Chapter 8: Bad Math

Things That Don't Add Up

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Release Date: August 13, 2024

Pregnant and determined to create a better future for herself and her unborn child than the one she’d known, Aimee Henry sought out the only person who knew the truth about her paternal lineage and was willing to share it with her, Amelia Wright.

I think the story Amelia spun for Aimee went something like this:

I know it is a lot to take in, but Allen Thorndike Rice, Mary Martha's cousin, was your father — God rest his soul. Your grandfather must have forbidden the relationship since Mary Martha’s mother and Allen’s mother were sisters, but that didn't stop their love.

I never met him myself, but, oh, the stories I heard about him from Mary Martha. He was worldly and well-educated and knew all the most famous people, Presidents, and members of Congress, including President Harrison and Vice President Martin, literary folks like Mark Twain, Henry James, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; influential men like Pierre Lorillard and Andrew Carnegie, and even the great civil war hero, General William Tecumseh Sherman.  

And such a mind! He was publisher and editor of the North American Review — and imagine, he took over that fine publication when he was just 26 — no older than you, really! I myself have never read it, of course, it being a literary magazine, but Mary Martha, why she had copies of it around the house for as long as I worked for her.

I remember her telling me one time about how he funded an expedition into the jungles of Mexico and South America in search of ancient artifacts. I think he went on to write a book about that, as I recall. I dare say that takes a special kind of man.

But he had tragedy in his life, too, like most of us do. Mind you, Mary Martha never told me this — none of the family did — but I remember hearing staff talk about his scandalous past, and it has stuck with me all these long years. 

As I heard it, when he was just a wee child, his mother and father were unhappy in their marriage, and the father gained custody of the child from the courts. But then the mother, why, she had that poor boy kidnapped, and together they hid out in old farmhouses and who knows where all across America and Canada until they finally made it safe to her lover in Germany. Terribly sad, but then, tragedy often makes us strong, my father used to tell. 

But I forget myself. You must want to know how I know all this. 

Well, it was shortly after you were born, and I walked into the sitting room to find Mary Martha crying. Sobbing, really, which wasn't all that uncommon in those early days of motherly sadness and the physical pain that comes with bringing a child into the world and then leaving it with another. 

But this time, your mother was holding a stack of articles what had been cut out of newspapers and muttering to herself about the great loss. Later, after I'd calmed her down with some hot tea and gotten her ready for bed, I snuck back into that room and looked through those pieces of newspaper. And every one of them was about the death of Allen Thorndike Rice. I knew then and there he really was your father and Mary Martha's one true love. ¹.

That Allen Thorndike Rice had been at the center of more than his share of scandals was strange but entirely true. There was the scandal of his childhood abduction, the scandal of his mother’s divorce and then marriage to Friedrich Kofler, and, of course, the scandal around the sizable inheritance Allen received from his grandmother, Mary Martha Purnell Thorndike Bourne, at the expense of her living daughters and grandchildren.

That he was somehow at the center of the scandal that surrounded the relationship between Mary Martha and Aimee, however, was pure fiction.

It seems possible Allen and Mary Martha’s brother, Charles, may have been friends. They were closer in age – Allen was born in 1851 and Charles in 1858, shared common friends, elite social clubs and expensive hobbies, and both lived and moved among New York’s upper crust.

Allen and James Parker may also have been friends. He, too, was a member of all the best clubs, bred and raced thoroughbred horses and was part of a group known as the “hunting set of society bachelors”, however, James spent his time in and around Boston. So, while a case can be made for Allen being friendly with both the Parker brothers, there’s little to suggest Allen and Mary Martha had any relationship at all, much less an intimate one.

In many ways, it was a matter of timing.

Prior to moving to Europe with his mother in 1860, Allen had lived in Boston with his mom and developed a close relationship with his grandmother and her husband, Ezra Bourne. As cousins, it’s possible Allen, Charles and James spent time together during those years, but Mary Martha wasn’t born until 1864, and by then, Allen had been in Europe four years.

In 1869, Allen’s mother died, and shortly afterward, his father passed away. Allen was 17 at the time, and records indicate he lived with his grandmother, now a widow twice over, while he finished the school year in Boston.

By the fall of 1870 he was back in Europe, however, where he attended England’s Oxford University, graduating with an undergrad in 1874 and a master’s degree in 1877. In 1871, Mary Martha, James and their father spent a season in London, and it’s possible the family connected with Allen then, And, again, Allen may have returned to Boston during the summers, but even then, he was a college man, and Mary Martha was still a child — it seems unlikely their paths would cross socially.

After graduating from Oxford, 26-year-old Allen headed straight to New York, where he used just a small fraction of the money he’d inherited from his parents to purchase the North American Review. As publisher, editor and frequent contributor, Allen quickly became a literary star and dealmaker, a social and political reformer and gentleman about town of great distinction.

One columnist of the day summed it up this way:

Allen Thorndike Rice is one of the richest writers in the United States. He is but thirty-three, handsome and a bachelor. He has a stable of fast horses, a steam yacht, a New York mansion, and a cottage at Tuxedo Park. He is simply remarkable! ²

True to his Boston Brahmin roots, Allen gained membership at all the right clubs, and became close friends with socialites, politicians, business leaders, sportsmen, military geniuses, great thinkers and literary giants. He generously supported charitable causes and got involved in politics, even running for office.

And, somewhat surprisingly, he continued to flirt with controversy, if not outright scandal, including one involving Edwin J. Phelps, American’s ambassador to England.

While spending time in London during the summer of 1886, Allen had sent a request through the U.S. Embassy to be added to a list of American citizens presented to His Royal Highness Prince Albert Edward of Wales.

When the request came across Phelps’ desk, he refused it outright.

And Allen took great offense.

What ensued was a series of politely worded letters batted back and forth between the formidable editor and the Ambassador which were widely published on both sides of the pond.

In the opening volley, Allen suggested his request had been denied because Phelps personally objected to an article about Secretary of State Thomas Francis Bayard which had recently been published in The North American Review.

Then he questioned Phelps’ integrity:

“Holding public office to be public trust, and being unaware of any low or usage which authorizes a servant of the State Department to exercise, in foreign countries, the function of a censor of the American press, I am compelled to regard your actions as an abuse of official opportunities for the purpose of gratifying private feelings and political animosities, either in your own person or in that of the Secretary of State…”

Phelps responded with an initial claim of innocent. He didn’t even know who Allen Thorndike Rice was until his request had arrived, and he had only recently become aware of the piece on Secretary of State Thomas Francis Bayard.

Then he returned the volley and questioned Allen’s own integrity:

“Had that article been a criticism, however frank, upon any public policy or conduct of [Bayard], or a just exposure of anything in his private character that ought to be known, neither he nor his friends would have had any right to complain. It was nothing of the sort. It was simply a tirade of malicious and gratuitous abuse, unworthy of the pages of any respectable publication; an outpouring of malignant wrath by some writer without the courage to give his name and intended as a gross and deliberate insult to Mr. Bayard.”

And then the Ambassador went further with an insult:

“If upon this state of facts, you suppose me to be capable of offering to you the most distinguished official courtesy in my power and presenting you to a prince whose sense of the proprieties of personal conduct us as exalted as his rank, you do me a great injustice.

“You may be assumed that if I had sent in your name for that purpose and the attention of His Royal Highness had been drawn to the article in question, he would have declined to receive you.”

Although there would be several other letters between them, the passage of time, the British Royal Family and Allen Rice would prove Phelps humiliatingly wrong.

A short time after the scathing missives were published, Rice was asked by a reporter about the impact of Phelps’ refusal.

“I can only tell you that, after Mr. Phelps’ action became known in London, I received two invitations from the Prince and Princess of Wales to attend an evening and a garden reception — the last invitation being to meet the Queen, although, as it happened, I was not able to go.” ³

Mr. Phelps had mistakenly brought a butter knife to a gun fight.

On March 30, 1889 – twenty-four days after Bayard’s appointment as Secretary of State was terminated – newly-elected President Harrison appointed Allen to the role of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary aka U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Empire, a position which had previously been held by the likes of Presidents John Quincy Adams and James Buchanan, as well as others who would leave their mark on American politics.

At just 37, it was clear to most that Allen Thorndike Rice was being set up for greatness

Tragically, however, whatever greater good Allen could have brought to the world was never realized. Forty-six days after his appointment – and two days before his departure for St. Petersburgh, Allen died unexpectedly after complaining of a sore throat. A later autopsy revealed the cause of death to be “acute extensive general edema of both lungs and very moderate edema of the larynx”. ⁴

James Parker was the sole representative of the Parker family at the front of Allen’s funeral processional.

At the time of Allen’s death in May 1889, Mary Martha was 24 years old, and had been traveling across Europe with her dad for nearly a year. They stayed in Europe for several more months after Allen’s death, not returning home to Boston until early September of 1889 — notably 21 months before Aimee was born.

Allen Rice could not have been Aimee’s father. It was medically impossible in 1889.

How then, did Amelia come to believe he was?

The answer might just lie in the popularity of death scrapbooks.

High society families like the Parkers often had elaborate mourning practices, which included creating and maintaining scrapbooks that documented the lives and deaths of loved ones. These scrapbooks served as a form of commemoration and legacy-keeping, and provided a structured way to honor and mourn the deceased.

Since Richard and Mary Martha were out of the country at the time of Allen’s death, it’s likely someone in the Parker household was charged with collecting newspaper articles, obituaries, eulogies, funeral programs, letters of condolence and other documents related to Allen’s death, all of which would go into a death scrapbook when the time came.

Creating that scrapbook would be a normal part of the grieving process and it may have been one Mary Martha welcomed when she returned to Boston. Not having been able to join family and friends in mourning Allen’s death at the time or in person, the reality of his passing may not have settled in. Each tribute, each detail she added to the scrapbook may have made that reality clear, and allowed Mary Martha to come to grips with his passing.

Whatever relationship or special bond she had with Allen – whether mutual or one-sided, real or imaginary, the starry-eyed hero-worship of a shy young woman and her charismatic older cousin or something more akin to romantic affection, Allen and Mary Martha were connected by blood in a family where blood mattered above all else.

His premature death must have been a significant loss.

Two years later, after giving birth to a child and then leaving that child with strangers — another significant loss — Mary Martha may have pulled out the old articles. Overwhelmed by the physical changes her body had gone through, the emotional pain of her choice, and the thought that her life was over, she broke down.

Later, when Amelia looked at the items over which Mary Martha had been crying, she saw Allen’s name, but she likely took no notice of the dates. And putting one and one together, Amelia came up with three — Allen Thorndike Rice, Mary Martha Parker and a baby girl someone had named Aimee Henry.

Copyright 2024 Lori Olson White

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As a genealogist, I’ve definitely fallen down my share of rabbit holes when conducting research. Heck, I did it a few times in the early days of putting this story together! But, I’ve also made incorrect assumptions in personal settings — like the time I thought an older father was actually a grandfather. How about you? Share your experiences in the comments and let’s talk!

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Chapter Endnotes

¹   “International Feature Service, Inc. Great Britain, “Astonishing Secrets behind the Morecroft Fight for Millions — and the Bar Sinister; Sworn Statement of the Dainty Divorcee that She is the Natural Daughter of Rich “400” Widow, Whose Vast Estates She Would Share after Harrowing Experiences in Schools, Hospitals and Sanitariums while kept in the Dark,” Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN, November 25, 1928.

²   “Breakfast-Table Chat”, Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, IN, March 31, 1889. P. 4.

³  “Mr. Phelps and Mr. Rice: Mr. Phelps Refuses to Present the Editor of the North American Review to the Prince of Wales because of an Article about Secretary Bayard — Some Sharp Correspondence.” The Burlington Free Press,Burlington, VT. October 14, 1886. P. 4.

⁴ Allen Thorndike Rice: The Autopsy – Funeral Services in Grace Church Today”. New York Times, New York, NY. May 18, 1889, Pg 5.