Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1875-04-29
WiNTEh, $SO,O0O,OOO.
jrk for Two Generation of
Lawyers, and Perhaps for
a Third.

In the rear yard of a large livery sta
bic in Thirteenth street, neal University
place, in a deep suuken stone vault lies
the body of Jacob Arden, once a pres.
porous Knickerbocker former. A plain
stone slab lying fiat upon the ground, up
on which the filth and litter OF the stables
have accumulated, is all that marks his
grave. His farm extended from what il
now Fourth avenue nearly to Sixth ave
nue., and from Eleventh street to Four
teenth street. He had also partures be
tween the modern boundaries OF Sixth
and Eighth avenues, and Thirty-frSt aid
T~hirty>third streets, and owned other pro
perty on Manhattan Island. His home
stead stood 10 Thirteenth street, between
Broadway and University place, until
about forty years ago, when it was torn
down.
Mr.. Arden died in 1901, leaving o wife
and one son. DR.. Jacob S. Arden. His
will provided that the property should
always be held by the Arden family, and
while his wife and son were permitted t.
use it during their lives, they were debsr,
red from selling it, and in the event Of
his sons dying without heirs, the proper.
ty was to fall to John Summers, a nephew
OF the t%estatOr. DR.. Arden married, and
Mr., Summers thinking that his chances
of inheri ting the estate were slight, sold
out his prospective title to DR., Arden for
$4,000.
Then Mrs. Jacob j. Arden, regardless
of the stipulations Of the will, began ia
sell the land at prices that attracted ready
buyers. She also mortg aged a large part
of the property to John Jocob Astor
Judge James Roosevelt and others, and
at the expiration of the mortgages Aston
and Roosevelt foreclosed and took posses.
sion of the land. Judge Roosevelt had
a house on the. property at the time OIL
his death.
DR.. Arden died about 1921, and hi,
mother of year later, leaving to her own
family the ramnant of the property that
she had not sold or mortgaged, To the
widow Of her son she left not a shilling
This arbitrary disposal of the'property
in defiance of the conditions of the will,
was Of course not satisfactory to the rela'
tives Of Jabob j. Arden, and they took
steps to recover their lands. They insti,
tuted a suit in 1928, against the pur.
chasers of the land, and employed Col.
Aaron Burr as their attorney. Col. Burr
was confident Of success, but his efforts
were frustrated, as one of the heirs, John
Brown, upon whose energy and wealth
the prosecution depended, fell dead in
the court room in a fit, and his wife re.
fused to carry the suit futher, and the
other claimants were not able to press
the case. Then 1t rested for years.
The suit was revived in 1854, and tried
in the United States District Court be-
fore Judges Nelson and Emmett, in Sept.
1855. Ex-Chief Justice Bronson, ex>
Judge Beardsley, VIM. Curtis Noyes and
the Hon. Levi Chat6eld were attorneys
for the prosecution. The judges, one of
whom then lived in a house on the dis
puted property, decided against the heirs,
bat required that the cases should be ia.
ken to Washington, as it was Of too great
Importance to Re settled by him. The
case slept in the District Court for three
years without result, and the plaintiffs
charged that their attorney had been
bought off for 100000. The suit is again
to be vigorously prosecuted by the heirs,
through Rebecca Howlan, the last living
niece of Jacob j. Arden. The property
is valued at more than $50, OOO, 900.
Jacob j. Arden's will ordered that his
tomb in Thirteenth street should always
be kept by the family as a burial place,
with the right of way to its portals. The
path that now leads to it is the hallway
for livery horses. The bodies of Ardeu's
two servants, one a negro and the other
en- Irishman, who saved the life of his
mastar In the Reyolution liz w;tb hin,