The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1875-10-22
THE People,
THE CHILC0TE BALTIMORE
CLAIM.
.There Is Millions In Itr'


that great portion of the land on which
Baltimore now stands was leased at an
early day BY Lord Baltimore to settlers
for ninety-nine wears. without renewal.
which implies a perpetual title by the
laws of Maryland.
1t appears that in the year 1927, two
brothers, John and James Chilcote, en-
tered land whore the city of Baltimore
now stands. 1t further appears on rec
ord that on the 14th of April. 1850.
Lord Baltimore leased To John Chilcote
ninety eight acres of land for ninety
nine years. without renewal. Another
tract of eleven acres never passed out of
John Chilcote's hands on record.
1t also appears that James ChilcOte
left I701 acres, and he died without is
sue. But John Chilcote and his mSife
died first, leaving an only Eon, John.
whom James raised When John be-
came of age he moved ont on Western
Run, married and raised four sons.
John. Robson, Joshua and Humphrey.
The descendants of these four sons are
the heirs to the estates of the original
John and James Chilcote.
1t seems that James became involved
at one time, and Illegally leased or sold
some of the property belonging to the
orphan boy, John. Now these lands
have been located. The IL acres are IN
the old part of the city. and are valued
at fabulous sum- The 9s acres are in
the west part of the citv, and are also
very valuable. The 1704 acres have not
yet been located, so far a. the writer
knows, but enough has been learned to
make the claim almost certain. The
trouble up to this time has been 20 prove
heirship. Your correspondent yesterday
obtained some facts that. to his mind.
set les that point.
Two families have been working up
the claim. One spells the name Chill
colt and the other Chilcote. The heads
of the last named family came to Amer
ia %Otpii diLCT
tion-they, having been engaged in that
lost cause" were compelled tn fee the
country, and they first appear on record
in 1927.
The Chilcotts.-J. r. Chilcott was
born in England in the year 1746. He
came TO America at the age of nineteen
or twenty. by way of ireland, in the
year 1775- 6, and was married in BIlti,
more at the age of twpntv-eight.
So it appears that John Chilcete leas-
ed the ninety-three acres of Lord Bali
more five or ak years before J. r. Chill
colt came to America. and that he en-
| tered land where Bll,imore now stands
nineteen years before J. R. Chilcott was
born. This fact. in the Judgment of the
writer, settles all cavil "a to who are the
rightfnl heirs. The Chilcott family have
a tradition direct from the oldest living
one of the family, of great expectations
in England, and there may be some.
thing in it, as J. r. Chilcott's father was
High Sheriff of London.
As it is now lis years since the 9e
year lease was given people will wonder
why this matter was not attended to be-
fore. The explanation is that the fami,
ly scattered from Western Run at an
early day. Going out into the wiIds oi
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia at a
| time when communication was difficult
and newspapers rarely came to their
hands. They were for the most part
farmers and had but little communica.
tion with the busy world These claims
having been looked mp by experts and
! fonnd to be good, the heirs were adver-
/ tised for years ago, but only within the
last few years have they taken any in.
| terest in the matter. Some of the besi
attorneys in the country are anxious tc
get the matter through for a percentage
The writer has the disinterested opinion
of one of the ablest judges in Washing.
ton, that the claim is good and can b.
easily collected
He has only to add that five of these
heirs are residents of Indianapolis, and
that he is one of the fortune number
though he is not much elated over hi.
"Great Expectations" Having had 8
life of Ill lnck and misfortune he is pre-
pared for any turn the matter may take
| A few hundred thousand dollars would
be "handy to have in the house." bu
then he fears that in case of realization
when he'd go out TO promenade up anc
down Broadway he'd
''Have to take the dogs along to keep the gal
| away"
| ! believe this ia the fullest account C
the matter that has ever appeared IL
print. NJ. QUAD.
The foregoing we clip from "Th'
People" of the 9th inst, of which I
copy was kindly sent us last week BY
some unknown friend in order donbtles
to direct our attention to the merits O
the article above produced; and, whil'
in the main, the writer will please ex
cuse the liberty we indulge, while we di
roct the attention of our friends to on
or two errors, which are 20 evidently
apparent, that We only wonder why tht
writer committed them to print. First
he states, that at has been knoU1 for
long time that It Tas impossible to geta goOt
| title to Boltimore real estate" Now tha
would certainly he a most sorry state o
affairs indeed. The reason he assigns
does not cover the premises, for, while il
is true. that quite portion of the
ground on which the city stands, was
leased TO settlers on the 80 year plan
prior to 1776, yet, it is likewise true. tha
very many of those settlers had the dis
cretion to stick to their claims, never
losing sight of them, although they
were but tenants, prior to their struggl'
for independence; and it is also true tina
a great number held actual deeds which
were made and duly recorded years be
fore the strike for freedom. Now il oc
ours to US that those claims only were
jeopardized, which were deserted by the
lessees: and that occurred mostly during