Capitol Hill News (Capitol Hill, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 47, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 15, 1908 Page: 3 of 4
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MRS. MARY ELIZABETH JONES
OF NEW YORK IS PROBABLY
WORLD’S WEALTHIEST WOMAN
originated by Ur- founder of the I'r.mlly (extent. Unt when the conversation
In America. Maj. Thomas Jones. Our ' would approach anything that related
policy has been to lease the lands we j particularly to her personal business
own for terms of years and to keep | affairs or those of the great Jones es-
investing the surplus income." : late, of which she Is a sharer, she in-
"How large an estate have yon hero j variably shifted the conversation to
matters genealogical or to generalities.
JSsp
about ttie manor house?”
'i don't know the exact number of
j acres, but 1 own for two miles nearly
all around it.”
This would mean that the lands di-
rectly adjoining the manor house
grounds form what in real estate par-
lance would be called a * parcel of i )» v a, by scuttling ships and mnraud-
ground” which would contain about j i.iK on the high seas generally that he
six square miles. Now. a square mile
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Ancestor a Pirate?
The most interesting of the many
famous ancestors of Dr. and Mrs.
Jones is the founder of the line in
America. Some of the ruder historians
say he w as a pirate, and intimate that
1,
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MRS. MARY ELIZABETH JONES
i«j, •EVV YORK.—Tilt- richest wom-
ISI an in America—or In the
IWI world—may not be Mrs. Hetty
1 tsj Green. The greatest land-owu-
“ * er In America may not lie one
of the Astors. These are the
conclusions that probably would be
reached if the Green and the Astor
possessions could be valued correctly
and the figures compared with those
which would represent the vast wealth
of Mrs. Mary Elizabeth .lores of New
York and of Cold Spring Harbor. L. 1.
Further than that, the social crown
of America, long held by the Astors by
has just 640 acres. It is almost im-
possible to buy an acre of ground, in
the western part of Long Island now-
adays. Practically every inch of even
the barrenest of plains has been
snapped up by real estate companies
and is being sold off at from $150 to
$1,000 a lot. The six square miles of
land that Mrs. Jones owns about her
homo in Cold Spring Harbor, if It rould
bo bought, would be snapped up in 24
hours at the average price of $1,003 an
acre. At this figure the value of that
property alone would bo nearly $1,000.
OUU.
Antedate the Astors.
"Your family is older and has great-
er possessions than the Astors—isn't
that so?" hazarded the reporter.
Mrs. Jones laughed. "We're certain-
ly older by a hundred years or so in
this country. As to which is the
greater 1 couldn't say, for 1 know as
little about what the Asters have as
they do about what 1 own. I hardly
know the latter myself—accurately,
that is. Hut, speaking of the ancestry
of ear family, there Is much that is iu-
down from the eldest of one family t>. I (.cresting to me. In fact 1 always have
been fond of and proud of the men and
accumulated bis many barrels of
"pb-i.i ; or eight" which he is alleged
to Iinve* brought to Oyster Bay when
he sol ted here. At any rate, he him-
self v. as markedly reticent about Ills
earlier history, except that ho fought
for James II. In the Battle of the
Boyne. He even wrote his owu epi-
taph:
Ills hurt OF SUCCELo
,y
the eldest of the next through five
generations, until now the bulk of the
vast accumulations rests with Mrs.
Mary Elizabeth Jones.
Mrs. Jones is the daughter of
Charles Hewlett Jones and of Eliza-
beth Gracie Gardiner. She was born
July 5, 1854, and was married to I)r.
Oliver Livingston Jones, her cousin,
when she was 19. They have six chil-
dren, two daughters and four sons.
In summer, and in fact at Intervals
during the winter, the family live in
the old Jones manor house, at Cold
reason of their wealth, would belong to ! Spring Harbor, L. I. There is nothing
Mrs. Jones if she choHe to claim it, for | ornate or especially striking about
her fortune is doubtless greater and j this country home of the woman who
her lineage in this country runs a cen- j is perhaps the richest of her sex iit
fury further buck. She is related also. ! America. It is simply a large, well-
far and near, to nearly every one of J built mansion of the litter colonial
the great families in New York and J style of architecture, of which it is one
New England whose names are written j of the best examples in this country,
large on the pages of American history j The rather battered surrey, driven
from the days of the Colonial wars to ; by the son of the owner of the “hackin'
now. ■ business" at Cold Spring Harbor.
Probably no one. not even Mrs. : stopped in front of the main entrance
Jones herself, could say accurately j to the mansion and remained there
how great is her fortune, it is mostly | during the hour and more that the re-
porter was talking to Mrs. Jones.
The richest woman in America was
gowned quite simply in something
light blue, comfortable ami well worn.
A diamond ring or so, with the stones
next. It is to a certain extent very [ Mr. Clinton was governor.
sry stale in the union \ diamond ring or so, won me stones lnl]cll ]jg0 ,he English laws of prime- It is also known that James II.
The property imtnedi- set in the fashion of a generation ago, I
in land. She acknowledges that she
owns and pays taxes on land in every
school district on Long Island, in
nearly every county in New York
state and in every state in the union
except. Texas.
ateiy surrounding the old manor house | sparkled on her fingers, ller almost I
at Cold Spring Harbor, where she ; white hair was combed straight back I
lives in su /inter, is worth millions of ; front her forehead, with just a slight
dollars. I niff to relieve its severity. In her girl-
Her husband, Dr. Oliver Living- j hood Mrs. Jones must have been very j
ston Jones, is also a great land-owner, j beautiful; she is handsome in her mid-
but his possessions fall far short of bis ! die age. Hut her chief charm and at- |
wife's. Then there is the Jones estate,
women who were our ancestors. I
have several volumes of histories that
have been written about the family,
but, as is usually the case wheu one
has a home in the city and one in the
country, the things one wants at the
moment always are among those left
behind. That is why I haven't any of
them here to show you. No, 1 think
there is one over there. ‘The Jones
Family of Long Island.’ You may take
it to look over if you wish. The edges
are a little tattered. ! guess one of j ter Bay.
the puppy dogs must have oeen play- j
ing with it.”
"One of the puppy dogs." who had
apparently been lurking within earsliot
in the hall came sidling in just then as
’if to beg the visitor not to take away
his book until he had given it a few
more bites.
Family Fortune Kept Intact.
“I have spoken of Thomas Jones, our
ances'or," went on the richest woman
in America. "He cante from Ireland—
the history I will lend you tells all
about him. He originated the policy
of our family to keep handing down
the bulk of the fortune intact, so far
as possible, from one generation to the
llet-'- Lyes Intent Tie: Body of
Major Thomus Jones Who Cattle
From
SI ratmne in the Kingdom of
Ireland. Settled Here, and Died
lleeembei 17LI. From Blatant Lnnls
To this Wild V.'arlo II - Came
This Seat be chose and Here
He Fixed Ills Num- Long May Ills
Sons This Peaceful Spot Enjoy And
No 111 Fate bis Offspring Her- An-
noy.
lie died in t713 and was buried a
short distance south of the old Brick
House, on the east bank of the Jlassa-
pcqua river. The ancient burial place,
about 30 feet square, was threatened
by inroads of the tides, and in 1893 his
remains were removed. His headstone,
bearing the inscription quoted above,
is still well preserved. In the early
days his was known as the "Pirate’s
Grave." and for many years after ills
death it was the common belief (says
John II. Jones in his history of the
family) that some of Maj. Jones'
wealth was buried with him. and sn
deeply rooted had tins become that his
grave was opened by vandals in the
ques' of relies, and the undent hones
left strewn on the ground. His re-
mains now rest in the burying-ground
adjoining Grace church, at South Oys-
/A
Tkf »«; STICK
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x:
The Suit 18 a Little Large for Him.
END THIS SLANDER
Record of History.
About Maj. Jones being a pirate lit-
tle is known, There is extant a letter
front Lieut. Gov. Golden to his son.
written in 1759. in which lie says:
"While Col. Fletcher was governor the
inhabitants of New York carried on a
trade to Madagascar while that island
was frequented by pirates, and many
of the pirates came and dispel sed on
Long Island and around Delaware Hay.
II has often been remarked that none
of the pirates made any use of their
uioney to any real advantage excepting
one Jones, who settled on Long Island,
and whose son made a remarkable fig-
ure as speaker of the assembly while
TIME TO PUT A STOP TO DEMO-
CRATIC FALSEHOOD.
Assertion That American Voters Have
Been Corrupted jjy Republican
Party Is an Insult and 3hould
Be Repudiated.
The
-jr*K
which is owned by some 25 heirs,
which also runs up into scores of mil-
lions in value. Three or more thea-
ters in New Y’ork city are owned by
her. and it is said to be her ambition
traction now is her quick, clear-cut j
manner of speaking, and her large,
dark eyes, w-hich look straight at one
while she talks. She is a woman of ex-
traordinary strength of mind and char-
acter, and it takes but a moment’s
to own property in every city in the J acquaintance to understand why the
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United States. She owns property in
most of them now and each year gets
nearer to a realization of her ambition.
The other day she had a controversy
with the city of New Y'ork about the
ownership of the sunken meadows up
in the East river. They are estimated
to be worth $1,000,000. The grant to
the Jones family goes back to Queen
Anne, so it is likely
retain possession.
Founder of the Family.
The foundations of her vast fortune
were laid by Maj. Thomas Jones, "who
came from Strabane in the kingdom of
Ireland" and settled with his young
wife near what is now called Oyster
Bay, L. I., In 1693. lie brought with
him a comfortable fortune, won on the
seas through privateering privileges
grant' d him by James II.. whose cause
he ‘ought for in the battle of its-
This fnrlline has hean banded
great Jones fortune lias grown with
such rapidity under her management.
Property in Many States,
"Is it true that you own property
everywhere in the United States?"
was asked.
"Yes, almost everywhere," she an-
swered. “I pay taxes in every school
district on Long Island, in every or al
llovne
Mrs. Jones will i mQft cvcrv count> in New York stale,
and in every slate in (ho union. No,
that last isn't so. i forgot about Texas.
! used to own some property in Texas,
bul I was down there a while ago and
concluded to sell it. No, I don't care
to say what the reasons were.
"That is the only property 1 have
ever sold, except an acre of land that
I sold to a very dear friend a while
ago. My rule is to always buy and
never to sell. In fact, that is the rule
that has been bended down to us front
irenoiatlo" -nuerutiou. and wa-s
geniture and entail. These English
laws, however, could not bo followed
in this country, as the statutes are
against such a procedure. With us,
however, it lias become a sort ol' fam-
ily understanding.
"The Jones
passed directly through live genera
tions in unbroken descent to its pres-
ent holders. On my mother's side l
am descended from Lion Gardiner, the
first proprietor of Gardiner’s Island.
John Lyon Gardiner, the twelfth pro-
prietor, married Elizabeth Goralie
Jones. My maiden name was Jones, so
when I married Dr. Oliver Livingston
Jones I didn't have to change my
name.”
The visitor being somewhat of a
connoisseur in colonial furniture could
not help commenting on some of the
splendid pieces of old mahogany in
the room where he was sitting. This
led Mrs. Jones to take him from one
room to another on the ground floor.
“All this old furniture has been in
the family for generations. Of course
wo have some that is new, bul the old
is too beautiful and too well built to be
put aside. I see no reason why It
should not be beautiful and serviceable
still a hundred years from now,” Mrs.
Junes remarked. "I am fond of good
pictures, too,” she went on. "A good
many of these paintings are inheri-
tances from my father and those be-
fore hint who had some taste in art,
and some I have bought because 1
lilted them rather than because they
were done by famous artists.”
Mrs. J mes was disinclined to talk
specifically about the details of the
varlc.s holdings which make up her
own vast possessions in New York and
throughout the United States. She ac-
knowledged that her husband and her-
self were interested in almost every
branch c.f industry to a greater o> less
granted Maj. Jones, in 1690, as a com-
pensation for services rendered, a
commission to cruise against Spauisa
property. At any rate, the privateer-
ing business did not last long, but. was
immensely profitable while it did. It
estate or property has I was considered a legitimate business
in those days.
Among the many well-known and
famous families who are related to the
richest woman in America and her hus-
band are the Willetts of Flushing; the.
Van Wycks of Flatlands (prominent in
the colonial wars); Dr. Valentine Mott,
the great surgeon; the Underhills, fa-
mous mariners; the Renisens, who in-
termarried with the Do Peysters and
the Livingstons; the Tangier Smiths
(whoso ancestor was governor of Tan-
gier, Africa, under Charles II.); the
Cornells, the Westtses, the Living-
stons (who were among the aristoc-
racy when New Amsterdam was a vil-
lage); the Gardiners, who were and are
the lords of Gardiners' Island; the
Scudders, the Hewletts and scores be-
side. They are also related to the Fol-
som family, of which Mrs. Grover
Cleveland is a member.
Snell is the woman, her family past
and present.
No International Marriages.
About the last words that closed the
reporter’s interview with Mrs. Jones
was his query whether any of her fam-
ily had made or were likely to make
any international marriages, and thus
transfer some of the Jones millions
to bolster up decayed nobility.
"We certainly have not, and I don't
think we are likely to," she answered
emphatically. "We are Americans,
and arc proud of it. Our wealth lies
here, and here it will stay so long as
God wills to keep it in our hands. 1
had rather be a plain American wom-
an, as i am. than tin* queen of any
country undo) the sun."
THE CHANGE IN BRYAN.
Proof Not Forthcoming That Old Fal-
lacies Are Abandoned..
In Mr. Bryan's extenuation it is put
forward that he lias changed. They
whom resentment or indecision or the
desire to lie placated move, represent
that, the peerless one is not at all dan-
gerous this time because what, made
him so 1m has forsworn. Once he, was
for free coinage—to that he has said a
long farewell. Once he railed at the
courts—now 'nts roaring is gentle,
like that of a sucking dove. Once he
was for government ownership—that
ho is trying as hard as possible to for-
get. Once be was an ardent free
trader—that, perchance, lie may yet
disown and at any rate forbears to
pipit 'i sound that might alarm the
tic .i ilntld manufacturer.
Let us freely admit that all which
Bryan once believed he now disavows.
How long is it since infidelity to lm
mortal principles und the mobile ad-
justment of one's views to the exigen-
cies of the hour became u sure Bass-
port to the trust and confidence of the
American people? Are we to under
stand from the evidence that Bryan is
so groat and indispensable an execu-
tive that whether he lias any views or
not becomes a negligible matter?
If Mr. Bryan should be elected H
might be found that these Ideas In-
lias for tlie nonce concealed are really
only subordinated until such time as
he can got into position to put them
into effect. And against such a con
tingency Lloyd's offers no inr nee
Characterization That Fits.
Long lias tlie trinity of significant
initials "G. O. P." stood in impres *
sivc isolation. There lias been noth-
ing to counterbalance it descriptively
hut ‘‘Democratic party." A worthy,
symmetrical, euphonious characteriza
lion for the Jeffersonian opposition
has all these generations been a cry-
ing need. Mr. William Randolph
Hearst, unconsciously, too, we believe,
has supplied the literary want. In-
tent only upon reaching “hands across
cuse of egotism which the people have I the sea" for the purpose ol’ assas
sinating politically Mr. Bryan, Mi.
Hearst has cabled u most happy
thought that at once sketches the
present status of the Democratic party,
invokes its history and prophesies its
future. Says Mr. Hearst to Mr. Bryan:
"! don't think the path of patriotism
lies in supporting a discredited and de-
cadent old party.”
It is eminently possible, of course,
that "discredited old party" may refer
to Mr. Bryan specifically and directly.
However, we much prefer to accept
the second adjective and adjust it to
its manifest sense. Hereafter it shall
be first. "U. O. IV as counter-opposed
to D. O. P.—'"decadent old party." as
Mr. Hearst ami other less prominent
pessimists behind it—under Bryanlstn
“keynote" speech of Tem-
porary Chairman Bell at the Demo-
cratic national convention was charac-
teristically llryanesque. It opened with
tho-ctnrtomary denunciation of the Re-
publican parly as the nurse of "spe-
cial -privilege" and "monopoly" and us
the author of "government by injunc-
tion.”
Then Mr. Bell proceeded to argue
for the substitution for the injunctions
of the courts, issued in due process of
law and for the protection of life and
property, of the Injunctions of tlie
Gomporses and Sheas and other per-
sonal usurpers of governmental power
for the destruction of property anil
waging of wars which spare mil even
life.
The ideas or Mr. Bell, which are
necessarily the ideas of Mr. Bryan, of
a "constructive policy” for the Demo-
cratic party seemed to be confined
chiefly to certain ends anil leavings
from tlie congressional waste baskets
—to those "great reforms" for which
Hon. R. M. La Follette of Wisconsin
stood sponsor in the Republican na-
tional convention—"popular election
of senators," "physical valuation of
railroads." "publicity of campaign con-
tributions.” On tills latter poin! Mr.
Ilell said:
"The corrupt use of large sums in
political campaigns is largely respon-
sible for the subversion of the people's
will at the polls."
The assertion that they were beat-
en by purchase of voters who would
otherwise have supported them is fre-
quently made by defeated candidates.
It is the easiest and the cheapest ex-
refused to take at its own valuation.
Mr. Bryan offered it in 1890.
The grain or fact in this charge is
that sometimes in petty local con-
tests in communities where the moral
sense averages low or a certain kind
of ignorance prevails, victory goes to
the side of the longest purse. But
that such methods should win on any
large scale is physically impossible.
Let us consider the facts;
There are about 16,000,000 voters.
There Is no evidence that the expendi-
tures of either great party in a presi-
dential year have been as much as one
dollar a iiead. Out of this is paid ull
the expenses of printing, meetings,
speakers, and all the other apparatus
or the education process which a po-
litical campaign is and must he if free
and popular government is to exist.
Where did the money come from
with which were "bought” those mil-
lions of vonnl voters that defeated
candidates and candidates that fear
defeat are always seeing? Where are
the venal voters? Let the average
American ask himself. He may sus-
pect that lie knows one—possibly. But
does ho know one?
The question answers itself. And,
knowing the answer, is it not time
that the resentment of the decent mil-
lions of Americans should put an end
to this dirty slander and this down-
right lie?
Mr. Bryan’s Convention.
A stale candidate, who is it fore-
gone conclusion, makes a stale con-
vention, makes a stale campaign and
a stale campaign ends in an election
without enthusiasm and without hope.
Ail the accounts agree that as the
opening of the Denver convention ap-
proached interest seemed
The members who
to ebb
away. tut: meinuers wuv had ar-
rived on the scene with some sense of
their individual importance soon lie- 1
pan to realize that the delegations
were at, the end of strings and that
the strings ran into the study of a cer-
tain substantial citizen at Lincoln,
Neb.
That Anti-injunction Plank.
Tluisc features of the Denver plat-
form that have relation to sane issues
are for the most part either meaning
less or unsound. That relating to in
junctions is partly one and partly the
other. Nobody denies that "parties to
all judicial proceedings should be
treated with rigid impartiality,” but
what does this m< si*. "Injunctions
should not be issued fu any cases in
which injunctions would not issue if
no industrial dispute were involved.'
If Gompers is satisfied with that, it
must be because lie thinks he sees
something In it that it does not con-
tain. A possible sense may be extract-
ed from the statement that trial by
jury should be provided in cases of
■indirect contempt” of court, though a
defiance of injunction orders Is suf-
ficiently direct to be promptly and sum-
marily punished if lnjuctions are to
have any effect. The so-called antl-in
junction plank is simply rotten —N. Y.
Journal of Commerce.
Vote vs. Yell.
Looking back at the two convention*
it is evident that the Democrats are
better on the yell than the Repub-
licans.—Washington Herald.
But on election day it will be found
that, the Republicans can beat tha
j Democrats at voting.
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Capitol Hill News (Capitol Hill, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 47, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 15, 1908, newspaper, August 15, 1908; Capitol Hill and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc936265/m1/3/: accessed April 24, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.