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This page last edited on 06 Mar 2007
1. John Archer Worsham "Johnny" b. abt. 1828 of Henrico, VA. Abt 1849, John md 1st) unknown and had two children. In 1857 Washington J. Worsham conveyed land in Richmond located between Charity & Federal Streets to Jno A. Worsham. John Archer Worsham is the son of Archer W. Worsham & Margaret R. Wingo (see page 667). He is in the 1860 Richmond Ward 2, Henrico, VA cens as John A Worsham age 42 b VA $4000 living with John Burcher? age 32, his wife Mary A. age 32 b VA. He md. 2nd) Sarah Annette bef 1857 of Lunenburg, VA. Annette b. abt. 1838 in NC.
According to the book "The Grandes Dames" Johnny ran a Richmond faro parlor and Johnny Archer Worsham md 1st Annette (in Richmond, VA) & 2nd Arabella Yarrington. (The Grandes Dames by Stephen Birmingham, 1982, pub. Simon and Schuster, p. 190-1)
John
may have md. 3rd) Catherine Arabella Duval Yarrington
"Bell" 1869 in Richmond, VA, however, it 
more
likely they were not married and she was his mistress. Much has been written about her
mysterious past, according to The Grandes Dames, "A Woman of Mystery," p. 188,
she was Arabella Duval Yarrington b. 1 Jun 1852 Union Springs, Bullock Co, AL and d. 1924
NY and bur. San Marino, Los Angeles Co, CA. However, she was the daughter of Richard M.
Yarrington b abt. 1808 Maryland and Mrs. Catherine J. Maddox born abt 1819 VA. They were
md. 1 Apr 
1839
Richmond, VA. (IGI) They are in the 1840 Richmond, Virginia census. In the 1850 Richmond,
Virginia census he is Richard M. Yarrington age 42 b Maryland, a machinist, and his wife
is Catherine J. age 31 b. VA. In the 1860 Richmond, VA census, Catherine is listed as C.
J. Yarrington age 37 b VA boarding house, living with her children in the residence of F.
Wingo age 67 b France. Richard apparently died before 1860.
Photos of Arabella from The Grandes Dames by Stephen Birmingham, 1982, pub. Simon and Schuster.
Oct 5, 2006, New York Social Diary, Volume VI, Number 155:
Arabella Huntington (1850-1924), a little girl from a poor family in the South with a drive and personality later typified in the character Scarlettt O'Hara in "Gone With The Wind."
Richard and Catherine Yarrington's children were:
1. Eliza Page Yarrington b. abt. 1843 of Richmond, VA. (8-1850, 17-1860, 23-1870) She married Mr. Asburn and in 1870 worked as a authoress in New York (Ward 15, District 8), New York Co., NY and lived with her mother.
2. Emma J. Yarrington b. abt. 1845 of Richmond, VA. (5-1850, 15-1860, 21-1870) In 1870 she lived with her mother in New York, NY.
3. Alfred Yarrington b. abt. 1847 of Richmond, VA. (3-1850)
4. Catherine Arabella Duval Yarrington "Bell" b 1 Jun 1850 Richmond, Henrico Co, VA. (5/12-1850; 9-1860; 19-1870; 28-1880) In the 1850 Richmond, Virginia census she was listed as, Catherine Yarrington age 5/12 b VA. In the 1860 Richmond, Virginia census she was listed as Carolina B. Yarrington age 9 b VA. It is likely her name was Catherine named after her mother and the B. probably was for Bell, nickname for Arabella. In the 1870 New York, NY census she was Bell De Wersion age 19 b. VA. In the 1880 Manhattan, NY census she is Belle D. Worsham age 28 b. AL. In order to disguise her past, she apparently changed her birth place to Alabama.
5. Richard Milton Yarrington b Aug 1852 Richmond, Henrico Co, VA. (7-1860; 17-1870; 8/1852-1900; 67-1920; 77-1920) He lived in San Marcos, Hays Co, TX.
6. John D. Yarrington b abt 1855 Richmond, Henrico Co, VA. (5-1860; 15-1870)
Numerous New York connections tie this John Worsham to these two women. In the 14 Sep 1861 Weekly Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) p4:
Truer-Fighters" Going to War - A letter from Washington to New York Times says: "The proprietors and all the faro dealers of the Richmond gaming houses have been enrolled. Some of the principle houses have been closed, in consequence of this new order and the scarcity of faro players. The brothers Worsham, who had a branch of their gaming house in Broadway, New York, having more faith in Tiger fighting than in fighting Yankees, have each, together with their dealers, hired substitutes at an expense of $1,200. Geo. Patton, of New York, another well-known gambler, has left his fashionable establishment in Main street, and is captain of a company raised in Richmond.
John A Worsham listed as citizen of Richmond whose property will be libeled for confiscation by the Deputy US Marshall. (17 Jul 1865 Daily Index (in Petersburg, VA), p2)
John is in the 12 Jun 1870 New York, NY census as John De Wersion age 45 b VA Stock Holder
in Banking Estab. and Arabella is listed as Bell De Wersion age 19 b VA with a son John De
Wersion age 3/12 b VA. They are living with her mother C. J. Yarington age 45 b. VA.
John is also in the 14 Jul 1870 Henrico Co, VA census as John A. Worsham age 42 b VA
banker, wife Annette 32 b NC, son John A. Worsham, Jr. age 21 b VA clerk in store, Hollie
R Cole age 26 b GA clerk in store male, Florence L. age 18 b VA, Georgia V. Hill age 1 b
NY, George W. Hill age 38 b VA banker, Ella J. Hill age 27 b VA, Sarah Taylor age 20 b VA
servant. Florence is John Worsham's daughter. It is interesting that Hollie and Florence
had a child born in New York. Florence L. Cole md 2nd) gambler George W. Hill and they are
in the 1880 Richmond, Henrico, VA census with children Georgie V. Cole age 10 b VA
stepdaughter, Annette Cole age 7 b VA s-dau, George M. Hill age 4 b NY son & John
A.Hill b Jan 1880 b VA, Sarah Hill age 2 b VA dau, another New York connection.
Annette Worsham, b NC, age 34, died 5 Jan 1874. (Virginia Genealogical Society Quarterly
Volume X, Number 1 (1-Jan-1972) o Persons Born out of Virginia and Buried in Hollywood
Cem, , p201) John Worsham has not been found after the 1871. The 21 Dec 1871 New
York Herald, New York, New York has the following regarding John's faro:
Richmond, Va Dec 21- About eleven o'clock last night the police under the directions of the Mayor, made a sudden and wholly unexpected raid upon all the faro banks, keno and other games in the city. They were all taken by surprise, and were found full of citizens playing at the various games. Among them several persons of the highest respectability and holding responsible positions in the State. The only arrests made, however, were those of The "Dealers" Proprietors and "Cappers". The players generally effected their retreat through back doors, over roofs into dark alleys and escaped. The houses entered were Washam's, the largest in the city, Hungerford's, Patton's, Muller's, Nolt's, Barly's, Morgan's and one or two of lesser note. Most of them were on Fourteenth street. The detectives entered disguised, and proceeded at once to seize the faro boxes in the hands of the dealers as they were turning the cards. Une of the games seized was known as "The Republican," a faro bank open to professional gamblers as well as citizens generally. This is the first raid made in several years on faro, and the sporting fraternity had grown quite careless and very confident from their apparent exemption from police surveillance. They were fully lulled into security, and had come to believe that the authorities would never molest them. Indeed faro has always been a popular game in Virginia and there are few who do not play it, whether of the Church or State; but just now there is a virtuous rage settling in, and the wave of reform must sweep the faro banks, as well as the corrupt political rings. All who have been arrested will be brought before the Vourt tomorrow. They were bailed at half-past twelve this mourning.
In the 1872-3 Trow's NYC directory is Bell D. widow John Worsham, 109 Lexington Ave. Pictures of Arabella and her husbands (below right is Collis, below left is Henry) are from The Grandes Dames by Stephen Birmingham, 1982, pub. Simon and Schuster. "Few women in American history have managed to conceal their pasts as successfully as Arabella. While passing as his "niece," she was the mistress of C. P. Huntington for nearly fifteen years. Collis Potter Huntington was the mastermind behind the enormous Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads. He was a man of stupendous wealth who kept his first wife so totally in the background that most people did not know he was married." (The Grandes Dames, p.188) "Collis P. Huntington, the millionaire, conveyed to Mrs. Belle D. Worsham his dwelling at the southeast corner of Park avenue and adjoining and two houses and lots around the corner of Thirty Eighth street. The deed was recorded on July 7th (1884) and acknowledged ... Friday last, the day before Mr. Huntington was married to Mrs. Worsham at her residence on Fifty-fourth street." (The Atlanta Constitution, July 20 1884, p. 3) They were married at No. 4 West Fifty-fourth street. "Rumor had it that Mr. Huntington purchased the house many years ago and presented it as a testimonial of friendly regard to Mr. Worsham." Mrs. Worsham had a fortune of $2,000,000. (The Atlanta Constitution, July 25 1884, p. 1)
In 1884, 4 West 55th Street was purchased by John D. Rockefeller, Sr., from Arabella Worsham, later Mrs. Collis Potter Huntington. Arabella md. 2nd) Collis Potter Huntington, the famous railroad baron and shipping magnate, 12 Jul 1884. Collis b. 16 Apr 1821 Harwinton, Litchfield Co, CT & d. 13 Aug 1900 Raquette Lake, NY. Collis s/o William Huntington & Elizabeth Vincent. Collis was previously md to Elizabeth T. Stoddard who d. Oct 1883. Mrs. Collis Huntington is in the 1850 Oneonta, Otsego Co, NY census, p. 132. According to "The Twilight Of Splendor, Chronicles Of The Age Of American Palaces" Mrs. Arabella D. Worsham was Arabella Duval (Yarington) Worsham Huntington Huntington, nephew and second wife, respectively, of Union and Southern Pacific railroad magnate, Collis P. Huntington. (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1975) Collis adopted Arabella's son by her first husband, Archer Milton. (Diana Gale Matthiesen, 2001)
From California and Californians: Volume 4, Ancestry.com, 2001:
The failure of Cornelius Cole to secure re-election to the United States Senate brings to light a bit of the irony of political history. He had been one of a small group of men to meet in 1861 in a small room over the Huntington and Hopkins Store in Sacramento for the purpose of organizing the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California. While he was serving as congressman Collis P. Huntington was not an infrequent visitor at his home. While readily conceding that favorable legislation assisted in the upbuilding of vast fortunes and political prestige for the projectors, he claimed that the real object of the government grants in aid of the railroad was "for the purpose of promoting the general welfare of the country." It may be doubted that any other man in the national councils wielded a greater influence for the actual building of the road than Cornelius Cole.
According to Ellis Island records, Arabella often traveled to Europe. On 22 May 1894 Mrs. C. P. Huntington, age 24y, returned on the ship Kaiser Wilhelm II, that departed Genoa, Liguria, Italy, with her husband C. P. Huntington, age 28y; E. S. Huntington, E. S. 50Y; & Mrs. E. S. Huntington, 45y. On 1 Oct 1904 Mrs. C. P. Huntington, 33y travelled aboard the Philadelphia, departing Southampton, Southamptonshire, England, UK, along with V. N. Huntington, 2y, female. Mrs. Collis P. Huntington, 12 Oct 1904, was aboard the Oceanic, departing Liverpool, England, UK with Jane Reifer, (notes if in possession of $50 or more, mentions Mrs. C. P. Huntington) Mrs. C. P. Huntington, 8 Sep 1906, aboard the St Paul, from Southampton, Southamptonshire, England, UK with Miss Vivianne Huntington. Mrs. Collis Huntington, 9 Oct 1907, 35y, ship named Kronprinzessin Cecilie, departed Cherbourg, Manche, France. Mrs. C. P. Huntington, 19 Sep 1908, 36y, ship: Philadelphia, from Southampton, Southamptonshire, England, UK with Vivienne F Huntington, 6y. Mrs. Collis T. Huntington, US Citizen, 10 Oct 1911, 53y, single, on the Kronprinzessin Cecilie, departed Cherbourg, Manche, France.
Arabella md 3rd) Henry Edwards Huntington
16 Jul 1913 Paris, France. He was
b. 27 Feb 
1850 Oneonta, NY s/o Solon Huntington & Harriet Saunders.
Henry also md. Mary Alice Prentice.
Also in California and Californians, Vol 3, p 16, Ancestry.com, 2001:
Henry Edwards Huntington,son of Solon and Harriet Saunders Huntington, was born in Oneonta, New York, on February 27, 1850. He was educated in public and private schools of the immediate vicinity and at the age of seventeen embarked on his first business venture as clerk in a local hardware store. Two years later he obtained a position in a wholesale hardware firm of New York City. It was here that his uncle, Collis P. Huntington, first took note of his rapidly broadening capacities and in 1874 drafted him to manage a sawmill recently acquired at St. Albans, West Virginia. Here ties were cut for construction work on the Chesapeake & Ohio, a railroad which had been recently acquired by C. P. Huntington in his scheme of linking the Pacific with the Atlantic by means of a southern route through New Orleans. Successful in this venture, the young saw mill manager bought the mill himself, and in 1880 sold the successful business to become superintendent of construction of the Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern Railway, again at the request of his uncle. Rapidly advancing by means of a natural sense of business efficiency combined with constant application to details, he became in 1884 superintendent of the Kentucky Central, passing in the next year to the receivership of the same road, a subsidiary of the Chesapeake & Ohio system, and in 1886 to the post of its vice president and general manager. Leaving this post, from 1890 to 1892 he was vice president and general manager of the Elizabeth, Lexington & Big Sandy and the Ohio Valley Railways, now assimilated in the Chesapeake & Ohio system. In 1892 he removed to San Francisco to take the post of assistant to the president of the Southern Pacific, which at that time included the Central Pacific as well. This position really meant that he was the direct personal representative of C. P. Huntington, the president, on the Pacific Coast, while his uncle kept his own headquarters in New York. In 1900 Henry E. Huntington became second and then first vice president of the Southern Pacific, and in that same year his uncle died, leaving the nephew heir to a large portion of his estate. Shortly after, though logical head of the Southern Pacific Company, he sold the control to E. H. Harriman, and entered on a new field of endeavor. While in San Francisco he had occasion to enter into the affairs of the Market Street Cable Company, later becoming its president, and in making a study of the conditions surrounding its operation he became impressed with the immense potentialities which electric railways possess for building up not only a city itself, but also the surrounding country for a radius of fifty or sixty miles. Removing to Los Angeles, he purchased a controlling interest in the trolley lines then in operation and shortly rejuvenated them. Keeping always in mind the development of the surrounding country, he built and developed the Pacific Electric, and sent its radii out to such distant points as Riverside, Santa Ana, Long Beach and other points. Los Angeles grew amazingly, and the little towns began a steady development. In 1910 Mr. Huntington sold his interest in the Pacific Electric to the Southern Pacific, retaining ownership of the trolley lines in Los Angeles proper known as the Los Angeles Railway. A recent sale of his interest in the Chesapeake and Ohio lines in the East, leaves his chief railway interests electrical, all within the territory embraced by Los Angeles city. He is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Newport News Shipbuilding [p.16] and Dry Dock Company, the largest privately owned concern of its kind in existence, and president of the Huntington Land and Improvement Company, which came into existence as a result of the purchase of real estate at the time of the Pacific Electric development, and now owns much real estate in and around Los Angeles. In addition to holding these offices he is a director in some twenty other organizations. From 1910 to date his chief interest has been devoted to the collection and development of what has since resulted in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, an institution located on his private estate at San Marino, surrounded by gardens notable throughout the world. The Art Gallery, notable as possessing the finest extant collection of canvases of the English portrait painters of the period of Reynolds and Gainsborough, is located in his private home, while the Library, distant a few hundred feet in a fine building of its own, houses a collection of English literature unsurpassed in America, of American History perhaps unsurpassed in the world in point of rarity, and of early printed books unequalled outside of Europe, the whole supported by an untold wealth of unpublished material in manuscript form. The gift of this whole institution to the state of California as a boon for the research worker of the future is one which only times to come can adequately estimate and appreciate, its money value, while enormously great, being a mere pittance to what it holds for posterity.
According to Ellis Island records, Arabella Huntington, residing in NY, 27 Oct 1913, 56y b. AL, md, traveled on the George Washington, from port Cherbourg, Manche, France along with Henry C. Huntington, 63y, b. Oneonta, NY; living at 2 East 57th St, NY. Arabella Huntington, of NYC, NY, 23 Oct 1920, 60y 3m, b. 1 Jun 1860 Union Springs, AL, Md, aboard the ship Mauretania, departed Cherbourg, Manche, France with Henry Edwards Huntington, 70y 2m, b. 27 Feb 1850, and they lived at 2 East 57th St, NY. Also with them was Georg D. Hapgood, age 48y 4m, b. 19 May 1872 Cambridge, MA, who lived at 56 W. 75th St. NY. Arabella D. Huntington, living in San Gabriel, CA, 21 Oct 1921, age 70 b. 9 Feb 1851 Mobile, AL, md, traveled aboard the Aquitania; departing Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK via Cherbourg, and her husband Henry E. Huntington, 71y 4m b. 27 Feb 1850 Oneonta, NY. On this trip traveling companions included Carrie M. Campbell, single, living in San Gabriel, CA, age 66, b. 22 Jan 1855 Mobile, AL; George Hapgood, George, of San Gabriel, CA, md, age 48, b. 19 Jan 1873 Cambridge, MA, and Johanna Riefer, San Gabriel, CA, age 57, single.
An interesting 1975 article titled "The Twilight Of Splendor, Chronicles of the Age of American Palaces" featured their California home: "San Marino - San Marino, CA, designed for Henry and Arabella Duval (Yarington) Worsham Huntington Huntington (nephew and second wife, respectively, of Union and Southern Pacific railroad magnate, Collis P. Huntington); first occupied in 1914." (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1975) "Henry Huntington nephew of the late C. P., built Rancho San Marino in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains cast of Los Angeles to lure his beloved Arabella to the West Coast. When they eventually married, they assembled at San Marino one of the most important private collections of rare books and art in the world. Its contents, including Gainsborough's Blue Boy, were to become the Huntington Art Museum. They lived in the house only a month or so every year. Where Arabella led, her adoring Henry followed." (The Grandes Dames)
The following is from Biographies of Notable Americans, 1904, The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans: Volume V, Huntington, Daniel, p 444:
HUNTINGTON, Collis Potter, railroad builder and manager, born in Harwinton, Conn., April 16, 1821; son of William and Elizabeth (Vincent) Huntington; grandson of Joseph and Rachel (Preston) Huntington; great grandson of John and Mehitabel (Metcalf) Huntington; great2 grandson of Lieut. Samuel and Mary (Clark) Huntington; great3 grandson of Dea. Simon and Sarah (Clark) Huntington; and great4 grandson of Simon and Margaret (Baret) Huntington the immigrants. His father was poor and Collis, who was one of nine children, was brought up to work hard. As he himself tells it, "when he was too young to carry wood he picked up chips." He attended district school until he was fourteen, and then went to work for a neighboring farmer at seven dollars a month and his board and clothes. He saved all of this, and on the strength of his good name, and armed with letters of commendation from the merchants of his section, he went to New York, and purchased a bill of goods on credit. He traveled in the southern states extensively during his early years of business until in 1843 he established, in conjunction with his brother Solon, a merchandise store in Oneonta, N.Y. In March, 1848, young Huntington started with a number of other young men for California, via the isthmus of Panama. During a delay of three months on the isthmus, he increased his capital stock from $1200 to $5000, by means of trading. He had previously sent a consignment of goods around Cape Horn in 1848, and on his arrival in San Francisco he immediately went to Sacramento on a schooner, paying for his passage and the freight on his stock of hardware by assisting in loading and unloading freight at one dollar per hour. In Sacramento he erected a tent and placing in it his stock of hardware, such as was used in the mines, he began business on his own account. He soon after met and formed a partnership with Mark Hopkins and by 1856 the firm of Huntington & Hopkins was was one of the wealthiest on the Pacific slope. He confined his business to trade, and did [p.444] not engage in mining or in speculation in mining stock. In 1860, when the necessity for a transcontinental railroad became apparent, and the only question to be solved was the possibility of crossing the Sierra Nevada, Mr. Huntington agreed with Theodore D. Judah, a skilful civil engineer, to raise the funds with which to make the survey across the mountains, both men having faith in the success of the route proposed by Mr. Judah. Through Mr. Huntington's representations made to Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford and Mark Hopkins, the fund was raised, and the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California was organized in 1861, with a capital of $8,500,000, with Mr. Stanford as president, Mr. Huntington as vice-president and Mr. Hopkins as treasurer. With Mr. Judah, Mr. Huntington visited Washington, D.C., and obtained from congress authority to build a railroad from the navigable waters of the Sacramento river eastward to the Union Pacific railroad. The government conceded to the company every alternate square mile of the public lands through a strip extending ten miles on each side of the railroad, and a loan of six per cent thirty-year bonds of the United States, to the extent of $32,000 to $48,000, for every mile of road built. With this franchise secured, Mr. Huntington telegraphed to California: "We have drawn the elephant, now let us see if we can harness him." He offered $1,500,000 of the bonds at par for cash, and after making himself and his associates responsible for the whole amount, he succeeded in obtaining the money. As vice-president and practical manager, he built the first, say, fifty miles of the road. It was not the government subsidy, but the private fortunes of C. P. Huntington and his associates, that secured the first fifty miles of the first transcontinental railroad, on which the government then held the first mortgage. He afterward controlled and operated, as president, or chief head, the Southern Pacific system, including the Central Pacific, the Chesapeake & Ohio, the Chesapeake, Ohio & South Western, the Kentucky Central, the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas, and many other lines of railroad, including the Mexican International R. R., and the Guatemala Central R. R., a total of 8900 miles of steel track lines. He also became largely interested in steamship lines to Newport News, Va., to Brazil, to China and Japan, covering 16;900 miles of steam water lines, and founded at Newport News, a prosperous city, where he established a great shipyard. He was a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was twice married: first, in 1844, to Elizabeth C. Stoddard, of Litchfield, Conn., who died in 1883; and secondly, July 12, 1884, to Mrs. Arabella D. Worsham, of New York city. In 1897 he gave to the Metropolitan Museum of Art a portrait of George Washington, painted by Charles Wilson Peale; and in 1898 Mrs. Huntington presented to the Normal and Industrial institute, Tuskegee, Ala., the sum of $10,000 for a girls' dormitory. Mr. Huntington erected a mansion on Fifth avenue, New York city, which, with the picture gallery, was, at the time of his death, valued at about $3.000,000; a country home at Throggs Neck, NY; a mansion in San Francisco, Cal., and an ample camp in the mountains of northern New York. He also erected, in 1885, a massive granite chapel at a cost of $60,000, in his native town, and presented it to the Congregational church of Harwinton, as a memorial to his mother, who had been a member of that church. He also caused to be erected in Woodlawn cemetery, New York city, at a cost of over $100,000, a mausoleum, no single stone in the structure, it is said, weighing less than eighteen tons. His nephew, Henry Edwards Huntington, was at the time of his uncle's death first vice-president of the Southern Pacific railway. Mr. Huntington bequeathed his collection of pictures to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the bequest to take effect after the death of his widow and of his adopted son, Archer M. Huntington. He bequeathed his New York residence to Mrs. Huntington for life, at her death to Archer M. Huntington absolutely, or in default of issue by him, to Yale university absolutely. This was his only bequest to the cause of higher education, as he frequently expressed his regret at the tendency to the increase of higher education for the masses at the expense of valuable time which should be devoted to learning practical business methods. His other public bequests were $100,000 to the Hampton Normal and Agricultural institute, Hampton, Va., for the practical education of the Negro and Indian youths, and $25,000 to the Chapin Home, New York city. At the time of his death his fortune was estimated at from $50,000,000 to $80,000,000. Mr. Huntington died suddenly at Pine Knot Camp, Raquette Lake, NY, Aug. 13, 1900.
Jeanne Huntington Cullen, 2001, wrote about an L.A. Times article on Collis P. and Arabella Yarrington Worsham Huntington.
She was from a poor family, b. 1850 in Alabama, moved at 9 with her mother and siblings (no dad) to VA to run a boardinghouse. Years later, Collis may have met his future (2nd) wife either at the boardinghouse or a nearby gambling parlor owned by a Mr. Worsham. Collis was smitten; he put her up in a NY apt. with her mother; Arabella helped care for Collis' dying wife, Elizabeth Stoddard Huntington. 9 months after meeting Collis, she went to Texas and had her son, Archer Milton "Worsham". (This child, born out of wedlock was either Collis' or Mr. Worsham's) and she spent a lifetime trying to cover it up and/or legitimize it. (The son later contended Collis was the father). In NY she pretended she was the widow Worsham, as Collis was still married. In 1884, nine mos. after his wife Elizabeth died of cancer, Collis and Arabella married. He was 62, she was 34! He died at 78, leaving Arabella 2/3 of his estate, $150 million, and the remainder to his favorite nephew, Henry E. Huntington. Arabella had known Henry for 30 years; he was unhappily married. Years later, in 1913, with Arabella still beguiling at age 63, Henry followed Arabella to Paris and married her there. Henry was also enchanted with L.A.; fabulously wealthy from his building of the Pacific Electric railway, he began work on the famous San Marino estate that would become the world famous library; Arabella preferred Paris and New York. She returned to San Marino in 1924 for the last time, and died that year in NY. Henry died 3 yrs. later. Son Archer Milton Worsham took the name Huntington. He died in 1956. Arabella made a great contribution to the world with her tasteful collecting of art for the library/museum. Jeanne Huntington Cullen (descended from Simon Huntington and Sarah Clarke through their son James, his son James, his son James (Sgt. in Rev. War, a cousin of Gov. Sam. Huntington, signer of Dec. of Independence), his son Chandler, his son Spencer, his son John Taffe, his son John Wallace, and my father, John Darrach Huntington, d 1991).
In the Pasadena And The Arroyo, Kevin Starr from "Inventing The Dream, Oxford University Press, 1985":
A photograph taken some time in the summer of 1903, now in the Huntington Library, shows the Patton family on the porch of Lake Vineyard. George, Jr., wearing his cadet's uniform, leans languidly against a wall and regards his father, his mother, and a walrus-mustached Henry Edwards Huntington, who is in grand repose in a rocking chair. At the time Huntington was in the midst of making his second fortune as president of Pacific Electric. In 1892, on his first visit to Southern California, Huntington, then vice-president of the Southern Pacific, visited the San Marino Ranch of J. de Barth Shorb adjacent to Pasadena. He fell in love with the site, a plateau surmounted by a gentle knoll which afforded a view across the San Gabriel Valley to Los Angeles and the sea. In 1903, the year be sat with his neighbors, the Patton family, on their Lake Vineyard porch, Huntington bought the San Marino Ranch and began to make plans for its development. Money, obviously, was no barrier. His uncle Collis P. Huntington had left him something like $40 million in 1900, to which he was in the process of adding another $30 million from real estate investment and the Pacific Electric. It was an era-the last era, in fact-of scarcely taxed fortunes and heroic spending: a possibility compounded in Huntington's case by the fact that his wife Arabella had been his Uncle Collis's other heir. Married to Collis P. Huntington in 1884 after a long liaison, Arabella Huntington kept her money in the family, as it were, when in 1913, age sixty-three, she married her sixty-four-year-old nephew by marriage and fellow heir, Henry Edwards Huntington. Arabella Huntington was a strange, imperious woman, whose aristocratic hauteur (so evident in the portrait of her painted by Sir Oswald Birley in 1924, the year of her death) masked a continued fear of discovery. She hid her tracks skillfully-no birth certificate, no baptismal record, no marriage license-but it is very probable that before she met Collis P. Huntington she lived in wartime Richmond, Virginia, as the mistress of a gambler and faro banker, one John Archer Worsham, who, after the war, abandoned her (most likely pregnant) in New York City. In any event, like Scarlett O'Hara, Arabella was a survivor. A few years later she resurfaced as the mistress, lobbyist, and business advisor of Collis P. Huntington, president of the Central Pacific. She eventually became his second wife. Her son Archer was either Huntington's or the result of her early liaison with John Archer Worsham. By 1900 Arabella Huntington had not only survived, she was one of the richest women in the world-and she acted like it, especially in the international art market, where she spent millions. Arabella detested Southern California, preferring Paris instead; so in order to lure her to California, Henry Huntington set about to transform his San Marino estate into a utopia of high culture.
Arabella d. 1924 NY and was bur San Marino, Los Angeles, CA.
Children of John Archer Worsham and unknown:
1A.1 John A. Worsham b. abt. 1850 of Henrico, VA. He md. Catherine E. Jordan "Kate" abt. 1876 in Lunenburg, VA. Lunenburg Co, VA mrg has J. A. Worsham age 26, C. E. Jordan age 18, md. 22 Mar ??, p 219. She was b. Oct 1859 of Lunenburg, VA. (1870-20; 1880-29)
Children:
1A.1.1. Lona Worsham b. abt 1876 Lunenburg Co, VA. Lunenburg Co, VA birth records has Lona Worsham, parents J. A. & C. E., Aug 4, 187?, p.144.
1A.1.2. Maggie Worsham b. 9 Mar 1877 Lunenburg, VA md. John H. Miller, 6 Mar 1895, Lunenburg, VA. Maggie's Lunenburg Co, VA birth record has Maggie Worsham, parents John R. & C. E., p234. She is in the 1880 Lunenburg Co, VA census as Maggie, age 3. Her Lunenburg Co, VA mrg. they are listed as Maggie Worsham, Jno. H. Miller, p250.
1A.1.3. Clara Worsham b. abt. 1879 Lunenburg, VA; d. abt. 1880, of, Lunenburg, VA. (1880-10/12)
1A.1.4. Laura Worsham b. 17 Feb 1882 Lunenburg, VA. Lunenburg Co VA birth record has Laura Worsham, parents J. A. & C. E., p273E.
1A.1.5. Crawford Worsham b. 27 Jul 1885 Lunenburg, VA; md. Etta R. Weaver, 1909, Roanoke, VA; b. abt. 1885 of Roanoke, VA. Lunenburg birth record has Crawford Worsham, parents J. A. & C. E., p310. In the 1900 Lunenburg Co, VA cens, Crawford Worsham b. Jan 1885, is living with his mother Kate E. Worsham. His VA mrg. is listed as Crawford Worsham & Etta Weaver, Roan. City, 1909/395. They are in the 1920 Roanoke, Roanoke Co, VA cens, as Crawford age 35, and Elta age 35. They are in the 1930-31 Bristol, VA directory as Crawford Worsham (Etta R.) yd mstr N&W Ry h. 309 Taylor (Tenn) and the 1932 Bristol, VA directory as Crawford Worsham & Etta yd mstr h. 205 Pennsylvania.
1A.1.6. A. Naomi Worsham b. Sep 1887 Lunenburg, VA. Her VA birth is recorded as A. N. Worsham, parents J. A. & C. E., Lunenburg, p.326. She is Naomi Worsham in the 1900 Lunenburg Co, VA cens living with her mother, Kate E. Worsham.
1A.1.7. Richard Thomas Worsham "Tommy" b. Dec 1889 Lunenburg, VA. VA birth recs. has R. T. Worsham (male), parents J. A. & K. E., Lunenburg, p.551. He is in the 1900 Lunenburg Co, VA cens, as Tommy living with his mother, Kate E. Worsham. He md. Emma Alice Carter abt. 1909 of Roanoke, VA. She was b. abt. 1876 of Roanoke, VA. In the 1910 Roanoke Co VA, cens, Richard T. Worsham age 20 VA is living with his mother in law, Amanda M. Carter and his wife Emma Worsham, age 30 VA. VA deaths recorded Richard Thomas Worsham death in Roanoke City, 2 Jan 1919, 445-3498. In the 1920 Roanoke, VA cens, Emma Worsham, age 42, is living with her mother, Amanda Carter age 82.
Children:
1A.1.7.1. Mollie K. Worsham b. abt. 1915 of Roanoke, VA. (1920-5)
1A.1.7.2. Oscar N. Worsham b. Jul 9, 1918 of Roanoke, VA; d. Apr 14, 1988, Roanoke, Roanoke, VA. (1920-1 8/12) (Soc. Sec. Death Index)
1A.1.8. Mary A. Worsham b. Dec 1892, Lunenburg, VA; d. Aft. 1900, of, Lunenburg, VA. VA birth record, female M. A. Worsham, parents J. A. & C. E., Lunenburg, p.381. She is in the 1900 Lunenburg Co, VA cens, as Mary A. Worsham living with her mother, Kate E.
1A.2. Florence L. Worsham b 1852 of Richmond, Henrico, VA. (18-1870; 26-1880) She md 1st) Hollie R. Cole 23 Jun 1868 Richmond, VA. Hollie was b abt. 1844 of Savannah, Chatham, GA. Their announcement was in the Petersburg Daily 27 Jun 1868 (p2 col 4): Florence L Worsham of Savannah, Georgia, married R. Hollie Cole of Savannah, Georgia, in Richmond, Virginia. Florence md abt. 1875, 2nd) George W. Hill a gambler b abt. 1831 of Richmond, Henrico, VA.
Children of Florence and Hollie:
1A.2A.1. Georgia V. Cole b abt. 1869 NY.
1A.2A.2. Nettie Katheryn Cole 3 Sep 1873 Richmond, VA md Mr. Ayers and d. 12 Dec 1953 San Diego, CA.
Children of Florence and George:
1A.2B.1. George W. Hill b abt 1876 NY.
1A.2B.2. John A. Hill b Jan 1880 Richmond, VA.
Child of John Archer Worsham and Sarah Annette:
1B.1. William C. Worsham b 17 Apr 1857 Lunenburg, VA. In Virginia births, page 43, he was listed as the son of Jno. A & Sarah A. Worsham.
Child of John Archer Worsham and Arabella Yarrington:
1C.1 Archer Milton Worsham b. 10 Mar 1870 New York City, Kings Co, New York; d. 11 Dec 1955, Redding, Fairfield, CT; md. 1st) Helen Manchester Gates, 6 Aug 1895, London, England; md. 2nd) Anna Vaughn Hyatt 10 Mar 1923. According to The Grandes Dames, p. 192, he is in the 1870 NY, NY census as John De Wersion, age 3/12. Collis adopted Arabella's son by her first husband, Archer Milton Worsham. Archer & Helen lived in New York City. (Diana Gale Matthiesen, 2001)
I
n the newspaper Edwardsville Intelligencer (Edwardsville, Illinois) Nov 26, 1895, p2, was the picture at the left and this article: "Archer Milton Huntington, who has decided literary tastes and ambitions may safely enter the field of letters with no fear of the wolf pressing at the door. He is the adopted son of Collis P. Huntington, the multimillionaire railroad magnate. The young man is a son of the late Dr. Worsham, a former extensive land owner in Texas. His father died while he was but a lad. When he was 14, Mrs. Worsham, his mother, married C. P. Huntington. Within a year after the marriage Mr. Huntington adopted him according to the laws of New York. Young Huntington is now 26 years of age. In physical appearance he is quite remarkable, being 6 feet 4 inches in height and weighing 260 pounds. He is accounted a good athlete and has the strength of a giant. He was recently married in London to Miss Helen Gates.
The following article is from the Handbook of Texas Online (0.515), 1999:
"HUNTINGTON, Archer Milton (1870-1955). Archer Milton Huntington, philanthropist, author, and art collector, born in New York City on March 10, 1870. He was the son of John and Arabella Duval (Yarrington) Worsham. In 1884 Arabella Duval married railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington, who adopted her two children. Archer took the name Huntington. He was educated by private tutors and later traveled and studied in Spain, where he collected a number of rare manuscripts, books, and some works of art. On August 6, 1895, he married Helen Manchester Gates in London, England. They divorced in 1918. On March 10, 1923, he married noted American sculptress Anna Vaughn Hyatt. He had no children by either marriage. Huntington devoted his life to philanthropic pursuits, donating land, money, and valuable collections to establish museums. In 1904 he founded the Hispanic Society of America, and by 1908 a free museum, library, and educational institution opened in a new facility in New York City. The library included Huntington's collection of over 40,000 volumes. In 1915 he donated property in New York City to establish the Museum of the American Indian. That same year he also donated property in the city to erect the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1921 he donated a new home to the American Numismatic Society, New York City. Other cultural institutions Huntington established were Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina (1930), the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia, (1930), and the Archer and Anna Huntington Wild Life Forest Station in the Adirondacks for Syracuse University (1932). He donated a collection of Louis XV furniture to Yale University in 1926, and $100,000 to the National Sculpture Society for a sculpture exhibition in San Francisco in 1928. Huntington's major cultural contribution to Texas was the establishment of the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery qv. at the University of Texas at Austin. His wife's sculpture, Diana of the Chase, was presented to the University by Mrs. T. S. Maxey. It was at this time, October 1927, when Huntington realized the need for an art museum at the University of Texas. He gave between 4,100 and 4,300 acres of land along Galveston Bay to the institution to serve as revenue for the establishment of an art museum. Over the years some 1,500 books from the Huntington estate were also given to the university from various sources. The art museum eventually opened in 1963. Huntington was also an accomplished author-focusing on poetry and the translation of Spanish texts. His works include A Note Book in Northern Spain (1898), The Poem of the Cid (3 volumes, 1897-1903), Lace Maker of Segovia (1928), A Flight of Birds (1938), and Collected Verse (1953). Huntington was the recipient of numerous awards throughout his lifetime. In 1916 he received the Orden del Libertador of Venezuela, and in 1927 he was made chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France. In 1939 he was awarded the City of New York's Medal of Merit of the Saint Nicholas Society. In 1950 he received the Gari Melchers Gold Medal from Artist Fellowship, Incorporated, in recognition for his contribution to American art. In appreciation of his longtime interest and contributions to Spain, Huntington received the title of Hijo Adoptivo from the city of Seville in 1929. He was decorated by numerous orders in Spain including the orders of Alfonso XII, and Charles III, and was elected membership in many Spanish academies. He received honorary degrees from Yale University (1897), Harvard University (1904), Columbia University (1907, 1908), University of Madrid (1920), and Kenyon College (1921). Huntington served as president of the American Geographical Society (1907-15) and the American Numismatic Society (1905-10). He held memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Royal Institute of Great Britain, Phi Beta Kappa, and British Institute of Philosophy among others. Archer M. Huntington died in Redding, Connecticut, on December 11, 1955. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Alcalde (magazine of the Ex-Students' Association of the University of Texas), January 1928. National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 44. Beatrice Gilman Proske, Archer Milton Huntington (New York: Hispanic Society of America, 1963). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. Laurie E. Jasinski." (http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/cgi-bin/web_evaluate?query=washam&dataset=tsha.dst&use_bp=1)
The 25 Dec 1955 Bridgeport Telegram (Bridgeport, Connecticut) p. B2, reported the death of Archer Milton Worsham:
There died in Redding last week a man of fantastic and romantic background, Archer Huntington, 86 years old, adopted son of Collis Potter Huntington, the Harwinton native who as one of the "Big Four" of California massed millions in railroading, all of which came to his son, Archer, who instead of building railroads and acting the role of the rich buccaneer spent his inherited millions in philanthropy and founding of such cultural institutions as the Hispanic museum in New York city. It lies in Upper Broadway, Audubon section, hard by the old Spanish Cathedral off Riversode drive. Archer Huntington was born Archer Worsham. His mother, Arabella Duval Yarrington, born of obscure, modest parentage in Alabama, in 1853, married first A D Worsham. A few years after his death she married Collis P Huntington, whose first wife, a shy New Englander who eschewed publicity as avidly as Arabella sought and covered it, had died. Upon the marriage Archer was adopted by Collis P. After the death of Collis in 1913, Arabella married her husband's nephew, Henry E. who had been associated with Collis but made his millions chiefly in operation of traction lines in Los Angeles. From his uncle by marriage and stepfather, Archer also inherited millions. Henry Huntington's first wife was Mary Prentice, a niece of the childless Mrs Collis P Huntington, sister of Clara Prentice, who was adopted by Collis P. and his wife. She married in a blaze of glory, Prince Hatzfeld. Newspapers of the 1890's wrote that the minor noble son-in-law cost Collis a neat two and half million. It was the first marriage of a European of big or little rank to an American heiress. The scandalous conduct of the prince furnished continuous sensational copy for newspapers of the 1900's. Collis P. Huntington was said to have liked his adopted son, Archer, because like thew millionaire, he was a huge bulk of a man who weighed over 250 pounds. Few people in Redding ever saw him remove from his vast estate, except to go to the Carolinas where he had another home. His studies in Spanish and Spanish civilization kept him busy at his Redding estate. He was credited with spending ten years in translating the Spanish classic, "Le Cid," to English. Arabella Worsham splurged in her role of the wife of Collis Huntington. San Francisco society refused to accept her when she gave her "coming out" party, forgetful that husbands of some of the elect had made their money in even more humble, if legitimate, means than Huntington. But San Francisco always hated The "Big Four," especially Huntington, who milked the state by his control of the railroads. Anyway, it was the age of the buccaneers. Arabella decided to storm New York social circles and she induced Collis P. who boasted that he had never spent more than $200 on himself, to build a two million dollar mansion at Fifth avenue and 57th street. It was beautifully fitted out with guilt chairs and other French trifles, chairs upon which upon the huge Collis never dared to sit because of his weight. She gave a party and not one of the invited guests came. Mrs Archer was then with the aid of Ward M. Abister? ruling New York's Four Hundred and they would have none of Mrs Huntington. Huntington also built a $250,000 mausoleum in Woodlawn in which he was interred. The Big Four, especially Huntington, were accredited with building the Southern Pacific railroad which connected with the eastern lines, opened the transcontental railroad system. All honor to Benjamin Judah, Bridgeport born engineer, was neglected. It was Judah, son of a rector of Str. John's Episcopal church here, who first ran a praticable railroad over the Sierras.
He argued into financial support the "Big Four', Leland Stanford who put his riches into Stanford university; Charles Crocker, a dry goods dealer, and Mark Hopkins and Huntington, hardware merchants. They did not have enough money to build a railroad. With two others they subscribed for only 800 of the 35,000 shares. The money came from sales of stock by the Big Four, organizing as contractors for their own railroad, and securing plentiful funds from a supine federal government which were never repaid. Judah's interest was in building a railroad and not in sharp pratices. The four were about to unlock Judah when he died. ...
New Families Index: