Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-10-14
AN INTERESTING CASE.
Restoration Of Large Estate that
had been Decided Away by
Confederate General.
One of the ROmanccs of the Law.
From the LouisviIle Ledqer. Oct. Q.

FROM tn6 LOUISVILLE Ledger, Oct. y.
Several days ago our telegraphic dispatch
. es announced that the decree of an Illinois
court had restored over million dollars
worth OF property to Gen. s. b. Buckner
and wife, Of this city. In all the collections
} OF causes cetebreS there are few cases more
interesting or romantic than this One-few
IN which accident has more providentially
assisted legal acamen and upright tribu-
mails in doing Justice where all the
technicalities of law seemed to con-
spire against it. AT the close of
the war, Gen. Buckner, prevented by the
terms OF his parole from returning to this
State, was in New Orleans earning sup
port for his family by writing for the
Crescent and other journals. His Kentucky
property, worth about $4,000, was in pos
session of the l.. and n. Railroad COmpa-
ny, which had bought it when sold by the
sheriff to satisfy damages recovered by that
corporation in suit against the General for
injuries done to the company's property by
the Confederate forces during the war
His interest in the great Kingsbury
estate at Chicago had been transferred
by an absolute deed to his brother-in
law, Henry Kingsbury, and had passed by
law to child of the latter, born after the
father had been killed at the battle of An
tietam. Ali the property the General ever
owned seemed to be irTecoyerably fixed in
the possession Of others, and the TECHNICAL
ties which barred recovery were reinforced
by his own position as an outlawed rebel,
prisoner of war.
He consulted a friend, an able lawyer of
this city, and the latter, with the zeal of per-
sonai attachment, and with great
professional tact and skill, set
about unraveling the tangled web
which restrained Gen. Buckner from
| the enjoyment of his own. By the
/ latter part of 1868 the Louisville and Nash
vile Railroad was compelled to restore the
Kentucky property to its owner, and ac-
count to him in full for the back rents. |
The Kingsbury claim was not so easily dis |
! posed of and though a decree has at last |
| been obtained, which restores about 81 ,000,- |
| 600 worth Of Chicago property, with accrued |
rents to the amount of $4,000, it was the |
work of years, and required much delicate |
and skillful management. A brief history
! of the case will not prove uninteresting.
Maj. Kingsbury, of the United States |
Army, while on duty at Chicago, in the in
| fancy of that city, had purchased a large
tract Of land, which the growth of the place
has since enhanced to about $2.0O0,0OO. A
few years before his death, finding the care
of his estate somewhat burdensome to him,
he prevailed upon his son-in-law, Gen. Buck
ner, to resign his commission in the army,
and assist in the management of the estate.
In 1857 Maj. Kingsbury died, and left all
his property, undivided, to his two children,
Mrs. Buckner and a young son,
Henry Kingsbury. As Gen. Buck
ner spent mOS of his time in Kentucky
up to the outbreak of the war; he had en-
trusted a great part of the management of
the Chicago estate to his old army friend,
Gen. Burnside, and it was through Gen.
Bunside'S intimate relations with the family
that much of the proof bearing on the case
has been made available. For years be-
fore the war Gen. Buckner had tried to get
his wife's consent to some settlement which
would fix the property more securely in her
possession and under her control, so that
her interests would not suffer by anything
that might happen to him. Reasoning like
fond wife, she resisted any change that
would not increase his rights and control,
until he brought the probabilities Of the war
to bear on the question, and then, 1861, she
contented. A deed was drawn up and
signed by both, in which they, " in consid-
Grafton of their natural affection, and the
further consideration of one dollar" con-
veyed absolutely to her brother, Henry
Kingsbury, an undivided interest of one
half in real estate worth $2,000,0O0.
This was done without any understanding
with Kingsbury, and the deed had been re-
corded in Chicago for two months before he
heard of it. 1t was not done with view to
entering the Confederate service, for Gen.
Buckner was at that time a peace man,
mediator, and had declined a position
rendered by the Confederates. But the
=. L. i Z
a military man could hardly hope to keep
out of it, and the General, having every 4
confidence in Kingsbury, relied on him to
care for his sister, whatever might happen
to her husband. Young Kingsbury, Just
out of West Point, met Gen. Buckner in
Washington in 1861, and was informed of
the deed. After announcing the convey
ance, Gen. B. merely said: ''Whatever
may happen to me, Henry, know you will
take care ofyour sister," Kingsbury replied
that he certainly would, and this was all
the understanding or bargain that existed
between the parties.
After this Gen. Buclzner went into the
Confederate service and Kingsbury become
a colonel on Gen. Burnside's staf-was
married to a grand-niece of Gen. Zachary
Taylor and was killed at the battle of An
tietam in 1862. While with the army in
Virginia, Kingsbury learning that by the
laws of that State an autoTaphic testament
is valid without the signature of witnesses,
wrote will, in which he devised all of his
property in Chicago to his wife and to his
sister, all the property he held by deed from
her and Gen. Buckner. He named Gen.
Burnside as executor of his will, and thus
showed very clearly that his intention was
to return to his sister the property which
had been hers, and which he still considered
ners.
This will was sent on to New York with
out being probated in Virginia, and left in
the hands of a surrogate. The birth of n
posthumOus child invalidated the devise, ;
and left the instrument of no value except
as O link in the chain of written evidence
necessary to explain the deed recorded at
Chicago. Kingsbury had also written let
ter to his mother, in which he alluded to
conversation they had held about the con-
feyance.
Upon these two written instruments hung
all the proof attainable against the recorded
deed. Henry Kingbury's widow had mar
ried again, and the guardian of his posthum-
Gus child stood upon every technicality that {
could hold the property for his ward.
Gen. Ruckner's legal friend held the case
under advisement for several years while
fishing for testimony from every promising
source. He spent several months in Chioa-
go studying the local laws, the precedeuts of
the local courts, and selecting a local prac :
titioner to take charge Of the suit. At last, /
the will was traced to its place of keeping, c
and personal effects belonging to Kingsbury
were found in Virginia, where the will was :
made. Gen. Burnside testified to the hand
writing, the will was probated in Virginia,
and thus became evidence in Chicago.
Kingsbury's letter made a deposition from
his mother, setting forth his statements to {
her, competent evidence as to the absence
of any consideration for the conveyance. 1
Without going further into details, it is on }
ly necessary to state that the suit was '
brought and managed in the courts so that
all the technical barriers were broken down,
the whole truth laid bare before the court, :
and decree obtained restoring their un-
divided mOiety of the estate to Gen. Buck
ner and hiswife, with back rents and profits
to the amount of some SIS 200. |
The singularly affectionate regard in which
Gen. Buckner is 50 generally held by the !
people of Kentucky and the South, has made J