The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-02-13
MEETING GF THE BURNHAM HEIRs.-Th'

MEETING GF THE BURNHAM HEIRs.-The
meeting of the heirs of Benjamin Burnham,
who died in Smyrna in the year 1886, leaving
property in London, which has been estimated
at SAC, 100000, and what purports to be will
by which he bequeathed his estate to his three
brothers, who settled in Ipswich, Massachu-
sets, was held at the Meior aon in Boston,
Tuesday afternoon. The immediate object of
the meeting was to bid farewell to
Nh. Edward Payson of Portland, who has
been employed by the association to go to Eng
land and prosecute the claims of the heirs as
contained in will which former agent, Mr.
Russell of Medford, is reported to have stumb-
upon in London. Mr.. G. D. Colburn of the
house of G. f. Hovey & Co. presided over an
audience comprising some fifty ladies and gen
tlemen. Mr.. Payson addressed the meeting
He said that he was not generally hopeful in
matters of this nature, and yet he did notwish to
discourage the association. He wanted it to be
distinctly understood that his engagement with
the association did not go beyond the prelimin-
airy duty of aseertaining whether or not there is
any property in London to which the heirs W. ere
entitled
buTlIS SttcI IuOutlS IcSlucIlCc Ill 1OuuOu
he had never heard of this property, neither had
any intimation of its existence reached him pre-
vious to going to England Since his name
had been associated with this matter he had re-
ceived applications from other families to in
vestigate their claims to property left under
similar circumstances He said that he had
not single point of proof to connect the three
eminent ancestors of the Burnham family, who
settled in Ipswich, with their wealthy relative
in England, and yet with the assistance of an
American residing in London-Col Joseph L.
Chester-he hoped to decide the matter either
afimatively or negatively. He argued that the
association would getan ample return for the
money which they had contributed to this
movement in setting to rest the question of the
existence of the will and the property bequeath-
ed, and this would be done when their agent re-
turned from Londen, as he would do with an
indisputable record of his Investigations He
would not pretend to tell his hearers how many
millions he expected to recover, but he had con-
fdence in great law firm in London whom he
supposed to be entirely trustworthy, whose SER
vices he expected to secure and who was ex-
pected to act in concert with him in the investi
cation.
Mr.. Payson said that gentleman who was
then in the hall had asserted after the dismissal
of the agent of the New Hampshire Associa-
ton, that any gentleman who accepted the po-
sition would be unfit to go, and he called upon
any one to rise and show cause, but no one re-
sponded. He desired the pedigree of the first
and second generations of twenty of the orig
inal families Of Bunhams in America, and he
promised his hearers that he would send them
a report of his doings in two months. He will
sail for England on the 18th inst.
At the close of his remarks, Mr.. Louis w.
Durham, Secretary of the Association, took
the stand. He said they had an associa ton
which they intended to perpetuate. 1t was the
first time in the history of the Durham family
that the members had come together, and this
result was worth all the money they had ex-
pended in their efforts to recover the property
in England He said that if the will existed in
the kingdom of Great Britain, it would be
found He said that the committee had dis
covered that Mr. Russell was not the proper
man to send to London and that Mr.. Payson
was endowed with all the qualities required to
make his mission success
He read letter from Colonel Chester dated
Jan. 26, 1873, in which the writer offered to
send the records of the British Museum, the
Herald College and the Record Office for the
sum of twenty pounds sterling. If successful
no more money would be required; if not, fur
ther outlay would be necessary. Mr.. Burnham
read list of recent subscriptions to the fund,
which already amounts to about $500. He
said it was necessary to raise $500 for the pre-
liminary examination, and that when the prop
erty was found there would be no difficulty in
raising $4,000 to prosecute the claim. Several
subscriptions have been received from the West
of five, ten, twenty and even thirty dollars, and
he had received one letter from New Hamp-
shire in which three families had RENTED one
hundrd dollars. He made a motion that the
meeting take q recess of fifteen minutes, dur
ing which subscriptions would be received.
An old man, whose silvery locks entitled
him to more respect and courtesy than he re-
ceived from the presiding officer, arose and at
tempted to address the meeting. The motion
fol- a recess prevailed, aud then the gentleman,
Judge Steele, spoke calmly and moderately as
he said he should of this movement. He had
subscribed $780, and he wanted the Treasurer
to pay it back to him. He had seen things in
new light since he joined the Association, and
he had got discouraged. He had nothing to
say against Mr.. Russell or Mr.. Payson, but he
didn't believe there was any property over
there. He had lost all confidence in the COM
mittee which had called themselves sometimes
an Association and sometimes Trustee eff
all you folks said he, "want to risk your money
why do it, the question is settled in my mind.
1 want my money back" The remarks of the
venerable man were not highly relished by
those who had dim visions of immense for
tunes in the distant future
After the recess during which quite num-
Der of persons subscribed to the fund, resolu-
tions were adopted instructing the agent of the
association to look after one Jewett, who came
to this country in 1857, raised money for the
purpose of prosecuting the claim, returned to
London, and is sale to now be rolling in wealth
supposed to have been paid him by the present
owners of the property as bride to stay his
proceedings.
VICE PRESIDENT CoLFAx.-'Perleys des-
patch to the Boston Journal of Wednesday
says, respecting Mr. Colfax' defence Tuesday:
There has been general anxiety this even
ing to learn what the statement of Mr.. Colfax
would be, and now it is known, he is almost
unanimously declared innocent of even mis-
statement His principal witness, Mr.. George
w Mathews his step-father, has been for
years an officer of the House of Representa-
tives, and his reputation for veracity is unexcep-