was known as "Utah's Silver Queen"

Husbands:
1 - Albion B Emery, married 11 Nov 1884
2 - Colonel Edwin Francis Holmes, married 1899
3 - Dr Radovan Nedelkov Delitch, married 1930, divorced 1932
4 - Russian Prince Nicholas Engalitcheff, married 1933, he died:1935

****************************

The Ogden Standard-Examiner
Wednesday, August 5, 1942
page 4A

DEATH CLAIMS 'SILVER QUEEN'

Mrs. Suzanne Bransford Engalitcheff, known for years as Utah's "Silver Queen", died Monday night at Norwalk, Conn.

She was en route from her home in Massachusetts to Virginia, on a visit, and had stopped overnight at an inn in Norwalk.

Prominent in social and business life during Utah's early mining days, she was the sister of John S. Bransford, former mayor of Salt Lake City.

The name, "Silver Queen," was given her because of her elaborate and costly social affairs, many of them attracting national attention.

She was married four times. Her first husband was Albion B. Emery, former speaker of the Utah house of representatives, who left her a fortune in silver mining stocks when he died more than 40 years ago.

She later married Col. Edwin Francis Holmes, Oscoda, Mich., lumber operator, and after his death she married Dr. Radovan Nedelkov Delitch, a Serbian physician. They were divorced in 1932 and a year later she married the Russian Prince Nicholas Engalitcheff. He died in 1935.

Mrs. Engalitcheff, described by her friends as a blend of grand dame, business woman, cosmopolite, and breezy westerner, came to Salt Lake City as a child, crossing the plains by wagon train.

Some time after her marriage to Colonel Holmes, she moved with her husband to Pasadena, Calif., and had since lived there and in the east.

The 83-year-old woman was active throughout her life, commenting once, "Why live if you can't enjoy yourself?"

The body will be brought here for burial.

*********************************
The Ogden Standard-Examiner
Sunday, August 9, 1942
page one

MILLIONS LEFT TO MANAGER BY 'SILVER QUEEN'

Estate of Famed Utahn Believed to Be $4,000,000

New York, Aug 8 - Princess Nicholas Engalitcheff, known as Utah's "Silver Queen", is reported to have left her entire fortune, estimated at $4,000,000, to Culver Sherill, her business manager, the Mirror said tonight in a copyrighted story.

Born Susanne Bransford, of Kentucky, Princess Engalitcheff became internationally known as the "Silver Queen". Her life epitomized the wealth and developments of the west.

As a child she accompanied her parents to Utah in a covered wagon. When she made a trip west last year, she went by plane.

Keystone of her fortune was the Silver King mine, owned and left her by her first husband, the late A. B. Emery, former speaker of the Utah House of Representatives. The late Edwin L. Holmes, a Detroit lumber millionaire, was her second husband.

She then wed Radovan Delitch, a Serbian physician, who hanged himself several weeks after their divorce.

At 75, she married Prince Engalitcheff, former counsel in Chicago who traced his ancestry to Ivan the Terrible.

Princess Engalitcheff was buried today in Salt Lake City, the city of her earlier social triumphs. Sherrill, a native of Santa Barbara, Calif., had guarded the princess from schemers for 10 years, the Mirror said, and had accompanied her on voyages to many parts of the world.
∼Wife of Albion Bernard Emery.

Bio from the Marriot Library catalog = "Silver Queen" Susanna Egera Bransford Emery Holmes Delitch Engalitcheff was one of the West's most colorful and unconventional millionaires/socialites. She was born May 6, 1859 near Richmond, Missouri and was the third of six children. As a child she crossed the plains to California in a covered wagon; as a teenager she survived a stagecoach holdup; as an adult, she traveled around the world four times and lived in a palace. Married four times, she outlived all of her husbands even though two of the men were many years younger. She met kings, queens, presidents and statesmen, conferred with a pope and conversed with Hitler and Mussolini. Affectionately known as Susie to her family and friends and as Utah's Silver Queen to the press, she was loved by some and vilified by others. At the turn of the nineteenth century, her rags to riches story as a part owner of Park City's Silver King Mine, made her legendary across the country as one of Utah's and America's wealthiest women.
Her palace was Brigham Young's Gardo House and was one of Salt Lake City's showcase homes until it was torn down in 1921. Although she married four times [that can be documented] she left no children or grandchildren as her only child was adopted and childless and died many years before her. By the time of her death in l942 Susie was nearly bankrupt as her flamboyant lifestyle, the Depression and two gigolo husbands robbed her of her money, homes and jewelry. She committed suicide August 4, l942 in Norwalk, Connecticut at the age of 83. Her estate was so confused that it took five years to probate it even though she left a will. Her nieces and nephews fought over her remaining money with her best and last friend, Culver Sherrill." [Sherrill was the butler.]
********
Known as Utah's "Silver Queen," Susanna Bransford was born in Missouri on May 6, 1859. Milford Bransford and Sarah Ellen Cooper were her parents. She was the third of six children; however, her parents lost two boys as children. The family had property, a general store and owned slaves. Her father fought for the confederacy during the Civil War, was captured, and held prisoner. At the end of the Civil War, the family moved to California in search of their fortunes. Her father worked as a retail clerk and invested in mines during this time.

As Susanna turned 25, she moved to Utah. She settled in Park City and took work as a seamstress and had her own millinery shop on Main Street. She met and married Albion Emery, who was a postmaster at the time and 13 years her senior. In a couple of years, he was a bookkeeper for the Daly mines. Susanna's younger sister, Viola, had died in childbirth in 1886. Susanna offered to raise her nephew Harold. Her parents, wanting to be near their grandson, moved to Utah with their remaining child, nine-year-old Nellie. Her father took work as a bookkeeper at the Ontario mine. They built a house at 902 Norfolk (still exists today).

Albion and Susanna were able to invest in the Mayflower mine, which became the Silver King mine. By 1898, the Silver King mine paid its first dividend, and investors were on their way to becoming millionaires. Albion died in 1894 on a return trip from Hawaii of heart and liver failure. He left his fortune to Susanna. She was promptly sued for half of her shares by former friend R. C. Chambers. Susanna stood her ground and went to court rather than settle. She won and kept her $40 million fortune.

Susanna would move to Salt Lake City and build a home for her mother and sister Nellie to join her. She would go on to marry Col. Edwin Holmes in 1899. Holmes was a millionaire mining and lumber tycoon from Chicago. They took a two-year honeymoon to Europe. Upon returning to Salt Lake City, Edwin purchased Amelia's Palace (Gardo House) for Susanna. Susanna built the Grace Louise Emery Apartments on First Avenue and State Street (named in honor of her step-daughter who died). After Edwin's death in 1925, Susanna embarked on a trip around-the-world. She met and married Serbian physician, Dr. Radovan Delitch. She would divorce him two years later. After that divorce and more travel, she met and married Russian prince, Nicholas Engalicheff. He died after two years, leaving her a three-time widow.

On her final trip around the world, Susanna died on August 3, 1942 in Connecticut. By this time, her fortune had dwindled drastically. Susanna is buried next to her first husband in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Her nephew, Harold (whom she raised) died in 1925.

#utahstatehistory #utahcemeteries #utahwomenshistory
Contributor: LaRee White Engel (47193659)