, 1874-11-22

a
though at one time not lnfrequent,. cannot be
considered as q regular custom, but it will
serve aa an illustration to show how
carelessly Acknowledgements were made.
Abstassa Ssro Of ' 8 wn''e ot seas sesso I'D I'D
much to correct thia loose method If business,
as the makers always noted any defects in ac-
acknowledgements, CT otEer instances where .
dower-claim would be hkcly to arise. These
aower-c;ains, arising from detective acknowl-
edcmcuis arc nov iu thre e-fourhs Of the cases,
it mar bo said without fear Of contradiction,
first put forth through
THE REPRESENTATIONS or sonK ATToRSEf
who has discovered the defect. Indeed. TO such
a degree il this watch for detective certificates
carried, that there is certain class OF lawyers
who have parties employed for the special por-
nose Of finding and noting al deeda which have
defective Acknowledgements. TAa attorneys then
send printed or written circulars to the parties
Interested, and, il possible. get permls-
zion to bring suits 1h On naa1es % or efe fat
amendment to the law OF Acknowledgements
viii. however, seriously damage tins business,
and by simplifying tho formula decrease dover
suits based only on technical Irregularities
THE klNx1E DOVER CLAIMS
widespread acquaintance With the Kinzie
family. There are two Kin1o dover
claima. ono OF Mrs Juliette l. Kinzie, widow Of
John H, kinzle tie other, begun within the
past rear, Of afrs. Guiuthlean kinzie: widow OF
Robert A. Kinzic, who died IN 1854. The claims
suits we're decided, wero based on defective &C
acknowledgements. and covered about 40 acres
on tho North Side, in Knzie's Addi-
ton. The claims Of her sister~in.law,
Mrs. Gvinthlean Kinzle, are interesting from tho
fact that the land in which she claims dover was
not in existence, or at least was submerged,
when her husband lived or owned it.. It seems
that Robert 4. Kinzte, born here in 1878. entered
1G0 acres On the North Side. known as kinzie's
Addition. part of this he afterwards
gave to his brothers and sissers. About
ls42 be went through a;,nia bankruptcy, k!;4ts;t
however, cutting of the dover right Of hie wife.
Subsequent to that time the action of the lake
has ma4lo large accretions or addtions along tue
shore from the mouth Of the Chicago River
to Chicago avenue, the land thus made beng IN
the neighborhood Of 90 acres, and it is to
q pnrt Of this that Mrs. Kinxie lays claim. She,
however, only demands dowe1 to lanos actually
conveyed By her husband without he1 consent,
aud not on any defective acknowledgements
Tie Accrntions are now mostly owned by the
Chicago Canal and Dock Company.
or course,
WILLIAM 3. onpEH,
who WAS the North Side thirty tive years ago,
has been a sufferer by dover claims, aud one of
als Losses Was the Ncoll claim. In 1884 Francis
B. Nicoll, aud . number Of other gentle
men Of New York Guy, formed an an asao;
purchased 100000 worth Of land here,
which VAS sometimes called the Hunter
This was placed in the hands Of trua
tees, ct whom Nicoll was ono for time. By
law, when laad is bought by partners On JOINT
erty, aud no dover attaches until it is either
divided or 90 changed in character by
declaration OF trust that the shares Of each
member can be ascertained, and they be vested
with an equitable estate. Tins property was
chiefly on the North Side. east Of Wells street
in Rocswell's Addition: part Of it WAS
sold, and the remainder held In trust by
the Trustees for the benefit Of Nicoll
and others. Subsequently, they made
declaration OF trust as it 1s Called whereby they
acknowledged that Nicoll was entitled 10 one-
third interest in the property SO held This
whole tract was subsequently conveyed, either
directly or BY meane conTeyances, to Ogden:
After Mr. Nicoh'a death, his widow claimed
dover in the one-third interest formerly
owued BY hitu, and, after gu appeal to the Su-
preme Court. she obtained it The case is re-
ported ut length in the 29th illinois reports,
page 324.
One Of the largest claims is That OF
MRS. MARY cLYBounN,
widow Of Archibald Clybourn. She claims dover
in 800 acres in Sec. 50, 40, "A, bounded By
Fullerton and North avenues, Sheffield street,
and Ashland avenua also in 1G0 acres
in Riverside, and strip OF land 80 feet front on
Canal street running thence east TO the river
Fort Wayne Railroad Company. Il appears that
in 1880 Mr.. Clybourn owned the land above nnen-
toned, and gave mortgage on tho portion on
the North Side TO secure the payment OF s7,500
to Arthur Bronson. In July, 1B39, BRONSON fled q
bill to foreciose this mortgage. LII June, 1910,
Clybourn, before final decree WAS entered, made
an agreement with Bronson to givo up the land,
and 10 discharged from the debt. In pursuance
OF this agreement le gave deed. but without
procuring tho signature of bis wife, She, how
Der, 1840, q final order was entered in the fore
closure suit against the land. Mrs. Clybourn
now brings suit for dover, claiming that tho
deed was made without her signing
it,. that this was done in satis-
cxtinguished, and that the mortgage-titls was
swallowed up in the quit-claim deed, thus re-
wing her doWer-claitn, because abe had not
joined IN that deed. Moreover, she allegeB
Bronson could not thereafter so on and attempt
to acquire title under the mortgage, and thus
nroid her dower-rights, aa 1t had been previous
" extnguished- Tho cases are still pending
The claim to tue RlrerBide property is based on
defective acknowledgment.
Another case, and ono which MnBtrates the
easy-going manner in which real estate Was con-
veyed, is that OF
HEs. coRsE11A RUSSELL.
It seems that some time in 1884 OF 1885, John
D. i. Russell, an officer in the United States
sorv1oe, bought 70 or 80 acres of land
bounded bg Douglas place. South Park avenue,
Thirty tE-t1rHs street, aud the lake. III 1887 bIr.
Russell mortgaSed the property to E. X. Hub
bard, to secure loan: the mortgage purpozted
to be signed by hir. Russell and wife, and was
duly acknowledged. In 1915 the mortgage
was foEeclosed and tho property so1d, aud q
SheriH's decd executed to ". Fl. Brown in 1849.
In 1900 Mr. Russell died, aud eleven years later
his widow fled petition for dover, claiming
that she had never Joined ih the mortgage, but
that tue signature rurportiug to be n,ade by her
was actually written by her husband She testi-
fed on the t1lal that she never executed such
mortgage on the land above mentioned, that she
never authorized any one to sign for her, and that
the signature. puFporting to beby her attachedto
the decd Was in the handwriting Of her husband.
She claimed that in 1887 when tho mortgage
was executed she was in Virginia, and did not re-
turn until the spring of :1S33- Miss Sarah A.
Campbell. who has also large number of dover
claims, WAS witnass ia 31ss. KusGeil's behalf to
prove her absence from Chicago at the t1no the
mortgage WAS assigned Judge Williams, who
heatd the case. dismissed the bill Oh the ground
o. negligettce ON the part Of Mrs. ltussen
III not commencing her suit hefone, as
st,e testified that she knew Of the conveyance at
the time Of hia death, or soon after :. md the
supreme Court short tina ago affirmed the
decision