Canonchet would be the home were Mr. Chase could relax and enjoy his time away from Washington. Here Kate would entertain old friends from Cincinnati, Ohio while impressing them with her excellent taste for the arts.
All the rooms were richly decorated, but they were also on the conservative side. Nothing loud or outlandish would be allowed in Kate's mansion that included the entertainment which would be brought to Canonchet to entertain her many frequent guests. It seemed that Mr. Sprague had removed all restraints on Kate's spending. It seemed he was just happy when she managed to be with him.
Yet in Washington and in Narragansett there were rumors of William being a little on the wild side. It seemed to Kate that there would be no need to abate her spending on her trips to Europe. She always returned with new wardrobes and more furniture for her beloved Canonchet which would burn to the ground October 11, 1909.
During the month of February 1872, Katherine (Kitty) Sprague was born, this was Kate's second daughter. The child was slow, Kate loved her all the more because she was always at Kate's side.
On May 7, 1873 while visiting his daughter Nettie in New York, Mr. Chase suffered his final and fatal stroke. Kate, William, and Nettie were with Mr. Chase when he slipped away from Kate forever.
At this time Kate was three months pregnant with her daughter Portia. On Nov. 3, 1873 in Washington, D. C. . Kate's last child a daughter was born, she named her Portia S. Sprague. Kate was now the mother of four children that William had fathered for her. They had been married for ten years, yet the rumors of trouble within the family still persisted. The trouble in the form of rumors were only the tip of the iceberg. Up to the day that Mr. Chase had died, Kate had never given up her ambitions for her father to become President of the United States. Now that ambition was laid to rest, William at this time wasn't doing well politically in Washington.
The year 1873 was the Achilles heal of the Sprague's Empire. In the Senate William rambled on about the money rings back in Rhode Island that were attempting to destroy him and other business men with their high interest rates. There were unsubstantiated stories of Sprague trading with the enemy during the late Civil War, while the Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton covered up his treason for him. The Sprague Empire was truly starting to crumble, but the worst tragedy to overtake William was the loss of Mr. Chase who had always counseled Kate. It seemed for a while that Kate was a ship without a rudder after her father's death. There was little doubt in any one's mind that Kate had been the deciding factor that had kept her father from remarrying again. She and she alone had been his confident since the death of her last stepmother. It was no secret that all a lady had to do to provoke Kate's wrath was not to show interest in her father. Her dream of being the hostess of the White House had never died over the years. Now she knew that dream was ended, for the man she most respected and revered was dead and buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery.
With the death of Mr. Chase, Kate was now able to seek her own councel. She was again traveling in Europe, she felt comfortable with Royalty since she had associated with many of them while they were stationed in Washington, D. C. or just visiting there while they were representing their different governments.
Back home in the States, Mr. Sprague was attempting to salvage his industrial empire that he had expanded on low interest loans. During this time of Sprague's financial crisis, Kate was conducting herself as if she or William didn't have a financial care in the world. She was spending money just as though Sprague had no financial problems at all. William was attempting to avoid his businesses from going into receivership of a bankruptcy court, Kate was managing to accelerate the procedure with her extravagant spending in Europe. Needless to say this didn't endear Kate to her husband back in the States.
When Mr. Chase had been alive there had been some discussions between William and Kate about her absence from Mr. Sprague's household, as well as the excessive amounts of money she was spending even though he didn't approve of her extravagance. The more William tried to constrain Kate, the more determined she was to follow her own course. She realized he was worth millions, so she could see no reason for being on a budget.
William began to withdraw into himself by drinking and associating with people who were not held in high esteem by many of the people in the local community. Now the mean rumors were starting to surface about William and his private life style. He was fortunate to be well enough known or he would have spent some embarrassing moments in front of a court.
The rumors were now starting to be picked up by the national papers and circulated over the country. Kate's marriage was likened to a soap opera of today, it seemed that everyone was waiting for the next article to be written. Some newspaper articles went out on the limb, they started telling stories that really never happened, but it sold copies and that was what the newspaper business was all about. There were now rumors of Governor Sprague being an abusive husband, yet no one came forward to substantiate them. Everyone in the area assumed that with William's temperament something sooner or later would bring these confrontations to the point of a major emotional explosion.
Kate had now come to the conclusion that having Willie around his father would be detrimental to his education and general well being. As a mother, Kate was concerned about her children being around William's sudden outbursts, mood swings, and his heavy drinking. Kate had decided to take Willie and the girls back to Europe permanently to be raised in a more gentile life style.
Needless to say this attitude only provoked further trouble in the Sprague household. Kate attempted to isolate herself from her husband within Canonchet mansion with the help of her servants and her children.
To Kate's total disappointment Willie seemed to enjoy the company of his father to hers. Willie was now riding his pony and following his father on some of his private adventures.
One of the small episodes that make the National Newspapers was of William's confrontation with a German school teacher Kate had hired to instruct the children. Not long after the teacher arrived at Canonchet, he found himself in a very unusual position. William had decided that he was one of Kate's secret lovers, without hesitation he chased him from the estate.
Kate couldn't believe the conduct of her husband, but it was quite interesting to the gossip papers of the country. Kate realized things were going from bad to worse, but she herself had no way of rectifying the conditions except to become totally submissive to her husband, that was not acceptable to her.
Gov. Sprague was a man nearing his mid-life crisis with many things upon
his troubled mind. Mr. Chaffee who was the Trustee of the Sprague Estate was
compelling the Governor to live on what he considered to be a very limited
and restricted income. However, none of these financial problems seemed to
have any particular affect upon his wife or her spending. Kate had now
spoken to William of hiring a full time tutor for their children while they
were here at Canonchet. William once again patiently explained to Kate that
he could no longer afford those types of expenditures at the present time
with all the legal problems that he was having right now.
William realized that should he pressure his wife too hard, Kate in turn
would once again rebel and return to her father's Edgewood Estate that was
located directly outside of Washington City. This too was another bone of
contention between the two of them in their marriage. Kate would be
continually leaving his bed and board while taking his children with her to
reside at Edgewood leaving him here at Canonchet to face the legal problems
with no support from her. William knew he had made mistakes, however Kate
had also helped to create some of these problems with her excessive spending.
To had fuel to the fire William would be constantly be reading newspaper
article pertaining to Kate attending various social functions while in the
company of Senator Conkling. According to the newspapers, his wife has also
been his constant supporter and companion while seated in the senate
galleries over looking Senator Conkling as he worked on the Senate floor. In
the past Mr. Conkling had been a close friend of Mr. Chase and of the
Governor. Now with all this gossip running rampart in Washington, Mr.
Conkling had long since become part of the problem rather than part of the
solution.
On one of Gov. Sprague's frequent trips to Washington to seek out
assistance for his financial problems he had a personal meeting with Senator
Conkling. Gov. Sprague accused Senator Conkling of being an interloper in
his marriage. The meeting became heated; Gov. Sprague personally challenged
Senator Conkling to a duel in order to settle this personal matter. In the
end cooler heads prevailed, however Gov. Sprague did threaten Senator
Conkling with bodily injury should their paths ever meet again.
With all these problems on his mind Gov. Sprague once again was required
to leave his beloved Canonchet and the state of Rhode Island to attend to
some pressing legal and financial matters. The Gov. informed Kate that there
was a good possibility that he may be gone for some time due to the
complexity of the problem. Kate had long since become accustomed to the Gov.
Sprague's comings and goings at all hours of the day and night. She had long
since sought her own private quarters so she would not be an impediment to
his unusual Schedule.
Instead of an extended trip, his business was brought to a hasty
conclusion. Gov. Sprague took the late train home and was forced to walk
home to Canonchet late that night. He immediately went to bed, rose early
and dined on his breakfast before going into town to visit his favorite men's
club. It was there that Gov. Sprague first learned that Senator Conkling was
indeed an over night guest at Canonchet. Without any hesitation the part of
the Governor, he rushed home in is buggy at a great speed while being in a
state of rage.
Kate always had guests at her summer home. On this particular week end she had some ladies from Cincinnati, Ohio that she had known since she was a little girl. Among the other guests in attendance was a Senator by the name of Roscoe Conkling. To Kate's total disbelief William came home drunk again and accused Senator Conkling of being Kate's lover in front of the guests. He threatened Senator Conkling with physical violence if he didn't remove himself from his house. As the Senator was leaving Canonchet, William followed him into town to make certain that he had left the area. Needless to say this was an embarrassment to Kate. Her company soon found reasons for departing Canonchet for home and what they perceived as safety.
When Gov. Sprague arrived back at Canonchet in a rage the first person he
came in contact with was the German Professor that Kate had engaged to tutor
her children over William's objections. Gov. Sprague informed the professor
that he was not needed or wanted here at Canonchet. An argument ensued and
Gov. Sprague informed the professor that he was going into his home and arm
himself, if he did not immediately leave his property he would not be
personally held responsible for his general well being. Rather than face
personal injury over employment the professor decided to leave while the
window of opportunity existed. The Gov. then entered his home and armed
himself with a shotgun, however he could find no percussion caps to arm the
shotgun. Regardless of that small detail the Gov. did seek out Senator
Conkling. Directly in front of Mrs. Sprague's guests the Gov. gave Senator
Conkling a warning of twenty minutes to vacate his property or he would not
be held responsible for murder with in his own home.
Senator Conkling departed Canonchet with such haste that his trunk along
with his personal belonging had to be shipped to him at a later date. After
a heated discussion with his wife Gov. Sprague took his horse and buggy and
raced back into town with his trusty shotgun in his possession to further
seek out Senator Conkling. Senator Conkling was dinning in one of the
popular eateries, on a bowl of warm milk and crackers. It was here that the
second stage of their argument began for the benefit of the town folks. The
argument eventually spilled out and into the street. In the end Senator
Roscoe Conkling hastily left the town of Narragansett Pier by means of a
ferry. He then traveled to the home of another friend of his that owned a
daily newspaper. Naturally, the following morning his friend's newspaper
denied all knowledge of any scandal at Canonchet that involved Senator
Conkling.
The news of this new scandal that pertained to Kate Sprague and her
husband Gov. Sprague was sent out over the national wire service. Within a
short time the town of Narragansett Pier hotel's were filled with
newspapermen who represented most of the largest new services of the day. In
the beginning many of the news releases were not too truthful, but little by
little the investigative reporters did manage to piece together the true
story of what had happened on that eventful day.
Now William became Kate's jailer. He had her locked in a room so he knew where she would be when he wished to see her. It was not long after her interment that a rather heated argument took place. During this confrontation Mr. Sprague was accused of attempting to push Kate out of her bedroom window.
That must have been the final insult for Kate. Shortly after William's attempt to injure her, she escaped in a carriage with the children. This was only accomplished with the aid and compassion of the servants. William again was in an uproar when he discovered that Kate was attempting to leave him again. He dashed into town trying to locate his wife and children, but somehow she had eluded him. He continued to search the town and the surrounding area but to no avail.
Now the gossip newspapers had all the material they needed to sell their newspapers. The story was being printed in every small town in the country. Kate Chase Sprague was a name well known in the United States and in Europe. This little debacle would eventually cause many problems in the private lives of all those who were involved it. Mr. Conkling was senior senator in the Senate of the United States. He was a married man with children, innocent or not this would reflect back on him and his career. All those that were involved in this affair would diminish in the eyes of the general public. This affair was the death knell for any future political aspirations that William Sprague might of had. Everyone in the country was now waiting to see what the next act of this play would be like.
After this outburst of Williams, Kate traveled to a few different cities within the state of New York. Eventually she decided to return to Washington D. C. to be incognito. She knew if William knew where she was he would attempt to have the children taken from her custody. After the gossip had settled down, Kate decided to return to the comfort of the Edgewood Estate. When her father died in 1873, he willed his two daughters very little money. He knew Kate was a millionairess, and Nettie was also well provided for in her marriage. The estate and its belongings were to be shared equally between the two daughters. Nettie and Kate had always been close as sisters, but now they were married and Nettie had to think of her husband. Mr. Hoyt wanted Kate to buy Nettie's half of the estate from her. Kate now had no funds of her own except for her personal belongings. This would be start of Kate's many possessions finding there way on to the open market to supply Kate with a means to live.
While living in Washington Kate attended many of the Senate debates, she still loved politics. It was said, that Senator Conkling would often look up into the balcony to see if Kate was there listening to his speeches. It was also said that she would send him notes telling her appraisal of his efforts to accomplish his goals. This started the rumor mills going again. Kate was now even being accompanied by Senator Conkling to many of Washington's prestigious affairs. Kate never worried about what people thought when she was younger, she was a born rebel and it seemed to be surfacing in her life style again .
Naturally Senator Conkling continued to denied the entire story, but with
such a preponderance of evidence being brought to the forefront, he finally
decided to curtail his comments pertaining to the event. Senator Conkling at
the time was in the process of being groomed for the Presidency of the United
States. He himself was a married man who spent most of his time away from
both his wife and daughter. In the beginning of his affair with Kate the
affair had brought Senator Conkling a great deal of satisfaction since Mrs.
Sprague was both beautiful and quite intelligent. However, with the news
services sending the word of his relationship with Mrs. Sprague throughout
the country, Mrs. Sprague had suddenly become a political liability to him.
Little by little Senator Conkling distanced himself from Mrs. Sprague, but to
little or no avail. The scandal had harmed his political position so badly
that he was loosing his effectiveness in the Senate and he finally gave up
his Senate seat and once again returned to his legal practice back in New
York.
Thus, Kate Chase Sprague's second dream of living in the White House came
to and abrupt end. Kate now reorganized her life as to see to the education
of her children until she could obtain a divorce and go forward once again
with he life. Kate felt certain William wouldn't give her a divorce without
a legal fight. She knew William and his vanity wouldn't allow her to divorce
him. Kate did know of William's private indiscretions as well as her own.
She decided she would uses the newspapers to embarrass him to the point that
he would allow the divorce to be granted.
Kate obtained a home in South Kingston to establish a residence there. After a year had passed, she presented the court with a petition of divorce from William Sprague of Rhode Island. Within her petition she accused him of refusing to provide support for her and his children. She then ventured on to accuse him of performing illegal sexual acts outside of their marriage. The list of accusations against him were quite impressive. Everyone was sitting on the edge of the chair waiting for the other shoe to hit the floor.
Mr. Sprague filed a counter suit expressing the fact that Kate had deserted his bed and board, if in fact a divorce should be granted it should be granted to him.
Kate's divorce was finalized in the Washington
County Supreme court in the February session of 1882. She was going to be
forty-two years old, had four children, she was given the custody
of the three girls in the agreement that she had made with Governor Sprague.
The Governor had originally denied fathering the girls, but later agreed to
recognize them if he did not have to provide for their support or the support of their mother.
After Kate's divorce in 1882 she decided it would be in the best interest of her daughters to return again to France to continue on with their education. After nearly four years of self imposed exile from the United States Kate finally return to supervise the reburial of her beloved father's ashes.
Mr. Hacker has recently published a non-fiction book about Miss Chase and her family. It is available at Barnes and Noble.
Story of Kate Chase's Family
