I was trying to figure out why after James Keith's death, a bunch of papers related to Eva Merthen ended up in the hands of Peter's family, when I can't find any evidence of a close connection during the lifetimes of Peter and James. (Reminder that Peter died December 1756 and James October 1758, so their deaths are pretty close in time.)
Well, today I deciphered some more material, and there is drama! As far as I can tell, Peter's widow Oriane got some money and it looks like some other bequests, because this letter happened. It's from Oriane to a guy who is what I'm going to call the executor of James's will, although that may or may not be technically precise.
Mylord Marischal, cahn, is James's brother George, who was friends with Fritz until their old age, and Fritz used to come down to meet him at the Chinese teahouse when George got too old to climb the hill to Sanssouci.
Would it not be possible for you to do me the honour of spending some time at my house today? I will be at home until 5 o'clock in the evening, I am still sending you attached a copy of part of the letter I received yesterday from Mylord Marshal, by which you will see that I cannot consent to Merthen's proposals, it even seems to me that Mylord is no longer so far from starting a trial, since he does not want me to give a renunciation. As for the difficulty of emptying the apartment for Feldmarshal Levald, that does not worry me. He has sent word to me that the Feldmarshal's effects can remain in the upper part of the house since he will only occupy the lower part, and that he only wishes that Merthen leaves the house. If I could speak to you, I believe that we would find a way to intimidate Merthen, who is only so insolent because she believes that no trial is wanted at all. If you stay at home, I will gladly come and speak to you there, provided that I know what time will be convenient for you.
Wow. So Eva's refusing to move out of the house, and her late husband's brother) are ganging up on her!
Well, I see how these papers ended up there. There's a high preponderance of important legal, financial, and official papers in this collection. Looks like I'm going to have to do some more deciphering and see if I can figure out what's going on here. There's a mixture of French, German, and very badly handwritten German that may go forever undeciphered.
This is what I've got so far:
The widowed Mrs. Lieutenant Colonel von Keith, née von Cnyphausen, is granted, upon her petition, by the current praesident, and the power of attorney attached thereto by the chamberlain Anton Bernhard Motschow, by the late General Field Marshal von Keith for the resolution: that the requested transfer of the funds previously mentioned in Motschow's deposit, which amount to the sum of 600 thalers, can take place. And as the date for their payment has been set for the 21st of June, at 3 p.m. in the subscriber's apartment, the same mandatorum substitutum, Hofrat Bell, has to authorize a hundred thalers for this matter. Berlin, January 19, 1760
From Oriane to what I think is a legal official (conseiller). Goldbeck is the executor.
Merthen has sent word to me that she consents that the 1900 crowns be distributed according to the will of Mylord, and that she reserves the right to distribute the remainder of the sum to the other domestics as she sees fit, that she also offers to place the note in question in the hands of Mr. Goldbeck, while reserving her rights over this note. Provided that on my side I consent to the lifting of the seal without inventory. As this is all I asked, and My Lord has just written to me that provided she rewards the Domestics, he does not care to have the note back. I believe, Sir, that you can arrange this matter with her lawyer whom she has sent word to me that she will send to you tomorrow.
And there's something that I haven't transcribed but have eyeballed, and it's James Keith in 1757 making up his last will and leaving all his furniture, horses, carriages, cash, and generally everything he owns to Eva Merthen, who's been with him for several years through the several dangerous illnesses he's suffered.
So it seems like she was the universal heir but specific bequests went to specific beneficiaries, and Oriane is one such beneficiary. It also seems like, since Oriane is receiving money and getting involved with helping George out in the Case of the Squatting Widow*, Peter *did* have reasonably close contact with his more famous cousins during his lifetime, something I've had no evidence for up to this point.
* Without knowing the details, I have some a priori sympathy for Eva the foreign, middle-class, never-legally-married widow, who may be getting a raw deal.
Everytime I think I've finished the research and am solely in the writing and editing stage, more research comes along! I will let you know if there are any more interesting developments.
Okay, I'm not going to be able to transcribe all the dozens of pages of this legal battle, certainly not today, but this is what I've got so far:
George and Eva are each claiming to be James' heir, and Eva has had to hand over the will she has in her possession, the one I mentioned. The authorities comment on it, but I'll need to transcribe their commentary to figure out exactly what they're saying. If I even can: there's so much legalese! And even knowing enough Latin to figure out what the words mean or at least to identify cognates doesn't tell me what that means in practical legal terms! Like knowing "habeas corpus" means "that you have the body" tells you nothing about what it *means*.
So there's that.
An unsigned and unaddressed letter that I'm reading as being from George to Oriane, based on context, complicates things even further, because it seems to bring in a new and unidentified cast of characters.
I have the honour of yours of the 6th. The affair of the servants must be finished, and the document left in the hands of Merthens, but without giving her any renunciation on my part (if it has not already been given). The document will probably never be of any use to her, since according to all appearances the succession of my cousin will never revert to me, because even if I had my grace to be able to succeed I can only do so after the death of the brother who is in good health although imbecile, and he is much younger than me. Merthens must fear something since she desires this renunciation so much; I know her capable of anything (except good) and I know that she had practiced and studied to counterfeit my brother's handwriting, I have seen her do it and sign his name to the point where it was mistaken for his [signature]. Mr. Weideman is a good man, he apologizes to me for having forgotten to put in his list some geographical maps and some plans, but he does not mention the stamps or the wallet. Motcho maintains what he said about the money in the two belts, and that Mr. Kelly and Etienne know it very well. I only mention it to distinguish Weideman if the fact is true as I believe.
I left two books in folio at Potsdam at my brother's, I would like to have them back; The History of Muntaner and The Commentaries of Dn. in Jacme Re d'Arago. Both in old Spanish. I would also like (as I wrote to Weideman) the swords garnished with copper to my brother, and three pairs of pistols.
Who is this cousin of George and what does the document that Eva has have to do with whether he will succeed to this cousin?
But anyway, George totally thinks she forged James' will! I had no idea George and Eva hated each other, this is totally new information. Archival research is amazing. Also, George and Oriane seem to be on pretty good terms, although it's not clear to me whether that means the two Keith branches got along well before the legal battle, or just a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
It's still not clear to me whether Oriane got a *bequest* from James or possibly Peter had just loaned him some money. On the one hand, not sure why Peter would be lending money to his presumably much richer cousin. On the other hand, there's the circumstantial evidence that Peter says in his memoirs that he and his wife never deny anyone a loan (you might want to deny people loans, Peter!) and in this same batch of documents, Oriane is still trying to chase down loans she and Peter had made to other people while he was alive. So it's possible her involvement in James' posthumous legal battle involves a loan repayment. It would probably help if I was more familiar with German law and the technical meanings of the Latin phrases used therein.
Plus I just remembered that one of the arguments I'm making in this essay/book/whatever is that rich people sometimes got into debt *more*, because debt was an investment in getting even richer. And the fact that Peter didn't get into debt more than he did sounds good from a modern perspective, but our standards were not contemporary standards.
But either way, even a loan would require some kind of ties between the families before James's death!
Oh, wait, I figured out the cousin thing! It all makes sense now. I had given up on the Eva/James/George/Oriane research for the night and gone looking for something else, and what should I find but that a completely different batch of Keith family papers contains stray letters from Oriane on this subject. One of them refers to the document concerning the succession of Lord Kilmore. That rang a bell, and thanks to my discussions with liriaen on Keith family genealogy, I knew of the Earl of Kintore branch of the Keith family. Sure enough, Wikipedia tells me that in 1758, the Earl of Kintore died, leaving his brother as his heir (it says nothing about him being intellectually impaired). When he died in 1761, the title *should* have passed to George, but he was an attainted Jacobite traitor. Ahhh, that all makes sense.
I also see another familiar name: the Earl of Kintore who died in 1758 married the daughter of Lady Grange!
Okay, it's all starting to come together. It just takes persistent deciphering. From a little more reading in the second batch, it looks like this:
Eva gets all the goods as long as she pays the sum to James' domestics that George has insisted on. She has no money of her own, and she can't sell James' goods as long as they're under seal (meaning the law hasn't decided who they belong to, so nobody can sell them off), so there's a lot of back and forth on where to get the money to pay the domestics, and whether the seal can be raised. Oriane says she's fine with raising the seal.
Oohhh! More research yields more findings. I looked up this Field Marshall Lewald, who turns out to be this guy. He retired from the army and moved to Berlin in 1759 and became the governor. That reminded me that back when we were looking through the Berlin address books, we found that the governor of Berlin lived in the governor's mansion (Katte's grandfather being one such example, and we think young Katte lived there after his mother died). So yeah, Eva, sorry, you gotta move out. :P Your late husband didn't own the house, and neither do you.
So: Did Eva forge the will, or was George just being super classist at her?
ETA: Okay, I keep saying I'm done, but I keep deciphering: I think Oriane is proposing that Eva turn over the family papers and in return, Oriane will consent to raise the seal so that Eva can start using/selling/whatever the inheritance she got. And in the family papers will be the document regarding the succession to the Earldom of Kintore that George wants so badly (even though he doesn't think he's realistically got a shot at it). Btw, in the comment above, I translated "Billet" as "note", but now that I know what it is, I'm translating it "document" in this comment.
ETA 2: Oh, "I have the honor of yours on the 6th" is shorthand for the most common way of opening a letter: "I have the honor of having received your letter sent on the 6th."
George was not in Prussia at the time (still in Neutchatel and then in Spain), so he had to deal with all of this from afar. Also, because of the Kintore issue, Fritz personally wrote to G2 to obtain a pardon for George (in 1759), which was granted insofar as that he could inherit the lands if not the title (I think?). He returned to Scotland for a while in 1761 or so, too. Also also, the person to handle this and all other Prussian affairs in London at the time? Dodo v. Knyphausen, Oriane's brother. Oh, and Andrew Mitchell was involved as well, speaking on George's behalf.
I also checked the George Keith bio I'd found ages ago, which vexed me by containing lots of primary source quotes but not actually sourcing any of them. :P Anyway, it says a) that James Keith wrote to Scottish relatives on behalf of his brother some months before his death (here), but it doesn't mention the content of his letter. Might have something to do with the document in question, might not. And b) only mentions Eva Merthens once, much earlier, when they just moved to Berlin. Which is here, but I'll just quote it in full, because it does mention some "friction" she allegedly caused:
At Berlin the brothers did not live under one roof. The Field-Marshal's handsome Finnish mistress, Eva Merthens, " qui menait un peu le bon Marechal," was always somewhat jealous of his affection for his brother and of the latter 's influence over him, and often caused friction. So the Earl Marischal's home with his menagerie went on as before.
This is quite obviously biased in George's direction (I suspect the unsourced quote in this might be from him somewhere), but seems to confirm that there were issues before James' death already, and that George might have mentioned them in letters or something. No mention of James' children (by the author, not by George) except for saying that he had no legitimate ones.
George was not in Prussia at the time (still in Neutchatel and then in Spain), so he had to deal with all of this from afar.
I had the impression he was in Neuchatel, so thank you for confirming.
Also, because of the Kintore issue, Fritz personally wrote to G2 to obtain a pardon for George (in 1759), which was granted insofar as that he could inherit the lands if not the title (I think?). He returned to Scotland for a while in 1761 or so, too.
Huh, for some reason I remembered this as being just post-Seven Years War. Ah, Wikipedia says "but despite brief return trips to Scotland in 1761 and 1763–64," I must have been thinking of the second one. Well, I need to shift this episode a few years earlier in my head, then.
Also also, the person to handle this and all other Prussian affairs in London at the time? Dodo v. Knyphausen, Oriane's brother.
You know, I spent much of yesterday reading about Dodo and his diplomatic activities in London, and I somehow still didn't make the connection when I switched to reading about James and George? Thank you for connecting the dots!
At Berlin the brothers did not live under one roof. The Field-Marshal's handsome Finnish mistress, Eva Merthens, " qui menait un peu le bon Marechal," was always somewhat jealous of his affection for his brother and of the latter 's influence over him, and often caused friction. So the Earl Marischal's home with his menagerie went on as before.
See, this sounds like a totally normal family situation to me. :D (My family doesn't feud, it just does splinter groups and total radio silence until death. Less drama, but same idea.)
No mention of James' children (by the author, not by George) except for saying that he had no legitimate ones.
If you *ever* find out *any* of their names or dates, please let me know!
Wow. So Eva's refusing to move out of the house, and her late husband's brother) are ganging up on her!
Ugh, something got cut off there. I think I meant to write "Oriane and George (her late husband's brother)," and then I decided George needed a proper introduction/reminder, and I went off to do that.
Speaking off proper introductions, cahn, it occurs to me I should say that Eva Merthen was James' common law wife. She was Finnish, they met when he was occupying Finland with a Russian army in the early 1740s, and they're supposed to have had several illegitimate but acknowledged children together. Of which I know exactly 0 names, which is too bad because liriaen thinks she's descended from one of them!
Fascinating, and wow, several discoveries here. I do think, Mildred, that you are thus the first person to solidly discover, in writing, that those two different branches of the Keith family were in social contact beyond "lived in Berlin/Potsdam at the same time", two were in Fritz' current day favour, one was a friend from his youth".
Very very dimly, I think I recall we came across at least one source before which claimed there was some sort of argument between James and George, not not what it was about, and at the time dismissed it because no other source had the Keith brothers arguing. However, if George and Eva hated each other, this could very well be the reason for some altercation at the very least. (I mean, if George claims he's seen her James' signature before, that would indicate that whatever argument there was didn't mean the brothers didn't visit each other, so I'm assuming it was all painted smiles between George and Eva in James' life time with at least one bust up that did cause some argument, not not a finite one.)
My instinct is to sympathize with Eva, too, for the same reasons you give, and if she signed in James' name, it could well have been in the course of managing his household and having him not at hand to do it - as an active soldier, this situation probably arose more than one, and if he knew she was doing it, it would be the equvivalent of a husband giving his wife his credit card to use (a few decades ago). As for the will itself: on the one hand, making Eva his heir would make sense given she was his common law wife and mother of his children, and also presumably George wasn't exactly lacking in cash. (BTW, why didn't James marry her? That would have ensured her a legal claim to his property, no ifs, no buts.) Otoh, maybe James was just one of those guys who thinks they live forever and/or can't be bothered to get around to making a proper will, and if Eva didn't want to be left penniless, she had to forge one? Since she couldn't count on George's good will?
Possible other contemporaries to check: I seem to recall Boswell mentions George's "Turkish ward" was someone, and not the only one, he took over from James' household when James died, that she'd been a girl James saved when in Russian employ? I can't recall what if anything Boswell wrote about Eva, though. Anyway, the impression I had from Boswell's notes on the Keiths was that George had a deserved reputation for being generous and clan chief like responsible and was proving it by taking care of James' servants and the Turkish lady. If he notably did not take care of Eva (& kids), that is an odd contradiction which would seem to indicate really bad blad between Eva and George.
The editor of Andrew Mitchell's papers is a big James Keith fan, and attached an entire section just about the Keith brothers (mostly James) to Mitchell's memoirs, written by himself, but he also thought In Disguise Ogglethorpe who was with James when he died was really a Scottish servant, and that James lived and died a stern bachelor, manly and chaste, so I don't it to be enlightening on this point...
Fascinating, and wow, several discoveries here. I do think, Mildred, that you are thus the first person to solidly discover, in writing, that those two different branches of the Keith family were in social contact beyond "lived in Berlin/Potsdam at the same time", two were in Fritz' current day favour, one was a friend from his youth".
Other people have claimed it, but never demonstrated it convincingly! Archival research is greeeaat. :D
Very very dimly, I think I recall we came across at least one source before which claimed there was some sort of argument between James and George, not not what it was about, and at the time dismissed it because no other source had the Keith brothers arguing.
Huhh, I don't remember this at *all*. We now have reason to believe it might be true, though!
My instinct is to sympathize with Eva, too, for the same reasons you give
I'm a *little* less sympathetic to her refusal to move out now that I know it's the governor's mansion she's refusing to leave, but, even so, she may just be protesting something very unfair.
it could well have been in the course of managing his household and having him not at hand to do it - as an active soldier, this situation probably arose more than one,
Ah, that does make sense. I like that explanation.
and if he knew she was doing it, it would be the equvivalent of a husband giving his wife his credit card to use (a few decades ago)
Ha. Just one decade ago I was giving my fiancee my card, before she moved to the US. ;) At one point when I was trying to clear up a hold that had been placed on the card, and I went in person to do it, the bank employee was like, "Sooo...you're trying to withdraw money from Brazil, but you're here? *head tilt*" "My fiancee has the card." "Ah. Well, that stays between us. As far as I'm concerned, you're in Brazil." Very helpful employee, not like George Keith at all. ;)
If he notably did not take care of Eva (& kids), that is an odd contradiction which would seem to indicate really bad blad between Eva and George.
I wouldn't say odd at all; you just have a functional family, as we've discussed. ;) I was telling my wife about this drama last night, and we had this exchange:
Me: "You know how it goes when someone dies and the family immediately disintegrates into feuding and everyone has to take sides."
Her: "Oh, yeah. *flashbacks*"
Me: "Well, it was happening in the 18th century. It happened in the 18th century BCE, too."
Her: "Actually-"
Me: "It was happening 40,000 years ago in the savannahs of Africa."
Her: "Exactly."
Since one of the things George, Eva, and Oriane are fighting over is specifically Eva's willingness to take care of the domestics, it does not surprise me that George has a powerful grudge against his sister-in-law and wants to take over the servants. I suspect even responsible Scottish clan chiefs were prone to family feuds. ;)
Otoh, maybe James was just one of those guys who thinks they live forever and/or can't be bothered to get around to making a proper will, and if Eva didn't want to be left penniless, she had to forge one? Since she couldn't count on George's good will?
Maybe. I feel like it was normal to make a will before going off to war--it was mandatory even in my grandfather's day--and I feel like I've run into examples of it being normal in the 18th century, but I'm blanking on anything specific and may be misremembering. He may have died intestate and Eva did what she felt she had to do.
he also thought In Disguise Ogglethorpe who was with James when he died was really a Scottish servant, and that James lived and died a stern bachelor, manly and chaste, so I don't it to be enlightening on this point...
Hahaha! The manly chaste Scots meet the manly chaste Prussians!
Maybe if Liriaen ever gets her health problems under enough control to pick up the James Keith genealogy project, we can find more details out.
Ugh. So apparently this happened to my mom's family as well when my grandmother died, ugh. (My dad's family, as you may remember, had already splintered so badly by the time my grandfather and step-grandmother died that my dad expected nothing and got nothing, so there weren't really any fights at that point...)
When my mother-in-law died, my sister-in-law said how appreciative and grateful she was that everyone was being really reasonable about dividing up her stuff. At the time I thought it was a bit weird (why wouldn't we be reasonable?) but now that I know more (this was also before I learned about the drama in my mom's family), I guess maybe she was right to be grateful...
Update: I haven't deciphered anything more, but as I write up my findings in the Peter Keith bio, I've convinced myself that this is not a bequest to Oriane and almost certainly a repayment of a loan. 1) The testament Eva produced doesn't mention anything about additional beneficiaries. 2) I've seen other cases where the creditors get paid before anyone can inherit, which is still a thing today in the US, afaik. So that would explain why Oriane gets her money before anyone else, and she gets a say in whether the seal is lifted without inventory.
I think Peter and Oriane lent money to James Keith!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-01 08:34 pm (UTC)Well, today I deciphered some more material, and there is drama! As far as I can tell, Peter's widow Oriane got some money and it looks like some other bequests, because this letter happened. It's from Oriane to a guy who is what I'm going to call the executor of James's will, although that may or may not be technically precise.
Mylord Marischal,
Would it not be possible for you to do me the honour of spending some time at my house today? I will be at home until 5 o'clock in the evening, I am still sending you attached a copy of part of the letter I received yesterday from Mylord Marshal, by which you will see that I cannot consent to Merthen's proposals, it even seems to me that Mylord is no longer so far from starting a trial, since he does not want me to give a renunciation. As for the difficulty of emptying the apartment for Feldmarshal Levald, that does not worry me. He has sent word to me that the Feldmarshal's effects can remain in the upper part of the house since he will only occupy the lower part, and that he only wishes that Merthen leaves the house. If I could speak to you, I believe that we would find a way to intimidate Merthen, who is only so insolent because she believes that no trial is wanted at all. If you stay at home, I will gladly come and speak to you there, provided that I know what time will be convenient for you.
Wow. So Eva's refusing to move out of the house, and her late husband's brother) are ganging up on her!
Well, I see how these papers ended up there. There's a high preponderance of important legal, financial, and official papers in this collection. Looks like I'm going to have to do some more deciphering and see if I can figure out what's going on here. There's a mixture of French, German, and very badly handwritten German that may go forever undeciphered.
This is what I've got so far:
The widowed Mrs. Lieutenant Colonel von Keith, née von Cnyphausen, is granted, upon her petition, by the current praesident, and the power of attorney attached thereto by the chamberlain Anton Bernhard Motschow, by the late General Field Marshal von Keith for the resolution: that the requested transfer of the funds previously mentioned in Motschow's deposit, which amount to the sum of 600 thalers, can take place. And as the date for their payment has been set for the 21st of June, at 3 p.m. in the subscriber's apartment, the same mandatorum substitutum, Hofrat Bell, has to authorize a hundred thalers for this matter. Berlin, January 19, 1760
From Oriane to what I think is a legal official (conseiller). Goldbeck is the executor.
Merthen has sent word to me that she consents that the 1900 crowns be distributed according to the will of Mylord, and that she reserves the right to distribute the remainder of the sum to the other domestics as she sees fit, that she also offers to place the note in question in the hands of Mr. Goldbeck, while reserving her rights over this note. Provided that on my side I consent to the lifting of the seal without inventory. As this is all I asked, and My Lord has just written to me that provided she rewards the Domestics, he does not care to have the note back. I believe, Sir, that you can arrange this matter with her lawyer whom she has sent word to me that she will send to you tomorrow.
And there's something that I haven't transcribed but have eyeballed, and it's James Keith in 1757 making up his last will and leaving all his furniture, horses, carriages, cash, and generally everything he owns to Eva Merthen, who's been with him for several years through the several dangerous illnesses he's suffered.
So it seems like she was the universal heir but specific bequests went to specific beneficiaries, and Oriane is one such beneficiary. It also seems like, since Oriane is receiving money and getting involved with helping George out in the Case of the Squatting Widow*, Peter *did* have reasonably close contact with his more famous cousins during his lifetime, something I've had no evidence for up to this point.
* Without knowing the details, I have some a priori sympathy for Eva the foreign, middle-class, never-legally-married widow, who may be getting a raw deal.
Everytime I think I've finished the research and am solely in the writing and editing stage, more research comes along! I will let you know if there are any more interesting developments.
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-02 01:02 am (UTC)George and Eva are each claiming to be James' heir, and Eva has had to hand over the will she has in her possession, the one I mentioned. The authorities comment on it, but I'll need to transcribe their commentary to figure out exactly what they're saying. If I even can: there's so much legalese! And even knowing enough Latin to figure out what the words mean or at least to identify cognates doesn't tell me what that means in practical legal terms! Like knowing "habeas corpus" means "that you have the body" tells you nothing about what it *means*.
So there's that.
An unsigned and unaddressed letter that I'm reading as being from George to Oriane, based on context, complicates things even further, because it seems to bring in a new and unidentified cast of characters.
I have the honour of yours of the 6th. The affair of the servants must be finished, and the document left in the hands of Merthens, but without giving her any renunciation on my part (if it has not already been given). The document will probably never be of any use to her, since according to all appearances the succession of my cousin will never revert to me, because even if I had my grace to be able to succeed I can only do so after the death of the brother who is in good health although imbecile, and he is much younger than me. Merthens must fear something since she desires this renunciation so much; I know her capable of anything (except good) and I know that she had practiced and studied to counterfeit my brother's handwriting, I have seen her do it and sign his name to the point where it was mistaken for his [signature]. Mr. Weideman is a good man, he apologizes to me for having forgotten to put in his list some geographical maps and some plans, but he does not mention the stamps or the wallet. Motcho maintains what he said about the money in the two belts, and that Mr. Kelly and Etienne know it very well. I only mention it to distinguish Weideman if the fact is true as I believe.
I left two books in folio at Potsdam at my brother's, I would like to have them back; The History of Muntaner and The Commentaries of Dn. in Jacme Re d'Arago. Both in old Spanish. I would also like (as I wrote to Weideman) the swords garnished with copper to my brother, and three pairs of pistols.
Who is this cousin of George and what does the document that Eva has have to do with whether he will succeed to this cousin?
But anyway, George totally thinks she forged James' will! I had no idea George and Eva hated each other, this is totally new information. Archival research is amazing. Also, George and Oriane seem to be on pretty good terms, although it's not clear to me whether that means the two Keith branches got along well before the legal battle, or just a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
It's still not clear to me whether Oriane got a *bequest* from James or possibly Peter had just loaned him some money. On the one hand, not sure why Peter would be lending money to his presumably much richer cousin. On the other hand, there's the circumstantial evidence that Peter says in his memoirs that he and his wife never deny anyone a loan (you might want to deny people loans, Peter!) and in this same batch of documents, Oriane is still trying to chase down loans she and Peter had made to other people while he was alive. So it's possible her involvement in James' posthumous legal battle involves a loan repayment. It would probably help if I was more familiar with German law and the technical meanings of the Latin phrases used therein.
Plus I just remembered that one of the arguments I'm making in this essay/book/whatever is that rich people sometimes got into debt *more*, because debt was an investment in getting even richer. And the fact that Peter didn't get into debt more than he did sounds good from a modern perspective, but our standards were not contemporary standards.
But either way, even a loan would require some kind of ties between the families before James's death!
Oh, wait, I figured out the cousin thing! It all makes sense now. I had given up on the Eva/James/George/Oriane research for the night and gone looking for something else, and what should I find but that a completely different batch of Keith family papers contains stray letters from Oriane on this subject. One of them refers to the document concerning the succession of Lord Kilmore. That rang a bell, and thanks to my discussions with
I also see another familiar name: the Earl of Kintore who died in 1758 married the daughter of Lady Grange!
Okay, it's all starting to come together. It just takes persistent deciphering. From a little more reading in the second batch, it looks like this:
Eva gets all the goods as long as she pays the sum to James' domestics that George has insisted on. She has no money of her own, and she can't sell James' goods as long as they're under seal (meaning the law hasn't decided who they belong to, so nobody can sell them off), so there's a lot of back and forth on where to get the money to pay the domestics, and whether the seal can be raised. Oriane says she's fine with raising the seal.
Oohhh! More research yields more findings. I looked up this Field Marshall Lewald, who turns out to be this guy. He retired from the army and moved to Berlin in 1759 and became the governor. That reminded me that back when we were looking through the Berlin address books, we found that the governor of Berlin lived in the governor's mansion (Katte's grandfather being one such example, and we think young Katte lived there after his mother died). So yeah, Eva, sorry, you gotta move out. :P Your late husband didn't own the house, and neither do you.
So: Did Eva forge the will, or was George just being super classist at her?
ETA: Okay, I keep saying I'm done, but I keep deciphering: I think Oriane is proposing that Eva turn over the family papers and in return, Oriane will consent to raise the seal so that Eva can start using/selling/whatever the inheritance she got. And in the family papers will be the document regarding the succession to the Earldom of Kintore that George wants so badly (even though he doesn't think he's realistically got a shot at it). Btw, in the comment above, I translated "Billet" as "note", but now that I know what it is, I'm translating it "document" in this comment.
ETA 2: Oh, "I have the honor of yours on the 6th" is shorthand for the most common way of opening a letter: "I have the honor of having received your letter sent on the 6th."
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-02 11:01 am (UTC)George was not in Prussia at the time (still in Neutchatel and then in Spain), so he had to deal with all of this from afar. Also, because of the Kintore issue, Fritz personally wrote to G2 to obtain a pardon for George (in 1759), which was granted insofar as that he could inherit the lands if not the title (I think?). He returned to Scotland for a while in 1761 or so, too. Also also, the person to handle this and all other Prussian affairs in London at the time? Dodo v. Knyphausen, Oriane's brother. Oh, and Andrew Mitchell was involved as well, speaking on George's behalf.
I also checked the George Keith bio I'd found ages ago, which vexed me by containing lots of primary source quotes but not actually sourcing any of them. :P Anyway, it says a) that James Keith wrote to Scottish relatives on behalf of his brother some months before his death (here), but it doesn't mention the content of his letter. Might have something to do with the document in question, might not.
And b) only mentions Eva Merthens once, much earlier, when they just moved to Berlin. Which is here, but I'll just quote it in full, because it does mention some "friction" she allegedly caused:
At Berlin the brothers did not live under one roof. The Field-Marshal's handsome Finnish mistress, Eva Merthens, " qui menait un peu le bon Marechal," was always somewhat jealous of his affection for his brother and of the latter 's influence over him, and often caused friction. So the Earl Marischal's home with his menagerie went on as before.
This is quite obviously biased in George's direction (I suspect the unsourced quote in this might be from him somewhere), but seems to confirm that there were issues before James' death already, and that George might have mentioned them in letters or something. No mention of James' children (by the author, not by George) except for saying that he had no legitimate ones.
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-02 06:45 pm (UTC)George was not in Prussia at the time (still in Neutchatel and then in Spain), so he had to deal with all of this from afar.
I had the impression he was in Neuchatel, so thank you for confirming.
Also, because of the Kintore issue, Fritz personally wrote to G2 to obtain a pardon for George (in 1759), which was granted insofar as that he could inherit the lands if not the title (I think?). He returned to Scotland for a while in 1761 or so, too.
Huh, for some reason I remembered this as being just post-Seven Years War. Ah, Wikipedia says "but despite brief return trips to Scotland in 1761 and 1763–64," I must have been thinking of the second one. Well, I need to shift this episode a few years earlier in my head, then.
Also also, the person to handle this and all other Prussian affairs in London at the time? Dodo v. Knyphausen, Oriane's brother.
You know, I spent much of yesterday reading about Dodo and his diplomatic activities in London, and I somehow still didn't make the connection when I switched to reading about James and George? Thank you for connecting the dots!
At Berlin the brothers did not live under one roof. The Field-Marshal's handsome Finnish mistress, Eva Merthens, " qui menait un peu le bon Marechal," was always somewhat jealous of his affection for his brother and of the latter 's influence over him, and often caused friction. So the Earl Marischal's home with his menagerie went on as before.
See, this sounds like a totally normal family situation to me. :D (My family doesn't feud, it just does splinter groups and total radio silence until death. Less drama, but same idea.)
No mention of James' children (by the author, not by George) except for saying that he had no legitimate ones.
If you *ever* find out *any* of their names or dates, please let me know!
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2025-01-09 04:40 am (UTC)I know her capable of anything (except good)
OUCH.
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-02 03:41 am (UTC)Ugh, something got cut off there. I think I meant to write "Oriane and George (her late husband's brother)," and then I decided George needed a proper introduction/reminder, and I went off to do that.
Speaking off proper introductions,
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-02 08:15 am (UTC)Very very dimly, I think I recall we came across at least one source before which claimed there was some sort of argument between James and George, not not what it was about, and at the time dismissed it because no other source had the Keith brothers arguing. However, if George and Eva hated each other, this could very well be the reason for some altercation at the very least. (I mean, if George claims he's seen her James' signature before, that would indicate that whatever argument there was didn't mean the brothers didn't visit each other, so I'm assuming it was all painted smiles between George and Eva in James' life time with at least one bust up that did cause some argument, not not a finite one.)
My instinct is to sympathize with Eva, too, for the same reasons you give, and if she signed in James' name, it could well have been in the course of managing his household and having him not at hand to do it - as an active soldier, this situation probably arose more than one, and if he knew she was doing it, it would be the equvivalent of a husband giving his wife his credit card to use (a few decades ago). As for the will itself: on the one hand, making Eva his heir would make sense given she was his common law wife and mother of his children, and also presumably George wasn't exactly lacking in cash. (BTW, why didn't James marry her? That would have ensured her a legal claim to his property, no ifs, no buts.) Otoh, maybe James was just one of those guys who thinks they live forever and/or can't be bothered to get around to making a proper will, and if Eva didn't want to be left penniless, she had to forge one? Since she couldn't count on George's good will?
Possible other contemporaries to check: I seem to recall Boswell mentions George's "Turkish ward" was someone, and not the only one, he took over from James' household when James died, that she'd been a girl James saved when in Russian employ? I can't recall what if anything Boswell wrote about Eva, though. Anyway, the impression I had from Boswell's notes on the Keiths was that George had a deserved reputation for being generous and clan chief like responsible and was proving it by taking care of James' servants and the Turkish lady. If he notably did not take care of Eva (& kids), that is an odd contradiction which would seem to indicate really bad blad between Eva and George.
The editor of Andrew Mitchell's papers is a big James Keith fan, and attached an entire section just about the Keith brothers (mostly James) to Mitchell's memoirs, written by himself, but he also thought In Disguise Ogglethorpe who was with James when he died was really a Scottish servant, and that James lived and died a stern bachelor, manly and chaste, so I don't it to be enlightening on this point...
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-02 06:34 pm (UTC)Other people have claimed it, but never demonstrated it convincingly! Archival research is greeeaat. :D
Very very dimly, I think I recall we came across at least one source before which claimed there was some sort of argument between James and George, not not what it was about, and at the time dismissed it because no other source had the Keith brothers arguing.
Huhh, I don't remember this at *all*. We now have reason to believe it might be true, though!
My instinct is to sympathize with Eva, too, for the same reasons you give
I'm a *little* less sympathetic to her refusal to move out now that I know it's the governor's mansion she's refusing to leave, but, even so, she may just be protesting something very unfair.
it could well have been in the course of managing his household and having him not at hand to do it - as an active soldier, this situation probably arose more than one,
Ah, that does make sense. I like that explanation.
and if he knew she was doing it, it would be the equvivalent of a husband giving his wife his credit card to use (a few decades ago)
Ha. Just one decade ago I was giving my fiancee my card, before she moved to the US. ;) At one point when I was trying to clear up a hold that had been placed on the card, and I went in person to do it, the bank employee was like, "Sooo...you're trying to withdraw money from Brazil, but you're here? *head tilt*" "My fiancee has the card." "Ah. Well, that stays between us. As far as I'm concerned, you're in Brazil." Very helpful employee, not like George Keith at all. ;)
If he notably did not take care of Eva (& kids), that is an odd contradiction which would seem to indicate really bad blad between Eva and George.
I wouldn't say odd at all; you just have a functional family, as we've discussed. ;) I was telling my wife about this drama last night, and we had this exchange:
Me: "You know how it goes when someone dies and the family immediately disintegrates into feuding and everyone has to take sides."
Her: "Oh, yeah. *flashbacks*"
Me: "Well, it was happening in the 18th century. It happened in the 18th century BCE, too."
Her: "Actually-"
Me: "It was happening 40,000 years ago in the savannahs of Africa."
Her: "Exactly."
Since one of the things George, Eva, and Oriane are fighting over is specifically Eva's willingness to take care of the domestics, it does not surprise me that George has a powerful grudge against his sister-in-law and wants to take over the servants. I suspect even responsible Scottish clan chiefs were prone to family feuds. ;)
Otoh, maybe James was just one of those guys who thinks they live forever and/or can't be bothered to get around to making a proper will, and if Eva didn't want to be left penniless, she had to forge one? Since she couldn't count on George's good will?
Maybe. I feel like it was normal to make a will before going off to war--it was mandatory even in my grandfather's day--and I feel like I've run into examples of it being normal in the 18th century, but I'm blanking on anything specific and may be misremembering. He may have died intestate and Eva did what she felt she had to do.
he also thought In Disguise Ogglethorpe who was with James when he died was really a Scottish servant, and that James lived and died a stern bachelor, manly and chaste, so I don't it to be enlightening on this point...
Hahaha! The manly chaste Scots meet the manly chaste Prussians!
Maybe if Liriaen ever gets her health problems under enough control to pick up the James Keith genealogy project, we can find more details out.
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2025-01-09 04:44 am (UTC)When my mother-in-law died, my sister-in-law said how appreciative and grateful she was that everyone was being really reasonable about dividing up her stuff. At the time I thought it was a bit weird (why wouldn't we be reasonable?) but now that I know more (this was also before I learned about the drama in my mom's family), I guess maybe she was right to be grateful...
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-03 03:41 am (UTC)I think Peter and Oriane lent money to James Keith!
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2025-01-09 04:44 am (UTC)