In one of history’s curious quirks, a battle in New York probate court involves a fortune that was partly made right here in Las Vegas. A pair of clarifications are in order. The late Huguette Clark (left) has 50 blood relatives, although only 21 are eligible to partake of her estate, should the courts decide that she died intestate, having left four successive wills and no end of confusion in her wake If you’re any more distantly related to Mme. Clark than a half-grandniece or -nephew, you’re squat out of luck, buddy, no matter what the probate court eventually decrees.
Also … a number of sources, including A.D. Hopkins‘ The First 100, published by Huntington Press, describe robber baron William Andrews Clark as a Confederate veteran of the Civil War. This version of events dates at least as far back as William Mangam‘s 1941 exposé The Clarks — An American Phenomenon, which the Clark family attempted (mostly successfully) to suppress. However, the Encyclopedia of World Biography‘s Clark entry states: “William Andrews Clark was born on Jan. 8, 1839, near Connellsville, Pa. He was educated in private academies in Pennsylvania and in Iowa, and after a short stint as a schoolmaster in Missouri, he studied law at Iowa Wesleyan College. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Clark enlisted in an Iowa regiment. Discharged in 1862, he moved to Colorado Territory.” (It also contains one of the few clear explanations of Clark’s dubious “election” to the U.S. Senate in 1899, a scandal that is widely credited with helping pave the way for the 17th Amendment.)
Finally, multiple updates of the story — which evolved from an LVA “Question of the Day” — resulted in reporter Bill Dedman being credited both as being employed by MSNBC.com (correct) and by hackle-raising cable channel MSNBC (incorrect). They’re not only different, they’re headquartered an entire continent apart, which is perhaps even more confusing to those who’ve seen Dedman’s Huguette Clark reportage on NBC-TV‘s Today show. In any event, I apologize for the muddle.
