In 1842, 15-year-old Mary Elizabeth Croghan of Pittsburgh created an international scandal by leaving her Staten Island boarding school and eloping to England with the 43-year-old Captain Edward Schenley. Distraught by the news, Mary's father initiated a lengthy legal battle over her inheritance, which Mary eventually won. The young heiress' holdings soon caught the attention of park lovers and real estate developers alike.
Schenley Park began as "Mt. Airy Tract," which was property willed to Mary by her maternal grandfather, General James O'Hara. Edward Bigelow, the Director of the Department of Public Works in Pittsburgh, knew Mary's land would be beneficial to the city. But real estate developers also had their eyes on the tract.
When Bigelow learned in 1889 that the developer's agent planned to travel to London to convince Mary Schenley to sell the land
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