Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-10-29

lH6 NSd1 VI pOI5Oudl dlldClIl6uLs al
with great professional tact and ski
set about unraveiiDg the tangled We
which restrained General Bucknl
e from the enjoyment of his own. 3
8 the latter part of 1868 the Louisyil
!, and Nashville railroad was compelle
0 to restore the Kentucky property :.
e its owner, and account to him in fu
e for the back rents. The KingsbuI
claim was not so easily disposed o
g and though a decree has at last bee
obtained, which restores about 81 ,000
e 600 worth of Chicago property, wit
g accrued rents to the amount of $75
D 900, it was the work of years, and n
quIred much delicate and skillfI
management. A brief history OF tn
: case viii not prove uninteresting.
= Major Kingsbury, of the Unite
States army, while on duty at Oh.
r cago, in the infancy of that city, ha
purchased a large tract of land, whic
the growth Of the place has since eI
HANGED to the value ofsbout g., 000, 00(
A few years before his death, findin
: the care of his estate somewhat bun
densome to him, he prevailed upol
his son in-laW, General Buckner, {
resign his commission in the arm,
and assist in the management of tn
, estate. In 1857 Major Kingsbury died
/ and left all his property, undivided
to his two children, Mrs. BuckneT
and a young son, Henry Kingsbury
AS General Buckner spent most OF hi
time in Kentucky up to the outbreal
of the war, he had entrusted a grea
part of the management OF the Chi
csgo estate to his old army friend
General Burnside, and it was through
General Burnside's intimate relation
with thu family that much OF the proc
bearing on the case has been mad,
available. For years before the wa
General Buckner had tried to get hi
Wiie's consent to some settlement
which would fix the property more
securely in her possession ana under
her control, so that her interests would
not suffer by anything that might
happen to him. Reasoning like a fond
wife, she resisted any change that
would not increase his rights and con.
. troll, until he brought the probabilities
OF the war to bear on the question,
and then, in 1861, she consented. A
deed was drawn up and signed by
both, in which they, sin c0nsiders-
ton of their natural affection, and the
further consideration Of one dollar"
conveyed absolutely to her brother,
Heny KiDgsbury, an undivided inter-
est of One-half in real estate worth
5 2,000, 900.
This was done without any under
standing with Kingsbury, and the
deed had been recorded in Chicago for
two months before he heard OF it. 1t
was not done with a view to entering
the Confederate service, for General
Buckner was at that time a peace
man, a mediator, and had declined a
position rendered by the Confeder-
ates. But the country was in the
whirlpool of civil war, q military man
could hardly hope to keep out of it,
and the General having every conf
dence in K~ingsbury, relied ON him to
care for his sister, whatever might
happen to, her husband. Young Kings
bury, just out Of West Point, met
General Buckner in Washington in
1861, and was informed OF the deed.
After announcing the conveyance,
General Buckner merely said: "What-
yer may happen to me, Henry, l
know you will take care of your SIS
ter" Kingsbury replied that he GER
tainly would, and this was all the un-
derstanding or bargain that existed
between the parties. Rfs
After this General Buckner went
into the Confederate service and
Kingsbury became a colonel on Gen.
eral Burnside's staff-Was married to
q nrnun-nfno ~ nnnnHa1 U.nk,--, NJ
Tor, and was killed at the battle Of
Antletam, in 1862. While with the
army in Virginia, Kingsbury learn
ing that by the laws of that State an
autographs testament is valid with.
out the signature OF witnesses, wrote
a will, in which he devised ali OF his
property in Chicago to his wife, and
TO his sister all the property he held
by deed from her and General Buck
ner. He named General Burnside as
executor Of this will, and thus show ed
very clearly that his intention was TO
return to his sister the property which
had been hers, and which he still on
sidered hers.
This will was sent on to New York
without being probated in Virginia,
and LETT IN the hands Of a surrogate.
The birth Of posthumous child inVaI-
dated the devise, and left the instru-
ment of no value except as d link In
the chain Of written evidence neces-
sary to explain the deed recorded at
Chicago. KiBgsbury had also written
a letter to his mother, in which he al !
iuded to q conversation they had held
about the conveyance.
Upon these two written instruments
hung all the proof attainable against
the recorded deed. Henry Kings.
0ury's widow had married again, and
the guardian OF his posthum0us child
stood upon every technically that
could hold the property for his ward.
General Buckner's legal friend held
the cas- under advisement for several
years, while fishing for testimony
rom every promising source. He
spent several months in Chicago
studying thel0cal laws, the precedents
Of the local courts and selecting q lycal
practitioner to take charge of the suit.
At last the will was traced TO its place
Of safe keeping, and personal effects
belonging 20 Kingsbury were found
"a Virginia, where the will was made,
5eneral Burnside teSttiedto the hand.
writing, the will was probated in Viz
yinia, and thus became evidence In
Chicago. Kingsbury's letter made
deposit on from his mother, setting
iorth his statements to her, competent
evidence az to the absence of any con.
liberation for the conveyance. With
going further into details, Ii is
)nly necessary to state that the suit
vas brought and managed In the
'0urts so that all the technical barriers
we're broken down, the whole truth
aid bare before the court, and a de-
rec obtained restoring their undiyid-
d moiety of the estate of General
3uckner and his wife, with back rents
nd profits TO the amount of some $75..
100.
The singulaTly afectionate regard
n which General Buekner is so cen
rally held by the people OF Kentucky
nd the South, has made this case one
extraordinary interest and its for
innate termination one Of general re-
1
On Friday, October 9Th, a sad acct F,
naorTrraA In fkn akar.sl-