have tho rlKht to select books to the amount of one-half. 1 also give nnd bequeath to the said Martha B. Lewis my Aslnrln Btntcs HncliiK trophy nnd tho box of sllverwnro which 1 re- jlP BCHyMWtW rently purchased from Heron Hros. & Co." Tenth. "I nlso ijlvo nnd boiiienth to Miss Martha K, I.owls aforesaid, first inortRHKO bonds of tho rittsburg Hrew-Int? Hrew-Int? company to tho aitKrepite par vnluo of 30,M0, which I direct shall bo ) llvered to her by my executors within 30 days nfter my death; nnd If for nny reason tho snld bonds nro not delivered within tho period aforesnld, 1 direct my executors to pay to her on tho first day of tho mouth following my denth tho mini of S125 nnd a llko sum monthly thereafter until said bonds nre delivered deliv-ered to her." Tho library from which Miss Lewis was empowered by tho will to select one-half of tho books is worth $50,000, and ono of tho most complete libraries In tho city. Tho Astorln racing plate, which also went to Miss Lewis, wns of gold, valued at $10,000. It was won by Suo Smith. Received Many Presents. By tho will Miss Lowls got In all $G0,00O. This was only a smnll portion por-tion of her benefits. When sho wns 23 hor last birthday Mr. Brown handed tho delighted girl $20,000 In new bills. Only a few months before he had given her a beautiful big houso on Greenfield nvenue, worth $20,000, This Is whero tho bride will llvo when sho returns from her honeymoon. Sho got $20,000 worth of diamonds, too, and In nil $125,000 in cash, sny Mrs. Brown's friends, beforo tho old man's denth. Tho Browns have taken the daughter-in-law to their henrts. 'She Is again mistress of the old Brown mansion, man-sion, thcro to stay as long as she pleases. W. Harry Brown, tho brother, broth-er, oven wealthier than S. S. Brown, who Inherits tho bulk of tho estate, Is understood to be 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 j?nvo tho young widow but $30,000 In beer bonds Bho burst out weeping and ran from tho room crying: "Oh, Sam. uel, how could you have done this thing?" A strango 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 mnrblo mausoleum out at tho cemetery. Thoro sho will rest with tho others of tho family's dead, And whether an old man's ficklo fancy changed nt tho last or n designing design-ing girl succeeded in a plot to secure wealth at the expense of reputation and standing In society, Is tho question. ques-tion. Probably It will bo answered In thi courts. |
