If a burglar had not gone rummaging for jewels through the Robertson home at 20 Bellevue place, the public perhaps would have remained in ignorance that Lionel Robertson and his wife, Lucile Chapin Robertson, had been separated for two years.

The burglar pried open a bureau drawer and stole $800 worth of diamonds and at the same time jimmied the lid off a secret known only to the immediate social circle of the Robertsons. Investigation of the crime led to the discovery that Mrs. Robertson lives at 20 Bellevue place and Mr. Robertson at 874 Cass street.

In Charlotte Robertson, the 10 year old daughter, friends of the estranged couple see a hope that husband and wife eventually will be reunited. The child is busy with school and making pillows for wounded French soldiers, but has time every day to pray that her parents may live together again.

Heiress to Millions

Mrs. Robertson is the daughter of the late Charles A. Chapin, who at his death three years ago left a fortune of $6,852,000. Mr. Robertson is an artist and decorative expert.

"My wife and I agreed to disagree two years ago," said Mr. Robertson yesterday. "When we decided to live apart we did not regard it as a trial separation. We both thought it would be permanent. There has been no divorce. There probably will be none. Neither regarded it as worth while to air our private affairs in court. We had, too, our little daughter to consider.

Child's Time Divided.

"We decided she should share her time between us. She lives half the time at her mother's home and half the time at mine. My wife and I are friends, but we never see each other. We are both happy apart."

Mrs. Robertson is visiting in Niles, Mich. She said her loss in the burglary consisted of a diamond solitaire ring and a number of pins.

Mr. Chapin's estate consisted largely of holdings in the Indiana and Michigan Electric company, the J.H. Bishop company, the Niles Board and Paper company, and the Zouri Drawn Metals company.

Mrs. Robertson has two sisters, Helen E. Chapin Bishop and Ruby Hortense Chapin, and four brothers, Homer Collidge, Henry K. Rowell Mead, and Charles Douglass Chapin.

(Published in Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) - 19 Jan 1916, Wed - Page 3)
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Lucile Chapin Smith
in the Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947
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Name: Lucile Chapin Smith
[Lucile Chapin Chapin]
Birth Date: 17 Nov 1876
Birth Place: Niles, Mich
Death Date: 26 Jul 1947
Death Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Burial Date: 28 Jul 1947
Burial Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Cemetery Name: Graceland
Death Age: 70
Occupation: House Wife
Race: White
Marital Status: M
Gender: Female
Residence: Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Father Name: Charles A. Chapin
Father Birth Place: Edwardsburg, Mich.
Mother Name: Emily C. Coolidge
Mother Birth Place: Edwardsburg, Mich.
Spouse Name: William A. Smith
FHL Film Number: 1991636

Lionel O. Robertson
in the Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index, 1871-1920
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Name: Lionel O. Robertson
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Birth Year: abt 1872
Marriage Type: Marriage
Marriage Date: 29 Oct 1901
Marriage Place: Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Spouse Name: Sarah Lucile Chapen
Spouse Age: 24
Spouse Gender: Female
FHL Film Number: 1030329