Mary Berri Chapman Hansbrough

Second wife of Senator Henry Clay Hansbrough of North Dakota. They married on 16 Aug 1897, only seven weeks after they first met, with their engagement causing a nationwide sensation. Henry had been a widower for two years since the death of his first wife, Josephine E. Orr Chapman, on 14 Jan 1895.

Berri's parents were Charles Wesley Chapman and Etta Sperry Chapman, both natives of New Haven, CT. They were married on 18 Oct 1863. Charles was an assistant examiner in the patent office in Washington, DC, and after his premature death in 1878, Etta obtained a similar position in the same office, where she worked for many years. Charles was also a pianist and musician of some note.

Their daughter was educated at the Franklin School, and later in the McDonald-Ellis Academy, both in Washington, DC. She also took voice lessons privately. At age nine, she began to write stories.

While still in her 20s, Berri was already well-known as both a poet and a watercolor artist, and her husband first fell in love with her through her writings. Her poems were collected in the book "Lyrics of Love and Nature", published in 1895, which she also illustrated herself. Many of her paintings and sketches are still in collections today.

Unfortunately, her married life did not last for many years. Berri and her husband separated, and at one point, Henry brought a chancery suit against her. In 1909, she was admitted to St Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, DC for mental illness, and remained there for many years, probably until her death in 1951. She is listed at St. Elizabeth's in the 1910, 1930 and 1940 censuses.

An ad in the Washington Evening Star on 24 Sep 1923 read:

"By virtue of a decree of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, sitting as a Lunacy Court, entered in the matter of Mary B. Chapman Hansbrough, lunatic, lunacy No. 3433, I will sell at public auction, within the rooms of C.G. Sloan & Co., Inc., 715 18th st. n.w. on WEDNESDAY, TWENTY-SIXTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 1923, AT ELEVEN O'CLOCK A.M., the following: Jewelry, plated ware, laces, pictures, ornaments, clothing, trunks, etc.

BELLE BEACH, Committee
DANIEL W. O'DONOGHUE, Attorney"

Berri was buried with her mother at Rock Creek Cemetery.

Henry had preceded her in death on November 16, 1933, and by his request, his ashes were scattered under an elm tree on the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington. He is the only former senator or congressman to be "buried" on Capitol Hill.