Annie Theresa Hearn and Rudolph John Heise

Annie Theresa Hearn was born 15 Oct 1880 in Jersey City and baptized 02 Dec 1880 at St Joseph's Catholic Church, the daughter of Bridget Augusta Heath and Edwin Ross Hearn.

By 1883, the family had moved either to Passaic City, Passaic County, or to Bergen County immediately across the Passaic River. In the 1885 New Jersey State Census they were enumerated in Rutherford, Union Township, Bergen County. Bridget Augusta Heath Hearn died in 1888 nine days after Annie Theresa's eight birthday. The family seems to have remained in New Jersey at least through 1892. The historical rosters of the Virginia Military Institute note that Annie Theresa's brother Edwin Ross Hearn Jr "matriculated August 31, 1892 from Passaic, New Jersey."

By 1894, the family had moved to New York City. Five editions of Trow's New York City Directory, published annually for the year ending July 1, list Edwin R Hearn Sr as living at 158 West 77th Street for the period July 1894 through June 1899. Edwin is not listed in the 1891-1892 or 1892-1893 directories, and I was unable to access the directory for 1893-1894.

Edwin Ross Hearn Sr died in Los Angeles 11 Mar 1899. His will, written 05 Nov 1898, was interesting. He named his brothers Frank J Hearne and William J Hearne as executors. (He spelled his own surname once with an -e at the end and once with.) To his son "Edwin R Hearne" (Jr), he left 50 shares of the capital stock of the Riverside Iron Works in Wheeling, West Virginia. He then divided the remainder of his estate among his four daughters, Elizabeth A Hearne, Mary Frances Hearne, "Anna" Theresa Hearne and Lillie Lee Hearne. They were to the receive the "rents, issues and income" from the estate, paid out in quarterly payments, for ten years after their father's death. After ten years, they were to receive the corpus of the estate.

This will was to cause future problems. Edwin Ross Jr was, not unexpectedly, unhappy with it and in later years tried to bargain with his sisters for a larger share of their inheritance. The four sisters don't seem to have been given any kind of instruction in how to manage large sums of money. This was to prove especially problematic for Annie Theresa.

I can't find any of Bridget Augusta and Edwin's four daughters in the 1900 US Census. They may have been travelling in Europe. According to the issue of the Sag Harbor L.I. Corrector published 18 Jan 1902, Annie Theresa met Rudolph John Heise in Berlin in 1900. The Corrector described Annie as "a strikingly beautiful girl of brunette type, and a fine equestrian." Rudolph John "was then in his 'teens. He fell madly in love with the pretty maiden. The attraction was mutual. Heise followed the Hearne party all over Europe and to Sag Harbor in the summer of 1901."

Rudolph John Heise was born August Hans Rudolph Heise in Manhattan 09 Jan 1883. His parents, Anna Franciska Ottilie Wilke Herrmann and Paul Heinrich Hans Georg Heise (generally called "John"), married three years later. I know that the family made at least three trips from New York to Germany and back while Rudolph John was a child. I can't find any passenger records regarding a trip in 1900, but it's not unlikely that Rudolph John was in Berlin while visiting relatives.

In the summer of 1901, the "Misses Hearn" occupied the "Lilly Pond Cottage" at Sag Harbor, chaperoned by "Mrs. Dr. Smith." (The reference is to the widow of Dr James W Smith, the cottage's owner, not to the sisters' aunt Mary Hearne Smith.) Annie's older sisters were not impressed with Rudolph. "Young Heise was forbidden the house. Nothing daunted, he met his sweetheart clandestinely, and doubled his attentions. At Sag Harbor he endeavored to set a sporty pace. He ran up a big hotel and livery bill, borrowed money of quondam friends and gave promises to settle when his check came in. One night he sneaked out of town leaving his baggage. 'And he never came back.'"

Despite all of this, Annie remained firmly attached to Rudolph. On 15 Oct 1901 she turned 21 and gained control of her share of the income from her father's estate. On 09 Jan 1902, she and Rudolph married in Manhattan, where Annie was living at West 76th Street.

The Marriage: 1902-1907

Two weeks after the marriage, on 24 Jan 1902, Rudolph John lied through his teeth, claimed to be 21 and applied for a passport for himself and Annie Theresa. According to the passport application, they intended to go abroad temporarily and return to the States within two years. An article published in the New York Herald 01 Dec 1906 mentioned that the couple went to Berlin after their marriage. However, they apparently returned by October 1902, when they moved into the Lenox Court apartment house at West 73rd Street. Their oldest daughter Frances Adele Hearne was born in Manhattan 12 Dec 1902.

Life at the Lenox Court did not go smoothly. According to an article in the New York Telegram published 04 Feb 1903, on moving in Rudolph immediately got into a quarrel with Francis A Clarke, the janitor, about moving heavy furniture and about the family's dog. Clarke resented the dog and repeatedly threatened to throw it out. Eventually, the dog mysteriously vanished. Then Clarke showed up uninvited at a party Rudolph was throwing, where he "abused [Rudolph] and his guests, calling the women vile names and charging them with being too noisy." In response, Rudolph called Clarke "a drunken janitor and other similar names and asserted that he was incompetent in his business as a janitor." All of this would have amounted to nothing more than a lot of name calling, except that Clarke then proceeded to sue Rudolph for $5,000 for slander.

I don't know how the lawsuit turned out, but six months later the Sag Harbor L.I. Corrector published 29 Aug 1903 reported that "Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Heise, of New York City, are summering at Rye Beach, N. Y."

Two more children were born during this period, both in Manhattan: Rudolph John Jr on 01 Jul 1904 and Anna Katharine on 07 Jul 1905. However, the marriage had become an unhappy one. Rudolph John drank and was physical abusive to Annie Theresa when drunk. He squandered her money on horses and on business ventures that came to nothing, then forced her to borrow more money using her share of the corpus of her father's estate - which she would not receive until 1909 - as collateral. Annie and Rudolph's debtors showed up, demanding money, on the doorstep of the house Annie owned in Hoboken where the family was living.

It was one of these debtors who, in Oct 1905, introduced Annie to Frank M Wells, a lawyer with the firm Warner, Wells and Korb. Annie asked Wells if there was any way she could safeguard her money from her husband's depredations and instead reserve its use for the support of herself and her three children. Wells assured her that there was and drew up a deed of trust, with himself as the trustee. This was executed 18 Nov 1905.

Here's Annie's understanding the how the deed of trust operated: "I thought it would all be settled in five years' time and be my own. My understanding was that everything would be paid up and cleared up at that time. It was my understanding that the trust deed meant that I should receive the whole thing and my uncle would settle for all claims and pay Mr. Wells as trustee at the end of five years. My uncle was to pay Wells as trustee, at the end of five years, and for all expenditures. My idea was that the trust deed should remain in effect for five years; and that Wells was to collect the income as trustee from 1905 to 1909. That Wells was to collect the income and pay it to me, and pay my bills. His fees were to be adjusted as was proper and fair. I wrote my uncle a letter from Mr. Wells' office, that he should send the income to him."

This quote comes from p 113 of the Case on Appeal of Heise v Wells filed with the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, 15 Jan 1912. Most of my information as to Annie's whereabouts and actions during 1905-1912 comes from this document. By "uncle," she was referring to William H Hearne, who had become sole executor of his brother Edwin Ross' will after his brother and co-executor Frank J Hearne died 25 Feb 1907.

The deed of trust executed 18 Nov 1905 is included on pp 33-37 of the Case on Appeal. What it actually does to assign the entirety of Annie's inheritance to the trust to be invested. The net income on $35,000 is to be applied to Annie's use, but the $35,000 is not to be paid out until her death. Likewise, each of the three children she had at time is to receive the net income on $30,000 (for a total of $90,000) but the $30,000 is not to be paid out until that child's death.

There is nothing in the deed that allows for its revocation.

In addition to the deed, Annie signed several other documents at about this time:

• An assignment dated 19 Oct 1905 to pay Warner, Wells & Korb $5,000 from her interest in her father's estate to cover their retainer and expenses (pp 81-82);
• An assignment dated 14 Nov 1905 to pay Warner, Wells & Korb $50,000 from her interest in her father's estate to cover not only their retainer and expenses but also "such payments or disbursements as they may make in settlement of claims of parties holding prior purported assignments by me heretofore made" (pp 84-85);
• An assignment dated 18 Nov 1905 to pay Frank M Well $5,500 plus interest at 6% per annum from her interest in her father's estate to repay a loan from Wells to Annie (pp 86-87), and
• A will dated 21 Nov 1905.

Paperwork was not Annie's forte. At one point in the Case on Appeal, asked about a document she had signed in 1908, she replied, "I suppose it is another of the papers I signed, but Lord knows what it is. Some more figures" (p 95). She was also, in the fall of 1905, "in poor health" and "very much run down" (p 83). She had been advised by her physician that she was susceptible to "consumption," i.e., the tuberculosis that had killed her mother (p 142). Because of her poor health, she was unable to get life insurance and therefore to get loans from most regular lenders.

Immediately after signing the will on 21 Nov 1905, Annie left for North Carolina "because I had been there a few years previous and my health was better down there, and I thought the second trip might do me good." Rudolph went with her: "Mr. Heise and I went South together. He did not follow me down there. He followed me when I came up the year afterwards for Christmas and New Years, and he stayed up here to learn the automobile trade" (pp 116-117).

What's Annie's not mentioning here is that on 30 Nov 1906 she appeared before the New York Supreme Court as a witness in her own suit to set aside a "paper" which she had given to the Selected Securities Company via a lawyer named Louis Wertheimer. Basically, Annie had signed away a $12,000 interest in her father's estate in return for $2,100 paid to herself and $400 paid to Rudolph as a "commission." This was one of the "prior purported assignments by me heretofore made" that Annie paid Wells $50,000 to help her get out of.

To continue Annie's statement: "I told Wells that I wanted to get rid of Heise when I was out West - that was two years after that. It was not long before that because I later went up to Maine with him. It was not subsequent, because I later lived in New Rochelle with him during 1907. There was no talk about that until August [1907], when he went to the sanitarium" (p 117).

Asked to clarify what she meant by "get rid of," Annie replied forthrightly, "I got rid of Heise with the help of Wells. Wells put him in a sanitarium and engaged specialists. Yes Mr. Wells subsequently procured a divorce for me. He bought my ticket for Portland, Oregon, in the Grand Central Station, against my wishes, and put me on a train and I could not change it after I left New York and he sent me to his folks out there" (p 117).

On p 92 of the Case on Appeal, Annie specified that she separated from Rudolph 06 Aug 1907. Rudolph seems to have agreed. The Ellis Island passenger manifests report that he and his mother, Anna Heise, arrived in NYC on December 20, 1907, aboard the SS President Grant out of Cuxhaven (a German port 94 km north of Bremen). "Rudolf Hans Heise" is described as being age 25, a merchant by trade, a US citizen - and single.

Separation and Divorce: 1907-1910

Annie's fourth child, Edwina Ruth Heise, was born in Portland, Oregon, 04 Feb 1908. In a letter to William H Hearne dated 28 Jan 1909, Wells explained that he "had arranged this matter [of Annie's divorce from Rudolph] with reputable Oregon attorneys where she had established a proper residence" (pp 170-171) However, Annie "evidently acted upon the advice of one of her friends" and moved to California, where she was told that "an absolute decree of divorce could be procured by publication of summons," i.e., without having the summons personally served to Rudolph.

In the same letter, Wells wrote, "I am now satisfied that her purpose is to marry Mr. John Werner as soon as possible. She introduced me to Mr. Werner about three years ago [i.e. 1906] and informed me that he had on many occasions protected her against her brutal husband. He was formerly a friend of Heise and in the livery business. I have known him to be successful in his business, although of speculative tendency, wholly abstemious as to intoxicants and tobacco and all around square young fellow, but whether attracted by the personal charms of the lady or her financial prospects or both, I do not know."

Annie too seems to have been cautious regarding this last point. In a second letter to William H Hearne dated 20 Feb 1909, Wells mentioned that as soon as Annie gained her divorce, "she expects to try a new matrimonial venture. In doing this she has desired to eliminate the 'dollar sign', as she expressed it, as a motive on the part of the party of the second part" (pp 167-168).

By "speculative tendencies" Wells may be alluding to the fact that although John had started off in the livery business, he had gone from leasing horses and equipment to a circus company to, by Oct 1907, presenting an act called "Herzog's High School Horses" (information courtesy of circus historian Lewis Polacsek, Circus History Message & Discussion Board, Message Archive: Message 4075 and subsequent replies, Sep 2012). In November and December 1907 Werner and the horses were following a circuit along the West Coast, going as far north as Vancouver on 02 Dec 1907 before heading back south. In particular, on 16 Dec 1907 they appeared in Portland, Oregon. By February 1908, they were back in San Francisco (Billboard, 01 Feb 1908 and 21 Mar 1908; Port Chester NY Chronicle, 12 Mar 1908).

It seems to me to be not unlikely that Annie left Oregon for California because she was following John. I'm also not sure that it's entirely coincidental that Annie and John were both in Portland at the same time.

In the fall of 1908 Annie returned from California to New York (p 93). So apparently did John Werner, as he was one of the witnesses to the new will Annie signed 31 Dec 1908, describing himself as residing in Rye, NY (pp 105-108). Annie described herself as residing in New Rochelle. The new will included Edwina Ruth. It rather pointedly did not include either Rudolph or Annie's brother Edwin, both of whom had been included in the previous will. Of Edwin, Annie wrote that "he is indebted to me in a large sum for personal advances heretofore made to him by me."

Besides the will, Annie executed two more documents. One was an assignment dated 31 Dec 1908 to pay Frank M Wells $24,621.33 plus 6% interest per annum in return for his services and expenses as well as claims he had paid on her behalf (pp 69-75).

The second document was a new deed of trust executed 08 Jan 1909, two months and three days before the corpus of Annie's father's estate was due to be released (pp 60-68). Although the New York Supreme Court was later on to determine that the 1905 deed was irrevocable, Wells - a lawyer - appears not to have realized this, as he included measures in the 1909 deed to revoke it. According to the new deed, Annie's share of the corpus is to first be used to pay off the assignment of $24,621.33 to Wells as well as $20,550 owed to the Eagle Life Insurance Company. The income on half of whatever is left is to be applied to Annie's use "as long as she shall continue in life." The income on the other half is to be split four ways among Annie's four children.

Unlike will made nine days earlier, the 1909 deed of trust describes Annie as "of the City of New Rochelle, County of Westchester and State of New York, now residing in the City of San Francisco, State of California." Per Wells' letter to William H Hearne dated 28 Jan 1909, Wells explained to Annie that a divorce obtained in California via a publication of summons could leave her open to prosecution for bigamy. He sent her back to California "to procure a decree in the regular manner," i.e., with "personal service of the summons on defendant and due appearance of the defendant in the proceeding by an attorney."

It's important to remember that there was, in 1909, no such thing as no-fault divorce. Divorces involved a plaintiff and a defendant. It was greatly in Annie's favour to remain the plaintiff, which meant not giving Rudolph the opportunity to have her charged with bigamy.

I don't have further information on Annie's whereabouts for the remainder of 1909 and 1910, although I do know that John was in San Francisco during the summer of 1909 (Billboard, 31 Jul 1909). I also know that based on the 1920 and 1930 US Censuses and the 1925 New York State Census, Marjorie Ellen Werner was born in California Apr-May 1909.

Annie's efforts to obtain a divorce in California appear to have fallen through. Instead the divorce was obtained from the New York Supreme Court, with Rudolph being accused of of abandoning his family for a cloak model, who was named as a correspondent in the case. Cloak models were young women who modelled cloaks and other clothing. It says something about the job that advertisements for positions often included the exact physical measurements desired, without mention of other skills or experience. The New York Times published 18 May 1912 gives the name of the young lady as "Effie" Best.

As "a niece of Frank Hearne, former president of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company, and a niece of William Hearne, who is a multi-millionaire" (New York Press, 04 Mar 1910), Annie had some news value. Newspapers across the States reported that on 03 Mar 1910, the court granted her a divorce, also awarding her with custody of her children and "permission" to resume use of her last name at birth . However the final judgement on the divorce was not entered until 20 Jun 1910 (p 118).

New Jersey marriage records show that Rudolph J Heise married Essie Best in New Jersey in 1910, so apparently the relationship was genuine and Essie was not merely being paid to act a role for the sake of getting the divorce through.

The Trust Deed Suit: 1910-1914

I'm not sure when Annie first realized that the 1905 trust deed was not what she thought it was. On 22 Nov 1909 a suit was commenced to "partition certain real property situate in the City and County of New York" among Edwin Ross Hearn's heirs (p 1). "...the interlocutory judgment in said partion suit, entered and filed in the office of the Clerk of the County of New York on the 18th of February, 1911, severed from the said partition suit the issue raised between the defendants Annie T. H. Heise and Frank H. [sic] Wells, individually and as Trustee, involving the validity of a certain instrument in writing purporting to be a deed of trust, executed by the said Annie T. H. Heise to the said Frank M. Wells on the 18th day of November, 1905, under which instrument the said defendant Wells, claimed title to said defendant Annie T. H. Heise" (p 2). Annie and Wells are both described as "defendants" here because the partition suit was structured with Annie's sister Mary Hearne Christopher as the plaintiff and everyone else involved as defendants: Annie, her sisters Elizabeth and Lillie Lee, Wells "invidually and as Trustee", Rudolph John Heise (but not Mary's or Elizabeth's husbands), William H Hearne "as Trustee" and Annie and Rudolph's three oldest children (but not Edwina Ruth).

Annie then "served her complaint on the said Frank M Wells, individually and as Trustee, on March 10, 1911." Legalities required that Rudolph John be included as one of the defendants in this new complaint, but he signed a general release in New York on 22 Mar 1911 (pp 213-214)." Note that at this time, Annie was living in Philadelphia (p 77). She also stated before the court that she had not married again (p 203).

Annie's complaint rested on her assertion that in signing the 1905 deed of trust, she had never intended to permanently relinquish control over her share of her father's estate. This assertion was weakened by the fact that on 11 Aug 1910 she had signed a third deed of trust with the Columbia Trust Company in New York (pp 143-146). Under the terms of this deed, half of the income from Annie's property was to be paid to Annie and "the other one-half in equal shares to her children at the time being surviving, including any after-born children." (Annie had apparently learned by this point not to name children individually in deeds of trust.)

On 13 Nov 1911 the court ruled that the 1905 trust deed was valid and enforceable (pp 37-39). Annie and her lawyers filed for an appeal 15 Jan 1912 (p 217). The appeal was argued 27 Jan 1914 and decided 14 Apr 1914; the original judgment was upheld.

Perhaps coincidentally, 1914 is also the earliest year for which I found evidence that Annie and John had married.

Next: Annie Theresa Hearn and John Lawrence Werner.

Next: Rudolph John Heise - 1910 and After.