Charlotte was born in 1872 to Eliza Watson Clark and her
husband Henry Higbee, the third of their children and the only one to survive
infancy. When her widowed mother died in 1897 Charlotte, deemed an
"incompetent person", relocated from NYC to Binghamton, NY where her
maternal uncle Henry Clark, his wife and daughter sheltered her for the
remaining 16 years of her life. Charlotte had been bequeathed income as support
and had a residual estate at the time of her death. She had been granted a
generous inheritance by her wealthy paternal aunt Charlotte of Cincinnati who,
with her husband Judge Ezekiel S Haines, had no children of their own.
Newspapers published legal notices to known cousins, listed
as:
Arthur W. Clark
Sidney T. Clark
Arthur W. Clark
Egbert Clark
children of the deceased George W.
Clark
children of the deceased Mrs
Coursen, aunt of Charlotte, first name unknown
Yes, two of her first cousins were named Arthur W. Clark,
one born to her maternal Uncle Wheeler and the other born to her maternal Uncle
Henry. Interestingly, Charlotte had additional first cousins who were not
named. At first I was unsure of who Mrs Coursen might be.
