The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-08-03
Fortune-Curfous Compli-
cations In Remarkable Lawsuit.
Facts I'm Mechanical scaence--sensl-
ing an Old Nam 60 Prison. !;
'fFrom the Whitehall IN. W Times,

fFrom the Whitehall IN. Ky Times,
At the late term of the Oyer and Termi-
ner In Salem, In this county, Thomas Page
was tried on charge OF forging deed.
Nearly all of the older members Of the bar
In our county have at some stage or ano-
ther of the proceedings been retained In the
case. It Is said that the statutes relating to
the right of aliens to hold real estate have
been altered by the procurement OF some
of the counsel TO meet the exigencies of the
The rroperty itself is estimated to be
worth 100000, but the tenure by which 1t
is held Is such that it may perhaps be de-
scribed as "nobody's fortune The con-
test has been between vast estate man
aged with sagacity, fidelity, and indomlta-
BILE tenacity, and bold, resolute. ana lear
less schemer, conscious Of the flaw In bis
great adversary's title, and deterplnea TO
hunt 1t out, expose it, and avail himself OF
it. The contest began with fair prospect
of his success; it ends leaving him old, for
saken, baffled, disappointed, and broken !;
convicted of crime, and awaiting the sem
tence which will perhaps doom him to
PRISONS walls for the remainder of his DAYS.
The property which has been the subject
! of such litigation is what is known as the
| Phoenix Hotel property In this village. 1t
originally belonged TO one Anthony Rock,
who died intestatc, leaving son, Thomas
Rock. The Williams estate, as we under
stand claim it under conveyance from
one alexander Proudfit. 1t was asserted
that this conveyance was really nothing
more than mortgage Of the property emit
ting Mr.. Williams to hold ii and collect
the rents and profits thereof until certain
sum, with interest, was fully paid and salts
| fed. At all events, this. we believe, was
the theory Of MIR. Page. We do not assert
this to be the real nature Of the title of the
Williams estate to the property. but only
Pages theory Of that title. 1t became nc.
cessary for him, in that view, to find some
one of the heirs eli Thomas Rock, and OBJ
tain conveyance of the property. -,
| At last, after much inquiry and research,
he came. across Mrs. Brannice, who was a
descendant of a half-sister of 1hos. Rock,
and obtained conveyance from her. He
at once instituted a suit against the Viii
liams estate, claiming under this title, but
was non-suited on the ground that hi:
graptor was not Of the blood Of Anthony
Rock, and therefore had no interest in the
property. He then turned bis attention
again to Canada, and finally, rs he says, ac'
cidentally found conveyance purportina
to have been executed by Thomas Rock tc
his sister. Ann Calarawich, in 1927. He
Immediately began a new suit, claiming
under this title. .+
On the trial the forgery of the convey.
ance was shown in O most conclusive man
ner. The instrument was written on blue
paper, colored blue with ultra.marine. II
was shown that artificial ultra-marine wa;
not discovered until 1928, one year after The
deed was alleged to have been executed
1t was also shown conclusively that it was
not used in the manufacture of paper prior
to 1871 or 1e41.' 1t was rendered probable by
the testimony that the paper was not manu-:
featured until 1845. But there were other
characteristics which rendered it impossible
for the paper on which the deed was writ.
ten to have been in existence in 1927. II
had been through what is known as the
calendering process, which was not known
until somewhere about 1854, certainly not
before 1880, and was also made on what /:
called a Fourdrinier .weaving-machine
which was not made until 1880 and 1910
That the deed was forgery there was nc
question but was Page guilty of it, OF
did he publish it knowing it TO be forged
The case was given to the jury few
minutes before 10 p. NJ, and after being
out quarter of an hour they returned with
a verdict of equity of uttering and pub
fishing forged deed, knowing it to be
false" ..'.