Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1868-06-23
Correspondence of tha.cineinnati Chronicle.
a Singular Case in Court.
Romance of Real Lifs-A" Eccentric dian
Wis HIS Property TO a Stranger, selso
is Found after Quarter Of u
Century.
LEnAvoy. Ono. June 12, 1S6s.

Wiuans, in which were involved questions of
identity and of title to land at once singular
and interesting. The facts, developed by
the testimony, may be summed up as follows u:
An eccentric old baahelor came to this
country early in the present century. He was
day laborer, and never had home of his
own, but by industry and economy became
the owner of two hundred acres of land, lying
among the hills of the Little Miami, in the
vicinity of Fort Ancient, which remained
covered with its native forests during his life
time. Although his death took place thirty
! years ago, ne is remembered by many persons
living in that vicinity By reason of his pecu-
liarities, and PARTICULAR y as the posscssor OF
singularly spotted horse, to which he was
much attached. The animal is described as
being Of pure white, varieSated with spots
Of dark brown, the two colors making
striking contrast. Some years before his
deaththe old man made journey to Virginia
Little is known of this journey, except that
he rode his spotted horse, and that on his
return he often spoke of having, while on this
| journey, fallen in company with a man driving
a wagon, with whom he entered into converse
| ton, and discovered to be his namesake and
cousin, though many years younger, than him
SELF He also made known his Intention of
| willing his land to this namesake, as he had
no near relative living near him. a will to
| this effect was made, and at his death pro-
! batcd. 1t devised the land before referred
to to this cousin, james Frazier, if he could be
| found living, and in case he could not be
found the land was to become the property
of one of his ncighbors, named in the will,
who was also made the executor. Soon after
| the will was probated an effort was made by
some persons living in Indiana, claiming TO
| be the near relatives and heirs of the de-
ceased, to set aside the will, on the ground OF
the insanity of the testator. In the suit
arising on this claim, Governor Corwin, Hon.
| Robert G. Schenck, Judge George j. Smith,
! and Judge John Probasco were attorneys
| The will was set aside by jury in the Court
| of Common Pleas, and the was carried
up to the Supreme Court. During the trial
| in the Supreme Court it was shown that the
! testator was an illegitimate child. As 1t is
| principle of the common law that a bastard
! cannot transmit property by descent except
! to his own children, having no other heirs, 1t
| became evident that the pretended heirs
would fail to get possession OF the property,
and the case was dropped. The will, therefore,
remained unimpcached.
The executor of the will being the party
to whom the land was to pass in case the first
legatce WAS not found, appears to have made
| 10 effort whatever to discover the ri ghttul
|
and treated it as his own Wheb asked about
! his title to the land, he always replied that
! he did not believe such person the first
| legatcc ever existed that the old man had
! never met such person but that his existence
| was one of his many tancies.
Thus affairs remained for more than a
! quarter of a ceutury-thc executor enjoying
tue use of the land, and having on two oc-
casions sold portion Of it, while the rightiul
| owner remained in ignorance of the existence
! Of the will. Not long ago, however, a letter
! from an attorney in Lebanon, directed to the
postmaster ola town in West Virginia, iuquir
| ing if one james Frazier resided there
reached him, and he became aware of the
facts of the case 1t appears that during
most of the time he has resided in town on
the Ohio side of the Ohio river not far from
| Wheeling, Va. He is now an old man, in
! reduced circumstances-too old to take an
active part in the prosecution Of his claim to
| the land, but his sons have undertaken this
work for him. The old man testifes by
deposition that thirty years ago he followed
the business of wagoning from Wheeling to
Baltimore that on one of his journeys he
! fell in company with a man riding spotted
horse" They engaged in conversation
| The WAGNER spoke Of the beauty of the spot
ted horse and his desire to own him, but the
! DOTSGlliu uGCIdISU IidJ ~ dllOUlC Vi iiOucG
could induce him to part with his fayorte.
Further cony ersatiOn developed the fact that
| they were cousins and they passed the night
together at public house. His newly found
relative invited the teamster to visit him in
the Miami country, and told him it would be
! to his advantage to do So Failing to make
the visit, he never heard from him until he
received the letter of the attorney before
ferred to- So far as appears from the evil
dence in the case, their meeting on the Ma
tional road was the only time they ever saw
each other.
The Court was satisfied from the facts
proven. all of which cannot be detailed here,
that the plaintiff was identified as the first
! legatee. IL decided in favor of the plaintiff.
holding that the statute of limitations pleaded
! by the present occupants of the land would
not bar the plaintiffs claim.
Thus, after lapse Of thirty years, the claim
of the rightful egatee, as we have good reason
to believe has been recognized. But second
trial has been demanded and its issue must
be awaited before the case can be considered
settled.
On Thursday, General Haskell, of
Orange, n j., aud Miss Emma Gilmore, were
matrmonially united. The ceremony was
unique 1t was performed in LiewelIyn Park,
under an ancient pine tree, just after sun rise.
As both groom and bride hold extremely
Liberal" as distinguished from other ortho-
dox. religious views they requested Rev.
Henry Ward Beecher, who officiated, so far
to respect their conscientious independence of
churchly ordinances as to omit from the
service any form of words based on these.
Accordingly, after the young couple had :
presented themselves on moss carpet spot, /
and circled at a close distance by their friends
the groom clasped the brides hand saying, /
81 take you Emma for my wife - the wife .
responded. 81 take you Liewellyn, for my