In the year 1870, prominent New York society members General and Mrs. Egbert Ludovickus Vielé sued each other for divorce on nearly identical grounds: adultery, insanity, and cruelty. General Vielé was accused of having an affair with Miss Julia Dana, and Mrs. Vielé with General W.W. Averill. The scandalous suits were further sensationalized by a custody battle over the Vielés' five children. In 1869, General Vielé had absconded with the children and his mistress, Miss Dana. Throughout the ordeal of trying to recover her children and divorcing her unfaithful husband, Mrs. Vielé kept these scrapbooks of "business letters, etc." Containing letters, newspaper clippings, and telegrams from attorneys and detectives, the scrapbooks document the high-profile divorce. In addition, they include evidence of sympathetic support for Mrs. Vielé's case: calling cards from remaining society friends (Mrs. Judge Roosevelt, Mrs. George McLean, Mrs. General Gates, and Generals Averill, Pleasanton, and Ingalls); invitations to balls, charities, or weddings; and programs for lectures, concerts, and church services.
Perhaps documentation of the drama appealed to Mrs. Vielé's literary instincts. Hers was a creative family. She had authored Following the drum: a glimpse of frontier life (1858), based on her experiences as a military spouse during her husband's tour in the American Southwest and fighting in the Mexican War. The General (1825-1902) published Hand-book for active service; containing practical instructions in campaign duties (1861). Their youngest son, Egbert Jr., accompanied his mother to France after the divorce and later changed his name to Francis Vielé-Griffin (1864-1937), gaining renown as a French symbolist poet. Older son Herman Knickerbocker Vielé (1856-1908) achieved fame as a novelist, playwright, and artist in New York, and was best known for Last of the Knickerbockers a Comedy Romance (1901). Teresa Vielé died in Paris in 1906 and was buried in Père-Lachaise Cemetery.
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