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NEGRESS WANTS A WIDOW’S DOWER!EL PASO, Tex., Jan. 18.—The remains of Delava] Beresford are now en route across the high seas to his old home in Ireland for interment. The burial will mark the close of the career of one of the most romantic life histories of modern times.The youngest son of the late Marquis of Waterford,, one of .Great Britain’s most noted peers, Delaval Beresford, who was entitled to be called lord, forsook the life to which he had been reared and came to America when a mere youth, penniless but determined to win his way. At his death he was a millionaire, but still an outcast. He had chosen the life of an outcast, and as if to make his position clear had taken a Negro woman for his companion.That woman now declares she will claim his estate and will cross swords in the Mexican courts with the lord admiral of England in a fight for its possession. The woman was never married to Beresford, but she lived on his Mexican ranch for twenty-five years and was generally considered as his wife and called “Lady Flo” far and wide.In his will the millionaire ranchman-outcast left Flora Wolf $50,000/ The rest of his estate is willed to his two surviving brothers, the present Marquis of Waterford and Lord Admiral Charles Beresford, of the British navy.Flora Wolf declares that she can prove that she was the common law wife of Delaval Beresford, and that under the laws of Mexico she is entitled to the widow’s share in the estate. She has settled on one of his great Western ranches, the Ojitos, where she has lived for twenty-five years, and declares that she will hold it against all comers. This ranch embraces 160,000 acres, and there is another adjoining it that contains 75,000 acres. There is other property in Canada and in various parts of the United States, as well as valuable English stocks. All of this property was gained through the cattle business.When young Beresford met Flora Wolf, a yellow Negress, she was a domestic in the family of the American consul at Chihuahua. She claims the estate was community property, having been accumulated by the two after they had assumed the relations of man and wife.The eratic ranchman wore the rough costume of a cowman and, although a millionaire, associated chiefly with bartenders and cabmen when he came to El Paso. He traveled a great deal in order to look after his interests. His sole amusement was hunting. He returned to England a time or two, but it is said he never visited his titled brothers.When Lord Admiral Beresford visited Mexico and America two years ago he paid no attention to a telegram inviting him to visit his brother’s ranch and hunt big game.
Newspaper Details
Seattle Republican
Seattle, Washington, US
Fri, Jan 25, 1907
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Clive C.
CA 28 Nov 2023
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