Who Is Paulina Mason

A long romance recently appeared in the New York World and many other dailies evidently belonging to , the World syndicate. The subject was the widow of the first governor of Michigan. The article was so entertainingly written that we have had it set up in type and have been holding it a couple of weeks till we found space for it. On Tuesday of this week Ex-Governor Felch called our attention to a number of inconsistencies in the article, which is given in full below. Said the governor: "The articé is full of inconsistencies. It speaks of Judge Woodward as visiting her uncle in Detroit after 1834. Judge Woodward had been out of this country since 1824 and never came back. That is only one of many inconsistencies. I never heard of any such man connected with the survey as her uncle. I would íike to know who the woman is, or whether there is 'any such woman. "Governor Mason was married in 1838 to a Miss Phelps, the daughter of a merchant and rather distinguished man, in the city of New York. The governor died in January, 1843, leaving this wife and three children, two of whom have since died and one of whom is living in Newark, N. J. The mother married again. The name of her second husband is just now out of mind, but she lived until 1870, when she died in New York City. There is no such woman living as the widow of Ex-Governor Mason." Ex-Governor Felch had recently received a letter from the daughter of Stevens T. Mason in which the article is spoken of. He has good grounds for believing, as he dently does, that either an imposter has imposed upon a reporter, or, what seems more likely, the article is the creation of the brain of some unprincipled writer. It wíll be noticed in reading the article that Mason could not have been married to this woman, while governor, kept open house with her, entertained President Harrison and other notables, without Governor Felch having been aware of the fact. The story as told by the Toledo dispatch is as follows: Toledo, O., Aug. 29. - The life history of Paulina Masón, who lives at Adams and Tenth streets in this city, equals the most elabórate works of fiction. From royalty and wealth she has been leveled by circumstances to the seclusion of poverty. This seclusion might never have been penetrated but for the accidental discovery a few days ago of the fact that she was formerly the wife of Stevens T. Mason, the ■ famous "Boy Governor" of Michigan. From an interview with her, the object of which was the possible discovery of missing links in the annals of Michigan and the great Northwest, the facts came out. The story as she tells it, runs substantially as" follows: "I was born 70 years ago last March. Our family includes many famous names. My naaiden name was Reauff. That is taken from my grandfather's name, Reauffanoff. My g.andfafher was a giant, both physically and intellectually, He was over seven feet in height, and weighedabout 350 pounds. He was a native of Russia. He was a firm friend of Alexander I, and when the opportunity came he was made commander-in-chief of the whole Russian army. Europe has had but one general since then that could in any way compare with him, and that was Count von Moltke. My grandfather was a sort of tutor to Von Moltke, and it is no doubt due to the lessons in military tactics which he gave him that the latter attained such great success. Alexander II, Von Moltke and my father were sent to school together, and were inseparable friends. AN ESTÁTE IN HOLLAND. "As a reward for his services Emperor Alexander I gave grandfather a vast estáte of eight or ten thousand acres in the territory which he had helped the French to win. The old general rcsigned his position in the army and moved to the new possessions, which bccame a part of land. He had his sons complete their courses at Zurich, each of them taking up the study of mining engineering. My father wooed and won a niece of Paul the Emperor; she was also a niece of Peter the Great. I am their child, and henee a grandniece of those great rulers. "But I didn't teil you how the -Reauffs carne to leave Holland, did I? Well, the war between the French and English broke out as a partial result of the war of 1812, and the conflict of the merchant yessels of the two nations. Grandfather was still strong and energetic, although nearly 90 years of age. He owed considerable to the French government, and he promply joined its army. He was an old friend of Napoleon's and the latter made him one of his greatest generáis. He was finally taken prisoner alongwith Napoleon and the rest of the French. Napoleon was exiled fo St. Helena, and grandfather was given his choice of going with him orgoing to America, besides having his vast estates confiscated. For his children's sake he carne to America. THE FAMILY IN PENNSYLVANIA. "He brought all his sons with him and located with the rest of the Dutch in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Then grandfather and one of my úneles moved into Philadelphia, where they lived on Chester street until the old man died in 1834. He was then 107 years of age. I was 13 years old when he died, being the youngest one of my father's family. "My father and úneles became very active in prospecting. They worked all over the state. One of them acquired a eompetence and settled down for the remainder of his life in Baltimore. Another became the head of a great iron company with headquarters in New York. I think ït was the Holland Iron Company. The one in Philadelphia :ook care of grandfather until the atter died. There are plenty of Reauff descendantsin all these cities and scattered around in their vicinities. "When I was 16 years of age I was graduated from the convent. I was as highly educated as one of that age could be in those days. I suppose I was accomplished too, for [ could play nearly every instrument there was, could paint pretty well and do many other things. "Af ter I graduated I lived with my unele right along. Then one day he got a letter from Detroit, Mich. , from Mr. Mason, who had Deen chosen Governor, making a proposition to him to prospect in the upper península of Michigan, and ascertain if the reports were irue as to its mineral wealth. My unele accepted the trust, and the next summer he moved up there. "I had not been in Detroit long when he was visited by Governor Mason, old Judge Woodward and others. Among them was a Mr. Pierce, who was appointed Superintendent of Public Schools by the Governor. He is the man who founded Michigan's excellent school system, reserving section 16 of every township in the State for a public fund. They came up ta see how unele was getting along with his work. One Sunday afternoon, when I supposed they were all away somewhere, I got out my guitar, and was singing the Germán to what you cali 'Home, Sweet Home.' My unele sent for me to come into the parlor, and there sat the Governor and all the gentlemen. A HUSBAND WITH A GUITAR. I vvas presented to them, and Mr. Masón said he had heard the singing, and wanted to hear more of it. It was a long time before I would consent. I suug two or three songs, and then they went away, but Mr. Masón watched me all the time he was there. I didn't know whafr to think. I was afraid I had done something I shouldn't. He carne next day and asked me to sing again and the same thing the next day. Well, it was the same oíd story. We were married about six months after that, and settled down to housekeeping at Detroit, then the capital of Michigan. He had been private secretary to Territorial Governor Porter, and when the latter died in 1835, Mr. Mason was left in charge for a short time, pending the President's appointment. Although he was only twenty years old and perfectly beardless, he succeeded so admirably that President Van Buren appointed him Governor. "My husband is a direct descenddant of one of the oldest families of England. His forefathers were very near to the English throne at one time. The leader of the Mason house embarked on the Mayflower for America. Various members of the family became leaders of New England politics during colonial times. When the Revolution broke out they were foremost in the fight for liberty. History tells us of General Mason, who was killed in the war. Others of them were governors, senators or congressmen. My husband's father was a general in the war of 18 12. ENTERTAINED WILLIAM HARRISON. "We entertained a great deal, for the 'Boy Governor' was not only famous, but he was popular. William Henry Harrison, who became President the next year after we were married, was a frequent visitor and a welcome one. Through him we got some property at Napoleon, O. Judge E. J. Potter, the man who invented the little three-cent pieces you sometimes run across, was often at our house. He is still alive and lives in this city. "After Mr. Mason's term he became interested with General John C. Fremort in exploring th'e West. He and Fremont were students together and graduated side by side. They forced a way through the wilderness to the ocean, exploring the región where San Francisco how is, and north, up as far as Columbia river. They discovered some of the silver deposits in Colorado and located several claims. One of those of my husband's was 320 acres, on which part of Denver is now built. It was legally recorded and we have a good title to it. We got a government patent. But circumstances afterward occurred so that I could not attend to it, and the recorder who wrote down the claim afterward took the book home and changed the title to his own name. This I did not find out until after several years, when it was proven in court. He sold it to a man who soon died, and this man sold it to another named Yerkes, who still lives. The recorder died two years ago. The case is now in the chancery courts of Denver, and I think we will soon win it. One of my sons now lives in Denver, and is personally fighting the claim. SENATOR PAYNE ONE OF THEM. "I have another big case in the courts, too. I, with several other descendants of the Reauffanoff family, among whom is Senator Payne, of Ohio, are the sole and lawful. heirs to one square mile which is now in the heart of Cleveland. Wa obtain our claim by right of a patent granted to Count Reauffanoff by the King of England, before the Revolutionary war. The patent is a matter of record and we have indisputable proof of its legality. Senator Payne now has the case in the United States Supreme Court. I do not suppose it will be determined before I die, but it will be sometime. General Reauffanoff was in the Russian army at the time and got the land through Alexander L, who made some kind of a treaty with the English. Our right to it is as good as that of the Knickerbockers, Stuyvesants, Van Burens and others who obtained patents from the mother country. "There is some more property which by right belongs to the Reauffs. That is the great Holland estáte. My husband died in 1853, and with two or three of the other relatives, among whom is my cousin, Governor Mitchell, of Oregon, 1 went to the old country to see about it. Alexander II. remembered the circumstances and promised to do what he could for us. He ppened negotiations with the French and Holland governments and was in a fair way of success when the nihilists struck him down. That took away our greatest hope and strongest help, and nothing has been done about it since. I do not suppose there ever will be now. A NURSE DURING THE WAR. "When I got back from Europe, where I had stayed long enough to study medicine at the Zurich medical college, and to get a diploma, I went west to see about our Denver property. Here I met General Fremont and wife, and with them went to Pike's Peak. Trouble with the South then seemed imminent and the General started for Missouri to get his men together. After the inauguration of Lincoln and the mutterings of war had grown into a tumult, the news came of the rail of Fort Sumter. All the old military fire of my grandfather seemed to be in me, and I could not stop. I hastened to St. Louis and enlisted as a war nurse, the first in the United States. I was detailed to go with General Fremont's army. We went right along with Grant's army. I was in the baitles at Pittsburg Landing and Shiloh. After ve had won the victory at Shiloh and the Confederates had retreated, I was busy attending the wounded. It was about four hours after the battle when a bullet from some sharpshooter's rifle struck me under the right arm. It glanced upward, went through part of my lung, knocked a piece off my shoulder blade," and lodged in my throat just in front of the main artery. Feel, here it is." Mrs. Masón pointed to a lump half as large as a hen's egg, on one side of her throat. PAULINA OP THE POTOMAC. "When I got out of the hospital at Cincinnati, where they took me," she continued, "I went to Washington and joined the Army of the Potomac. The soldiers nicknamed me 'Paulina of the Potomac' there, (Concluded on Siith Page.) WHO IS PAULINA MASÓN? (Concluded.) and by that name I arr. often referred to in the histories of the war. The soldiers have often made inquiries about me in their papers, but I have never told them where I was. "After the war I came to Napoleon, O., and Toledo. I finished my medical studies so I could practice in Ohio, for I wanted to keep busy, although I did not need to work so far as money was concerned. But the day came when my profession was a valuable help to me. I had over $50,000 in the banks at Napoleon and Toledo. The owners of them were old friends of my dead husband's, and for twenty-five years or more our families had been on intímate terms. I trusted them to properly care for my money. Nine years ago every bank failed, taking $38,000. I spent $10,000 more trying to get the rest back, so now I am poor and have a hard battle to get along. It is a fearful blow. My only object in living, now, is to see my sons as well situated as possible. One of them is in Denver, one in Chicago, where he is on government business, one in Washington and one in New York. They are all good boys, and I earnestly hope they will not sully the proud name of either the Reauff or the Masón family. Never has there been a black name among either of them, and my effort as long as I live, is to keep the record up. You see I am proud, if I am poor." SHERMAN TO GET HER A PENSION. The old lady is wrinkled somewhat, but withal a remarkably well preserved old lady. She has a small practice in this city, and the infirmary directors do what they can for her by giving her city cases. She is said to be a good physician. In connection with her story Mrs. Mason exhibited the diaries which had been kept by her grandfather, one from Paul the Emperor, two from Napoleon and dozens of them wntten by her uncle and husband. She retains as heirlooms articles from the Reauffanoff castle and gifts from the potentates of the European nations. She says most of that which feil to her lot, however, is now in the possession of the sons. The house she lives in is a story and a half frame cottage, plainly furnished. The gate is rickety, the fence is rickety, many of the slats in the window shutters are gone and the spikes in the short walks from the gate to the door catch one's toes. Mrs. Masón, after declaring for years that she would not, has applied for a pension and some of her friends here have gotten Senator Sherman personally interested in having it granted. She bids fair to need one for many years yet, for the longevity of her family seems to be inherited in her.