Saturday, June 14, 2008

Isn't she pretty?

A very nice person gave me this beautiful thing

Jennie Wood Stilwell

It's big, like 24" x 36". This is Jennie Wood Stilwell. She was the childhood sweetheart, and later the wife, of Kansas City railroad entrepreneur Arthur Stilwell. Easy to see why he took her everywhere he went, and he went all over the world raising money to build the Kansas City Southern Railway, among other things (like Fairmount Park).

Here's the accompanying poster of Mr. Stilwell

Kansas City Southern founder Arthur Stilwell

Yes, they loved each other deeply and dearly. Two weeks after Mr. Stilwell died of "apoplexy", Jennie Stilwell walked out the window of their 14th floor apartment in New York City, leaving behind a note that said, "I must go to Arthur."

For years, the cremated ashes of the two of them stood unclaimed in a New York funeral home. Nobody knows what ever became of their remains.

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