The Snell Family

Henrietta had her hands full with her two daughters, Alice and Grace, who were always making the news for their marriages. She later did not support Mary who tried to sue her after Mr. Snell died. Her only son Albert and she had serious issues later over money and the will. Henrietta was dedicated to preserving the legacy of her family and her husband, Amos. She was in attendance at the University of Chicago for an event where she donated $50,000 to the school for Snell Hall.

Albert Jerome Snell, the only son of Amos and Henrietta, seems to have had a difficult life. He later died in a lodging house with no money. Albert did not get along with his stepsister Mary and her husband, and wanted to make sure that Mary did not get any of the family's wealth after his father died. There was no formal legal adoption of Mary; he believed that Mary's husband Albert Stone had killed Amos. It was determined that Albert died from heart disease, after living in seclusion for years. It is also reported that he was abusive to his wife, who claimed he was a drunk and had authorities question his sanity. Albert's wife reported him to police because she believed her life was in jeopardy.

Primary Source

End of the Line

Albert Jerome Snell — the only son of one of Chicago's wealthiest men — died in a lodging house in 1910 with no money to his name. He was 52 years old.

Grace Henrietta Snell makes the headlines for marrying seven times. She married the same man, Franc Coffin, five times, and later married Love two times. She had more divorces than any other woman in Los Angeles at the time. Papers called her The Most Married Woman in the World. She was eventually known as Mrs. Grace Snell-Coffin-Coffin-Walker-Coffin-Layman-Love-Love. The second marriage to Mr. Love appears to have lasted; her name was still Mrs. Love when she died in 1941.

"I have been a society woman, I kept a fine stable of horses, mother taught me to spend, spoiled..."

Primary Sources

Los Angeles Herald · 1908

"Los Angeles Woman Files Her Seventh Divorce Case"

"Mrs. Love enjoys the distinction of having been divorced more times than any other woman in Los Angeles, it is alleged."

Voted one of Chicago's most beautiful women, Alice Snell McCrea married Wiley McCrea when she was young. As a young woman she was one of Chicago's acknowledged beauties, considered by many in New York to have been the most beautiful woman ever sent from the west to the east. Artists raved about her beauty and clamored for the privilege to paint her. She was also a woman of talent — her sketches with brush and pen were greatly admired and her voice, an exceptional soprano, had been carefully trained in Europe. She wrote a song called Autone (Springtime) and a book entitled From London to Paris in a Two-Wheeler.

At age 17, Alice married Willey G. McCrea at Chicago in 1884. They had two children: William Snell 'Billy' McCrea, born 13 August 1885, and Henriette A. McCrea, born 4 January 1888. Willey and Alice were divorced in 1888 on the grounds of severe physical abuse. Alice's father had been murdered that year and left her a fortune of $500,000. Alice married Douglas Green on 3 February 1890 at Hampton, Virginia. The elopement caused a sensation — they were married in secret while Mr. Green was still married and the father of two children. The couple fled to Europe and when they returned were ostracized by the social elite. She passed away at age 31 in the New York Hospital, from the effects of an unexpected operation following a lengthy illness.

Primary Sources

Mary Snell was raised by the Snell family as a daughter from the age of five. After Mr. Snell died, she and her husband fought over the will — she believed she was entitled to the money like her siblings. Mrs. Snell did not feel that way and fought her in court. Mary's husband, Albert Stone, fought to make sure his wife would get her inheritance. Her claim was ultimately struck down on the grounds that she was allegedly an adopted daughter, not a biological one.