Eleanor Wittmann (van Beuren)

• Married Henry Orr 1st > one daughter.
• Married Joseph Wittmann in 1905 > one son

In 1890, Eleanor was only 19 when the the Walnut Grove dam failed. She was in Phoenix with her father that day. Her companion, as she had no siblings, was Mary Louise Brodie , a fourth cousin six years her senior. This "cousin" narrowly escaped death and wrote about the ordeal

After her father's death in 1905, she met with no success in attempts to build replacement dam projects on the Hassayampa to further mining and livestock operations. There are many newspaper reports to that effect. Some are recorded here and at a project https://www.geni.com/projects/Walnut-Grove-Dam-Failure/57045

As an only child, Eleanor was with her father every step of the way in his leadership with both the Piedmont Cattle Co., and the Walnut Grove Water Storage Co. Both her husbands were also players. The investments were huge failures.

One account (Phoenix, Arizona · Monday, May 21, 1928) maintains that her father spent $200,000 of his own funds after the failure of the WGWSC while Eleanor spent nearly three times that much. ( see: https://www.newspapers.com/image/116804045/?terms=Wickenburg%2Bvan%... ) But this may have been press show or bad reporting. It may be more, or less...Joseph Wittmann excluded mention of funds spent by Henry and his mother on the initial bonds for the WGWSC (Walnut Grove Water Storage Co.) that went into receivership shortly after the dam broke. The WGWSC never recovered. After the primary lender foreclosed and Henry chose to take over the business as a sole proprietor,

Even with all the ventures in AZ, i Eleanor & her 2nd husband Joseph never took up primary residence there during her lifetime. As a widower, Joseph did eventually move to Phoenix with their son Joseph van Beuren Wittmann.

Eleanor and Joseph remained Morristown NJ residents.
see 1929 on <timeline> tab

One thing that is certain: When Eleanor husband, who outlived her by many years, died... His personal estate was worth a relative pittance compared to what you might expect having been heir to a van Beuren fortune: so his son Joseph van Beuren Wittmann claimed... The IRS contested this successfully, but the resultant sum was still small.

In sum:

The aftermath of the Walnut Grove disaster consumed many of the energies of Eleanor and Joseph Wittmann and, later, their son Joseph. Seven years before Eleanor died, a deal was in play with the federal Gov't = Weekly Journal-Miner (Prescott, Arizona) 02 Feb 1910, Wed., Page 3

After her death, Eleanor's will was contested by her first child Eleanor Von Erden Orr. Note Von Erden = Fonerden. Will of Eleanor van Beuren Wittmann contested

links

• https://www.mcny.org/story/getting-dressed-gilded-age-afternoon-dress pertains to Eleanor's mother, the owner of the dress

The story of Walnut Grove is quite involved. See the geni project devoted to the topic.

• one modern match in the continuing story is the Wittmann Family Trust, that of Crown Point Gulch (see Joseph vB Wittmann of Katonah and his offspring)
• https://kids.kiddle.co/Wittmann,_Arizona
• https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=066WDwAAQBAJ&pg=GBS.PT125 Herner's book on Brodie
• https://www.morrisparks.net/assets/images/PDFs/Park_Maps/LBmap.pdf (next to her estate, the Towers Farm); modern day
• 1895 map of various mining claims (not hers) = https://www.mcbriderarebooks.com/pages/books/1774/jules-baumann/pre...