| Sources:
1. Marriage Record:
2. 1870 Census Index/Images (online at Genealogy.com; Image
#12 of 86): New York (Ward 15, District 8), New York Co., NY, Roll
994 (Book 1), p. 597B, PN 12, enumerated 12 Jun 1870, official enumeration
date 1 Jun 1870 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):
| 52 |
68 |
Yarington C J |
45 |
F |
W |
Keeping House |
15,000 |
|
Virginia |
| |
|
Ashburn E.P. |
23 |
F |
W |
Authoress |
5,000 |
|
" |
| |
|
Yarington Emma |
21 |
F |
W |
|
|
|
" |
| |
|
De Wersion Bell |
19 |
F |
W |
|
|
|
" |
| |
|
"
John |
45 |
M |
W |
Stock Holder in Banking Estab |
|
|
" |
| |
|
Yarington R M |
17 |
M |
W |
At College |
|
|
" |
| |
|
" John D |
15 |
M |
W |
At school |
|
|
" |
| |
|
De Wersion John |
3/12 |
M |
W |
|
|
|
" |
| |
|
Stinner J |
49 |
M |
W |
Man. of Boots & Shoes |
10,000 |
|
New York |
| |
|
Ladd Geo |
23 |
M |
W |
Patentee |
|
|
Mass |
| |
|
Eagan Aurthur |
21 |
M |
W |
Dry Goods Clk |
|
|
Ireland |
| |
|
Peirson Howard |
23 |
M |
W |
Patentee |
|
|
Conn |
| |
69 |
Abbey Horatio |
52 |
M |
W |
Music Pub |
4,000 |
|
New York |
| |
|
" Cordelia |
40 |
F |
W |
Dress Maker |
|
|
" |
| |
|
" Gertrude |
6 |
F |
W |
|
|
|
" |
| |
|
" Bessie B |
2 |
F |
W |
|
|
|
" |
| |
|
Maguire Mary |
20 |
F |
W |
Domestic Servt. |
|
|
Ireland |
C. J. YARRINGTON is Arabella's mother. E. P. ASHBURN appears to be
Arabella's widowed/divorced/deserted sister, Eliza Page YARRINGTON.
Richard M. YARRINGTON and John D. YARRINGTON are Arabella's brothers.
3. LDS. Family Search: Census Records: 1880 United States
(online
at FamilySearch.org):
| Census Place: New York, New York
(Manhattan), New York City-Greater, New York |
| Source: FHL Film #1254895; NARA
Film #T9-0895; Pg 355B |
| |
Relation |
Sex |
Marr |
Race |
Age |
Birthplace |
Occupation |
Fa |
Mo |
| Belle D. WORSHAM |
Self |
F |
W |
W |
28 |
AL |
Keeping House |
AL |
AL |
| Arthur
M. WORSHAM |
Son |
M |
S |
W |
10 |
NY |
Scholar |
AL |
AL |
| Cathrine YARRINGTON |
Mother |
F |
W |
W |
61 |
AL |
At Home |
AL |
AL |
| William SKEPWORTH |
Other |
M |
S |
B |
30 |
VA |
Coachman |
VA |
VA |
| John HURBERT |
Other |
M |
S |
W |
30 |
IRE |
Coachman |
IRE |
IRE |
| John CASSIDY |
Other |
M |
S |
W |
30 |
IRE |
Coachman |
IRE |
IRE |
| Katie KEENAN |
Other |
F |
S |
W |
18 |
NY |
Servant |
IRE |
IRE |
| Elizabeth CLARK |
Other |
F |
S |
W |
40 |
SCOT |
Servant |
SCOT |
SCOT |
In the 1900 census, Belle gives her father's birthplace as MD and her mother's
as VA. Clearly, Belle was well off before she married Collis, but
then, she'd already been his mistress for about ten years at this point.
"Arthur" should be "Archer."
4. Stephen Birmingham. 1982. The Grande Dames.
Simon & Schuster, NY.
| Henry Huntington nephew of the late C.P., built Rancho San
Marino in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles
to lure his beloved Arabella to the West Coast. When they
eventually married, they assembled at San Marino one of the most important
private collections of rare books and art in the world. Its contents,
including Gainsborough's Blue Boy, were to become the Huntington
Art Museum. They lived in the house only a month or so every
year. Where Arabella led, her adoring Henry followed. |
5. Kevin Starr (California State Librarian). 1985. Inventing
the Dream: California through the Progressive Era. Oxford Univ.
Press, NY (excerpts online at Friends of California Libraries web site):
| Arabella Huntington was a strange, imperious woman, whose
aristocratic hauteur (so evident in the portrait of her painted by Sir
Oswald Birley in 1924, the year of her death) masked a continued fear of
discovery. She hid her tracks skillfully — no
birth certificate, no baptismal record, no marriage license — but
it is very probable that before she met Collis P. Huntington she
lived in wartime Richmond, Virginia, as the mistress of a gambler and faro
banker, one John Archer Worsham, who, after the war, abandoned her
(most likely pregnant) in New York City. In any event, like Scarlett
O'Hara, Arabella was a survivor. A few years later she resurfaced
as the mistress, lobbyist, and business advisor of Collis P. Huntington,
president of the Central Pacific. She eventually became his second
wife. Her son Archer was either Huntington's or the result
of her early liaison with John Archer Worsham. By 1900 Arabella
Huntington had not only survived, she was one of the richest women
in the world... |
Starr somewhat overstates his case — for dramatic effect, I presume — because
there was no such thing as "birth certificates" until well into the 20th
century and, even had she been baptized, few church records survive, nor
have all marriage records survived. In fact, antebellum marriage
records in the south are a sad joke amongst genealogists because half the
court houses in the south were burned during the Civil War. In most
cases, the best you can do is deduce that a marriage occurred (e.g.,
by finding a couple in the census). |