The Late Park Benjamin's
Adopted Daughter,
Who Crossed the
r Atlantic to Scatter i
His Ashes, Will
Return the Bride
of the Very Man I
? He Recommended 1
to Her ^
on His
Death Bed
"When the liner reached mid
ocean tearful Miss Benjamin
bent reverently over the rail,
scattering to the four winds the
grim contents of the funeral urn
and following them with great
handfuls - of roses and other
ftowers.,t
Mrs. Lnnco
Caruso, who
opposed her
father’s adoption of the family’s
servant and was disinherited along
with the rest of the children
The late Enrico Cartuo and the daughter
whom he left 10 rich that the ha* no need
to worry about the fortune her mother lost
The former Anna
Bolchi as she looks
since becoming the
adopted daughter
of the late Park
Benjamin and in
heriting the fortune
he left to her in
stead of to his own
children
On the left, the
former Mia*
Bolchi in the
daya when ahe
waa only an
obscure Italian
.girl, holding a
aervant’a job in
the rich and
fashionable
Benjamin family
, I HEN Miss Anna Marie Bolchi
Benjamin sailed for Europe a
few weeks ago it was under cir
cumstances remarkably different from
those which marked her original arrival
in America as a small girl.
Then she was only an obscure Italian
immigrant, coming with others of her
family to this land of opportunity in
the hope of finding a better living than
they could make in Italy.
Now this same girl is a rich young
woman nnd a member by legal adoption
of one of America’s oldest, proudest, most
distinguished families. She is the mis
tress of a fashionable New York man
sion, has servants to wait on her, limou
^ .r luxu
tune of
a passing thought to the contrast be
tween her arrival here in the steerage
and her sailing now as the occupant of
one of the most expensive first cabins.
The mission that took her to Europe
was a sad one. She carried with her
in a eostly urn the ashes of the late
Park Benjamin, the famous lawyer,
editor and financier who had adopted
her, left her the bulk of his fortune and
defied even his own sons and daughters
for her sake.
In his will Mr. Benjamin was not sat
isfied with disinheriting his flesh and
blood and leaving practically his entire
estate to the Italian girl who had entered
his family as a governess. He gave still
another striking bit of evidence of his
love for her by directing that his ashes,
instead of being buried with those of
others of his family, should be scattered
in mid-ocean by the hands of his adopt
ed daughter.
The liner reached a point halfway
between America and Europe one eve
ning just as the sun was sinking below
the horizon. Miss Benjamin, a tearful
figure in black, appeared on deck, carry
ing the funeral urn. While officers of
the ship and friends of hers stood with
reverently bared heads she scattered the
ashes to the four winds and as they
vanished she followed them with great
handfuls of roses and other flowers.
Little did she realize as she carried
out her adopted father's last wishes that
the trans-'Atlantic trip she had under
taken for such a sad purpose was lead
ing her straight to the marriage alt^r.
But this is exactly where it led, and
the romarye that has come into her life
is still anothe evidence of how dear sho
was to the late Park Benjamin and how
determined he was to safeguard her
future happiness in every way pos
sible.
v or many years Arthur l>ouis Full
man hnd been the personal attorney of
Park Benjamin and since the latter’s
death he has been the custodian of the
finances of the estate. Mr. Benjamin
had the greatest confidence in Mr. Pull
man's integrity and good judgment and
among his last words to his adopted
daughter as ha lay dying were these:
"Consult Mr. Fullman whenever you
find yourself in any difficulties."
Did the late Mr. Benjamin have In
mind something more than mere busi
ness matters when he urged his beloved
Anna to put her confidence in Mr. Full
man?
Did he, anxious up to the very mo
ment of his death for her welfare, think
thub to throw her in the way of exactly
the sort of man he would like her to
have for a husband?
There are many who think so, since
the cables brought the news that the for
mer Anna Benjamin, who started her
American career as a poor immigrant
girl and is now one of the nation's
wealthy young women, has become Mrs.
rii>iviuiHi(in.s —■... —,
Fullman to the letter. As the weeks
went by she found herself going to him
more and more frequently for advice in
all sorts of matters. Until she reached
Europe, however, on her recent trip
she is said to have had no suspicion
that this friendship between her and the
attorney was growing into something
deeper.
While visiting her old home in Italy
Miss Benjamin was surprised to receive
a cablegram, saying t^iat he was sailing
for England and asking her if she
could not arrange to meet him there.
Thinking that some serious difficulty
concerning the estate must have i
arisen, she hurried to London, but I
when Mr. Fullman joined her there 1
she found it was love and not details I
of business that he wanted to discuss. ■
, The discussion was not long drawn A
out and, as everybody now knows, it wt
ended very blissfully with Miss Ben- tL
jamin's marriage to Mr.
Fullman in the little Catholic |
Church of Corpus Christi, in
London.'
Antyi Holehl was a girl of
twelve when she first took
her place in the family
whose name she now
bears and whose for
tune has very largely
come into her posses
sion. She was a great
favorite with Mr. Ben
jamin from the start
and when she was old
enough he made her
the governess for his
daughter Dorothy—the
one who afterward incurred
his great displeasure by mar
rying the late Enrico Caruso.
When Dorothy Benjamin
grew too old to need a gov
erness Anna Bolchi becarno her com
panion. She traveled widely all over
this country and Europe with Dorothy
and her parents.
Dorothy Benjamin and nil her broth
ers and sisters liked Anna Bolchi and
admired her many good qualities. They
regarded her, however, only as a faith
ful servant and with nothing like the
fondness which their father had devel
oped for the girl.
It was in 1919 that Mr. Benjamin as
tonished his family by taking steps to
adopt Miss Bolchi by due process of law.
Shortly before this there had been sev
eral leas serious disagreements between
him and his children, but this proposal
of his precipitated a quarrel that raged
bitterly ns long as he lived.
The children tried by every means in
their power to atop the adoption, but
■tern old Park lionjamin ;as not a man
to be swerved from any purpose on
which he had once set hia heart.
In December, 1919, the adoption of
Anno Iiolehl was arranged according to
law at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The Immigrant
girl and former governess took her
place ns a recognized member of the
proud Benjamin fnmily.
On Mr. Benjamin’s death a few years
latei it was seen that he had done more
f an place her on a par with his natu
ral children that he held her dearer
than any of hit own flesh and Wood.
When his will was filed for probate it
was found he had disinherited Dorothy
and all the rest and left his entire es
tate, with the exception of n number of
minor bequests, to his adopted daughter.
The estate was valued at considerably
more than half a million dollars. The
will, which was written in Mr. Henja
min’s own hand, explained tha disin
heritance of his children in favor of the
former governess on the ground of "un
fllial conduct.”
Tha disinherited children immediately
handed together to contest the will and
lengthy litigation followed. The .nat
ter was finally settled out of court by
a bargain which, it is understood, left
Anna Bolchi Benjamin almost
ns wealthy as she would have
been if there had been no con
test.
What makes the peculiar
fondness which grew up in old
Benjamin's heart for the Italian
immigrant girl whom he em
ployed as his daughter's governess and
companion so extraordinary is the fact
that he came from the bluest blooded
Knickerbocker stock.
He was educated first in some of New
York’s finest private schools and later
at the Unites) States Naval Academy.
Abandoning a career as a sailor for the
law, he was admitted to the bar and soon
became a celebrated expert in patent
litigation and also a scientific editor and
author.
The chord in Bark Benjamin's heart
which was so deeply touches! by Anna
Bolchi’a Italian charm singularly failcsl
to show any sympathetic throbbing*
when his daughter Dorothy fell in love
with an Italian the great Caruso. Most
of the things said when
he heard the news were
quite unprintable.
This is said to have
been n surprise to Dorothy and
her intimates, who thought that
Anna Bolchi's pride of nation
ality and the strong sold she
had on Mr. Benjamin's affection would
enable her to overcome Mr. Benjamin's
bitter opposition to Caruso.
But she failed to do anything of the
kind. Even after Caruso had provevl
himself the most devoted of husbands he
could not win the old man's forgiveness.
The late Enrico Caruso had his turn
for revenge when Mr. Benjamin an
nouncVd his intention of adopting Anna
Bolchi as his daughter. Instead of sup
porting the cause of his fellow-country
woman the singer lent his wife and the
rest of the children every assistance in
the fight they made.
This seems to be a sore spot In the
former Anna Bolchi's memories of her
eventful past, for the first words she
uttered after her marriage to Mr. Full
man In Ixindon the other day were these:
"I am not Caruso's sister-in-law. 1
wish they would let the dead artist rest '
Through Caruso’s artistic genius and
the shrewdness he showed in managing
his financial affairs his widow and child
were left immensely wealthy. It is the
other Benjamin children rather than
Mrs. Caruso who have great cause for
regret that their father saw fit in his
old age to adopt Dorothy's former
governess and companion.