New-York tribune., 1875-11-02
4 T4LE or 4 UTLE.


When DIR. Warren's novel, Ten Thousand
Year. was at the summit of its popularity, there
WAS "A great increase OF the business of search
ing titles to real estate in England. Families
that had held property for many generations,
suddenly became uneasy and had their archives
investigated. The attempt of Arthur Oton
was 40 much like that Of 1ittlcbat 1itmotlse,
that there is room for the suspicion that the
scheme which put forward the iichboiHa claim
ant originated with some student of Qurk.
Cannon and Snaps methods. There was
during the TciboiHo trial Il similar worry
about titles TO estates throughout the hlhe-
dom. Perhaps we may have similar anxiety
developed here; at all events the pefmgaliOns
of n title in Boston have recently given ialr
ground for il, and the circumstances have sup
Piled orr lawyers with Lively topic OF con-
Versation.
Diyestng the story, AZ ;old in The insS,icdn
I Lar Rcrie,r, as far as possible of tochnicalies,
il is briefly ihis Fifteen years ago Nj. VIII
liam INGALLS, owned piece of property in that
part of Boston which has since been raNaged
by the great fire. His father had left this
property to him by will, his mother having
life interest in il till her death in 1915. The
will also contained twO legacies OF T23,ooo
each to the ncphews, named Jones, of the elder
ingalls,; but before his death he lost all his
property except the real estate and The lcga-
cies were not paid. There is no limit rs to
the time in which an action can be brought IN
Massachusetts Ia recover legacy; about
the wear 1860 the brothers Jones began suit
for theirs, and two ycais aitPrward recovered
the amount with interest; Il total oi : NllS.OOo.
The Ingalls, real estate was sold to meet tins
claim. producing not quite enough, by %S,ooo;
and the brothers Jones bought il as II good in
vcSinent for their legacy. MIR. Ingalls, in
hcritance thus became less than nothing The
pround of the decision was that rs his fathers
Will gave him exactly what he would have got
if there had been no will, the devise to him
WAS ycd and he took title by descent; but
the lesacies, being valid devise, took prcce
dcnce.
Scarcely had the .lonescs stepped into THEN
propeity before John Rogers began suit for it.
He showed that in 1850 an owner of the
property had willcd it TO his brother, if he
"shall die without issue." That brother had
daughter, and she left the estate by will in
1870 to her daughter, who sold If to the elder
Ingalls, But the daughter who left 1t Ivy will
had not in law the right to DO so. The will
of 1850, containing the phrase above quoted,
was meant to give the estate 10 the heirs at
law. The daughter to whom the property had
been wilicd in 1870 was not the heir; Peter
Rogers WAS His son, John Rogers, sued
for the estate and recovered it in 1860 from
the brothers Jones. Then young lawyer
went to studying the case. lie went back OF
| 1850 to 171O and found that the property had
then passed by deed which conveyed the
land to one johnson; but the document did
not say, as il usual "to his heirs" C0nsc-
ouently, when Johnson died, the estate reverted
TO the man who sold it to him, or rather, to
his heirs These heirs were found real
estate operator in Boston supplied the funds
for the suit, bought of the heirs for a trite,
won the case, and gained possession. When
the fire swept over the property he bought II
lot alongside, and erected on both lots large,
deep, substantial stores.
Meanwhile Mr.. ingalls,, the first Of the list of
owners, had been studying the title to his lost
| property in records of yet earlier date. He
found that in 1860 it had been wiled on the
condition that certain portion of it should
never be built upon. This condition had been
violated in rebuilding after the fire. Stranger
! still, Mr.. ingalls, found that the testatOr of
1900 was his ancestor, and that he, ingalls,,
was the direct heir. He brought suit against the
real estate operator. The latter it is said con-
suited the spirits and was advised to COM
promise on the best terms attainable. Mr.
ingalls, received back his property in the
ground and gave mortgage for the building,
finding himself on the whole much richer
man than at first. The mortgage was subse
quently transferred and Mr.. Ingals's title again
thoroughly searched and pronounced perfect.
In the long list of transfers Of real estate which
appear every day in our coumna, how many