Myra Clark Gaines (maiden name: Clark) was probably born between 1804 and 1807 to Daniel and Zulime Clark. Her father was a wealthy merchant and land speculator who served as the first congressional delegate from the Territory of Orleans. According to one contemporary, her parents had an “amorous and illicit” affair and got married in secret before Zulime’s first marriage had ended. They separated soon after Myra was born, and her father never publicly acknowledged her.

 

She was raised by Samuel and Marian Davis, and she grew up believing that they were her parents. The family lived in New Orleans, Louisiana, until the early 1810s, when they moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She married William W. Whitney around 1832, and the couple had at least three children. In 1834, after discovering her true parentage, she contested her father’s will, which had made no provision for her. The case dragged on for years.

 

Her husband died around 1837, and she married Edmund P. Gaines on April 17, 1839. He died in 1849, and she never remarried. In 1858, the Louisiana Supreme Court nullified her father’s will and affirmed her right to inherit the estate. By then, however, much of the land had been sold to the city of New Orleans. She sued the city to reclaim the property. The “Great Gaines Case” stretched on until 1891 and involved more than 70 court filings, including 10 before the Louisiana Supreme Court and 17 before the United States Supreme Court. She died of pneumonia in New Orleans on January 9, 1885. In 1891, the U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled in her favor, awarding her heirs $923,788.

 

Image: Myra C. Gaines (courtesy Wikicommons)

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