Mary Mellen was the daughter of William P. Mellen and Isabella Clarke Mellen. She was born in 1850, the state of Kentucky. Her nickname was Queenie, some people just called her Queen.
Her father was a lawyer for the railroads, he made a very good income for his family and they lived in New York for a very long time.
This is where she met General William Jackson Palmer. Her father introduced them and romance bloomed. The General also worked for the railroads, he was born a Quaker and was a visionary. People listened to him, for he could see far into the future.
He was a great man, a Union soldier that had been captured and escaped the Confederates pow camp. The soldiers he commanded would be loyal to him till the end of his life. They would get together every 15 years and each year there was less and less, as it is with all reunions.
Queenie and the General married, their first child, Elsie was born in New York.
On one of the Generals trips for the railroad, he came upon an area in the territory of Colorado. Eight tribes of Indians used this land to pass thru to get to their encampments.
But the General saw a beautiful city here. He bought all the land. With Queenie by his side they called the new town Colorado Springs.
The two of them built, brought in trees and watched the town grow. Queenie was the first teacher and her love for children showed through her teaching.
The General and Queenie had picked a beautiful spot for their house. They lived in the stables as the castle Glen Eyre was built. The castle still stands today as a monument of the Generals love for his wife. And he loved her till he died.
The town flourished, the General built a hotel called 'The Antlers'. It continued to grow under the Generals vision for it. Colorado Springs was a dry town, Old Colorado City was were you could go to get a drink and it wasn't that far from town. Today, the two towns are one but the district of Old Colorado City is still called by its original name.
Life was good for the Palmer household then it took a turn. The Palmers hired a young girl from Austria, her name was Mary. Mary was the cook for the household. Queenie had just given birth to a daughter, they called her Dorothy Elizabeth. And the General had a vision, his vision was that cook Mary was to have his child, this child would grow up to take care of his grandchild.
So, cook Mary became pregnant. The General never touched cook again once she had conceived. He also shared what he had done to his wife, Queenie. She was heartbroken, never in her wildest dreams did she ever think her husband would do this to her. He thought she would understand.
With a broken heart and pregnant again, Queenie packed up her daughters and Mary the cook. Off to New York they went. The 2 stories that were told were: Mary the cook was being sent to New York to learn european cooking. And Queenie had a bad heart and was going to a better climate. She had a broken heart and could not forgive her husband.
Queenie stayed with Mary the cook till she delivered a baby girl. The General came, he told cook the baby should be named Elizabeth and so she was. Mary the cook was sent back to the house in Colorado Springs where she tols everyone the baby was her neice.
Queenie, pregnant and with her two daughters set sail for England.
I do not know how she met Henry J Skinner of Frant, Sussex England. He was a gardner by trade and married. But, she did met him and moved into a house called Manor Oak which was part of his property. The rumors and census said he had 3 wives, Louise(his real wife), Queenie and Janet.
Dorothy called him a dirty old man, she hated him. She had walked in on him, her mother and Louise. For doing that he sent Dorothy to a convent to be sexually abused and tortured by nuns.
The General would make trips to England to see his children and his wife. Queenie had given birth to a daughter, she called her Marjory. He begged her to come home, she refused. On one visit, he told her he had seen a vision of him bringing her home to Colorado in a casket.
Her heart was still broken and she could not live in the same house as him. Now, Queenie had money from her fathers estate and the General was paying for her well being and his children.
The last time the General saw his beloved Queenie, he found out that she was sleeping with Henry. He told her that Henry had soiled her and that he would not take her back. He was also, cutting her money off.
It took 9 years for Henry to go thru Queenie's money. He told her to get out of his house, she begged to stay, saying she had no where to go and no money. Henry didn't care. Queenie killed herself, the General came to England and brought her home. She is buried at Evergreen Cemetery here in Colorado Springs.
Learning of her plight from his children, the General's heart broke. He would have taken her back, he would have taken care of her.
As for their children, Elsie married a writer in England and lived till 1956. Dorothy was so scared by what had happened in her childhood that she did many things that were not nice. Marjory would become engaged to an English Lord but Dorothy ruined it. Marjory would come back to Colorado Springs and marry her fathers doctor, Dr. Watt. He died and Marjory still pining away for her Lord and writing to him recieved news that he was killed in WWI, Marjory took her own life (of course, the General had a vision that Dorothy would kill one of her sisters, so everyone in town thought Dorothy had killed Marjory. She didn't but she had to live with the gossip that she had and it made her very mad and made her do things that should not have been done. Cook would work for the General till he died, he left her $80,000.00 in his will and in the early 1900's that was a lot of money. No one ever had a clue, not even his daughters, Dorothy would find out about it in 1959. Cooks daughter Elizabeth, would be the first nanny that Dorothy's daughter D'iana would have. Dorothy would poison Elizabeth for a small act that Dorothy disapproved of. Thus, fulfilling the General's vision that she would kill one of her sisters.
Dorothy was upset with herself when she discovered that Elizabeth was her half sister. She had spent her whole life trying to make sure that none of the General's visions came to pass but fate had other ideas.
So, the love story of Queenie and the General did not have a happy ending. And my heart aches for my grandparents.
