The Heiress in Kent Read online

  THE HEIRESS IN KENT

  KOPP CHRONICLES

  By Gregory Kopp

  Copyright © 2018 Gregory Kopp

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, with the exception of some well-known historical figures, are products of the author’s imagination or purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN:9781981089246

  Printed in the United States of America

  BY GREGORY KOPP

  KOPP CHRONICLES

  AN IMMIGRANT AMERICAN (English edition)

  A TRACE OF ROYALTY (English edition)

  THE JOURNEY TO DELPHOS (English edition)

  A CHILD’S BREATH (English edition)

  CRÓNICAS DE KOPP

  UN INMIGRANTE AMERICANO (Spanish edition)

  UN RASTRO DE LA REALEZA (Spanish edition)

  EL VIAJE A DELPHOS (Spanish edition)

  EL ALIENTO DE UN NIÑO (Spanish edition)

  KOPP CHRONIKEN

  EIN IMMIGRANT AMERIKANER (German edition)

  EINE SPUR VON KÖNIGSHAUS (German edition)

  DIE REISE NACH DELPHOS (German edition)

  EIN ATEM DES KINDES (German edition)

  CHRONIQUES DE KOPP

  UN IMMIGRANT AMÉRICAIN (French edition)

  UNE TRACE DE LA ROYAUTÉ (French edition)

  LE VOYAGE À DELPHOS (French edition)

  LE SOUFFLE D'UN ENFANT (French edition)

  This book is dedicated to my nieces and nephews.

  Cover Images courtesy of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toulmouche,_Auguste-_La_Robe_bleue.jpg

  AN IMMIGRANT AMERICAN

  A TRACE OF ROYALTY

  THE JOURNEY TO DELPHOS

  A CHILD’S BREATH

  THE HEIRESS IN KENT

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Afterword

  Appendix One – Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn

  Appendix Two – Panic of 1857

  Appendix Three – The Metropolitan Police and Railroad Detectives

  Appendix Four – Lincoln’s September 1859 Speech in Cincinnati

  Chapter One

  September 1859, Lima, Ohio

  “Sold!” The sheriff of Allen County shouted to the waiting crowd as he slammed the butt of his revolver on the small wooden desk in front of him. The crowd gasped and turned towards Mr. and Mrs. Bauer standing underneath an oak tree on the edge of the courthouse steps.

  Mrs. Bauer started to cry and Karolina approached and tried to console her. Mrs. Bauer’s husband began to cuss and swear loudly at the sheriff. The sheriff paid no attention to him and proceeded to describe the next piece of property being auctioned off that day.

  Mr. Bauer became louder and more active in his complaints against the sheriff, so the sheriff motioned to one of his deputies with a slight nod of his head. The deputy rushed past the crowd and grabbed Mr. Bauer by the arm, pulling him away from the building. Mr. Bauer, smelling of alcohol, protested and cursed at the deputy.

  His wife grew alarmed at her husband’s treatment by the deputy and broke away from Karolina’s embrace and ran over to him. She protested to the deputy to leave her husband alone, but he ignored her.

  Mr. Bauer struggled free, grabbing the revolver out of the deputy’s holster and pointed it at him. Suddenly, the crowd grew silent and the sheriff froze just as he was ready to gavel down the sale of another foreclosed property. He quickly gathered his wits and jumped down from the podium and rushed over to the deputy and his prisoner.

  “Now John, just calm down,” he spoke softly as John Bauer spun around and pointed the revolver at the sheriff as he approached him. “You don’t want to do anything you are going to regret,” the sheriff said to the grizzled drunken man. “It’s only a farm, and you have your whole life in front of you.”

  John Bauer merely laughed a cackling laugh. “I lost my daughter, and my wife is leaving me too. I built that cabin with my own bare hands and farmed the land by myself. Hell, if I’m letting some new sheriff from Lima take away my property.” And he continued pointing the gun at the sheriff and cocked the trigger.

  Just then a tall middle-aged lanky man dived at him from the crowd and grabbed Bauer’s hand in his strong grip. A gunshot sounded in the air. The man attempted to wrestle the gun away from Bauer before he could fire a second shot. The deputy also jumped on him. The sheriff shouted to the deputy, “Grab him and grab the gun.” John Bauer cried out in pain as the deputy and the tall stranger forced his hand backward. They pried the gun out of his hand before he could shoot again. The deputy pinned Bauer’s arms behind his back and dragged him to his feet. The sheriff pulled out a pair of manacles from his coat pocket and slapped them on John Bauer’s wrist.

  Meanwhile, Mrs. Bauer began to cry louder and shouted, “Don’t hurt him. He wasn’t going to shoot anybody.” The sheriff grabbed John Bauer’s arm and marched him toward the courthouse steps.

  “Stop!” a young man shouted from the crowd. He was a finely dressed man accompanied by a beautiful lady and a small child. They emerged from the back of the crowd and walked quickly up to the courthouse steps.

  Just as suddenly, an old woman in the crowd shouted, “Peter! My God, is that you?” And she forced her way through the crowd to the young man’s side, took hold of him and embraced him.

  He embraced her back, smiled and said, “Mother, I thought I would find you here.”

  The sheriff spoke up, “Who the hell are you telling me to stop?” He glared at the young man. Just then the tall, middle-aged lanky man strode up to the courthouse steps shaking the dirt off his clothing and placing a silk stove-pipe hat on his head. The hat made him appear larger than life and the crowd grew quiet as they heard him speak.

  “Sheriff, I was on my way to Columbus with this young man and his lovely family,” he said as he pointed to Peter, his wife, and child. “We were passing by on our way to Delphos when we heard a God-awful commotion coming from the courthouse. I demand you release the old codger!” He pointed at Bauer. “He didn’t hurt anybody, and you just sold his farm!” The man stared at the sheriff to prove his point.

  The sheriff took a long look at the man and said, “Sir, I am grateful for your help to subdue this man, but he pointed a gun at me and that’s against the law! Who are you anyway?” he gestured to the man.

  “My name is Abraham Lincoln,” the man, said proudly and, “I’m a lawyer for the railroad.”

  Chapter Two

  Abraham Lincoln spoke up louder so that the crowd surrounding the courthouse could hear him, “This man did not commit a crime, and he should be released.” He then stared at the sheriff again.

  The crowd began to chant in unison, “Release him. Release him!”

  The Allen County sheriff looked around at the crowd. He took another look at the tall man in the stove-pipe hat. The crowd was becoming more and more agitated and the sheriff decided to back down. He turned John Bauer around, unshackled him and pushed him toward Lincoln. “Here, you can have him. B
ut if I see him again, I will arrest him,” said the sheriff to Lincoln. The sheriff turned and strode quickly into the courthouse and let the door slam behind him with a mighty thud.

  Lincoln smiled as the crowd rushed towards him and began slapping him on the back and shouting, “Huzzah! Huzzah!”

  Peter and Mrs. Bauer came up to Lincoln to thank him. Lincoln smiled again and suggested Mr. Bauer pack his things and leave town. Mrs. Bauer grabbed her husband firmly by the arm and pointed at Lincoln. John Bauer grudgingly said, “Much obliged” and picked up his coat from the ground. He and his wife waded back into the crowd.

  Peter thanked Lincoln and informed him his family would take another carriage to Delphos. Lincoln bid his goodbyes to Peter and his family and headed back to the coach waiting for him on the street. Lincoln waved to the crowd as he climbed into his seat. Several young boys chased after the coach as it made its way out of town, shouting and cheering on the occupants. The dust from the dirt road slowly engulfed the wheels of the coach, and it disappeared in the distance.

  Peter embraced his mother again and then looked around at the crowd. “Where is Father?” he asked.

  His mother looked down at the ground and then told him, “He passed a few weeks ago, Son. The second year of the Cholera outbreak weakened him, and he spent the last year in bed before he died.”

  “But what about the store? How are you managing Father`s businesses by yourself?” Peter inquired.

  His Mother shook her head and pointed to where the sheriff had stood moments before. “Sold, just like the Bauer’s farm. When he got ill, we weren’t able to pay the property taxes. So the sheriff took the general store and sold it to some newcomers. I have been living with Stanislaus and Karolina since then,” she said as she pointed at a man and a woman standing in the back of the dispersing crowd.

  Peter grabbed his wife and child’s hand and walked up to Stanislaus and Karolina. “It is so good to see you again. Thank you, kind folks, for taking care of my mother!” he said as he began shaking Karolina’s and Stanislaus' hand.

  Karolina just muttered, “Not a problem,” and eyed his new clothing and pretty wife and young child.

  “Oh, I am sorry. This is my wife, Jeannette and my son Oscar. I met my wife in Chicago and we were married shortly after I opened my own store.” His mother hugged her new daughter-in-law and then bent down to kiss the child. But the child clung to his mother’s legs and tucked his head into her skirt. Peter’s mother laughed, straightened up and then hugged her son again. Stanislaus told Peter how glad he was to see him again and that he appeared to be doing well for himself.

  Karolina shook Peter’s new wife’s hand and told her how happy she was to meet her, but inwardly she was saddened as she remembered her friend, Clara Bauer, and the burning love she and Peter shared. They had planned to run away together to New York City but Clara died suddenly from Cholera before they could go through with their plans. Peter was heartbroken from her loss and left Delphos on his own to seek his fortune out west. Now he had returned as a successful businessman with a wife and child in tow.

  Peter invited his mother and her friends to come and dine with him and his family at the hotel in Delphos. Stanislaus and Karolina begged off the invitation, so Peter insisted that if they ever traveled to Chicago they could stay with him and his family. Stanislaus smiled and told him he may take him up on his offer someday, and he and Karolina turned to begin their journey home.

  Karolina waved her goodbyes and asked Stanislaus, “How are we going to pay our property taxes? Our money is all gone and there are no jobs on the Miami and Erie Canal!” she fretted.

  Over the previous year, everyone was still recovering from the financial panic that occurred in October 1857. Banks failed all across the nation. Unemployment had soared, and jobs were difficult to come by. Thousands of people like the Bauer’s were being forced out of their homes when they couldn’t pay their mortgages or property taxes.

  Stanislaus patted her on the arm as they walked to their wagon parked at the edge of the clearing. “We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry,” he said. But inwardly he realized that they were also in deep financial trouble and may have to leave the home they built out of the forest wilderness in Delphos. He told himself, “I will think about it tomorrow!” while he looked up at the sky and observed a thunderstorm fast approaching. They had 20 miles to go before they got home. They had left their children home alone while they traveled to Lima for the Allen County sheriff’s sale.

  Chapter Three

  Several weeks before, London, England

  Richard Cordwell had an appointment with Sir Richard Mayne, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London, and he was running late.

  He joined the police force after he had reluctantly resigned his Army officer commission. As he was walking quickly, Richard recalled how he received his battlefield promotion. It was during the battle of Sevastopol at the height of the Crimean War when he rescued several of his comrades from an ambush by the Russians. He was riding on point during a cavalry charge against a heavily fortified castle.

  Unfortunately, the Russians counterattacked from the rear and most of the members of his patrol were killed or wounded. But Richard managed to carry two of the wounded men back to safety across enemy lines. His bravery earned him the Victoria Cross and a battlefield promotion to Lieutenant from his Commanding Officer.

  It was his Commanding Officer who counseled him to resign his commission from the army after the war was over. He noted to Richard how the war was winding down, and there would not be any need for newly commissioned officers. There were already plenty of professional officers serving in the British Army. His Commanding Officer pointed out the best foreign postings would go to those officers, while army postings in backwater areas would be left for junior officers. Especially, junior officers without an aristocratic family background like Richard.

  Richard Cordwell was not a member of the English aristocracy and in fact, only joined the army to get away from the slums of London, where he was born. He had worked hard to impress his superior officers during his training and gradually rose up through the army ranks. With his act of heroism in the Crimean War, his Commanding Officer had finally noticed him and taken him under his wing.

  Richard realized his commander’s advice was unmistakably correct, and so he resigned his commission when his company returned to London. He decided to hike the Scottish Highlands until he could determine what to do next in his life.

  One day, as he was hiking, he came across the Duke of Hamilton’s hunting party. The Duke was Premier Peer in Scotland, and his hunting prowess was well regarded. The Duke invited the former soldier to join his party and suggested he stay with him and his family in Hamilton Palace. Richard gladly accepted the invitation and gathered his belongings from the small inn where he had been staying. He arrived back at Hamilton Palace in time for dinner.

  The Duchess of Hamilton also happened to be staying with her husband at Hamilton Palace. She recently returned to Scotland incognito from the Grand Duchy of Baden with their two small children to spend the week with her husband.

  She normally stayed away from Scotland after an unfortunate incident in 1851. Her carriage was attacked by Scottish Protestants unhappy with her presenting valuable gifts to the nearby Roman Catholic Church of St. Mary. She only escaped when her coachman whipped the horses and galloped off. Afterward, she spent most of her time in Baden or in the capitals of Europe. She was a cousin of the French Emperor Napoleon III and visited him and his wife, Empress Eugénie quite often in Paris.

  Richard introduced himself to the Duchess before dinner. He appeared to her a defeated and worn out soldier, not knowing where his future lay. The Duchess felt sorry for him for he reminded her of the many soldiers she knew who returned to Baden from the Napoleonic Wars. After dinner, while she was sewing embroidery in the drawing room, she beckoned him to her. Richard quickly came over and bowed. “How can I help you, My Lady?” he asked.


  The Duchess of Hamilton stated, “It is how I can help you.” She informed him how Her Majesty the Queen was looking for good honest men to serve in her government. “Could you be one of those men?” she asked.

  Richard Cordwell nodded and asked, “Yes, how can I help the Queen?”

  The Duchess of Hamilton handed him a piece of paper and instructed him to report to Assistant Commissioner Labalmondière of the new Metropolitan Police in London. He was an old friend of the Duchesses’ in charge of administration. She suggested that Richard tell him he heard that the Metropolitan Police were looking for military men to join their ranks, and he wished to volunteer. Richard Cordwell bowed to the Duchess and put the piece of paper in his pocket. He bid the Duke goodnight and then returned to his own room.

  The Duke winked at his wife after she had finished talking with Richard. He observed to his card playing companions that Cordwell was a good marksman and an outstanding member of their hunting party. They all agreed with his assessment. At that moment, he drew a new card and placed it down on the table. The Lord of the estate adjacent to his own cringed when he saw the card.

  Meanwhile, the Duchess of Hamilton returned to her embroidery smiling inwardly, knowing the personal debt the Queen of England would owe her. She looked forward to telling Queen Victoria and Prince Albert about Richard during her visit to Buckingham Palace in July.

  Chapter Four

  Richard Cordwell left Hamilton Palace early the following day to catch the first train back to London. He gave his regrets to the Duke as he was leaving, and the Duke insisted he visit him again in the future.

  After arriving in London, Richard traveled to the Whitehall Palace, headquarters of the new Metropolitan Police. It was not far from Buckingham Palace, the home of Her Majesty, the Queen, Prince Albert and their family. Whitehall Palace backed onto a street called Great Scotland Yard near the Thames River and Scotland Yard gradually became the nickname for the Metropolitan Police.