The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-11-02
THE TEXAS LAND THIEVES.
An Organization Dsvotsd to Arson, Fore
gerry, e.
Tflhinapn Times /
[Chicago Times |

In various ways tie Texas land gang in
circumstances, to diyus ths secrets or sgueala
upon one another. To make It profitable rlfk
Gus ways to mid the o. ief operators, it is to be
und RS ood that. as the number OF members
Increased, there was . scofresgpnding aetiyity in
70 t9s Bant dssds s % prpes
were printed in Kansas City. Ham 1purehasing
duplicai the original documents.
The whole operations Of the gang were OF
such q nature as TO o cite the suspicion OF dis
interested parties in Texas, as we'll as Of the
owners Of lands who had returned to find thsIn-
selves in some way disp & e. sstd q i ealTs ~ 9 g
Hu bard Of Texas. being called TO the matter
about q year ago. he eaustd On Investigation %
Pc ms We N ~ The 4 pss H. o. ba
Coming to their knowledge, they set fbout TO
destroy the records. Soon there began o mys-
terious burning of courthonses in which public
records Of titles TO lands we're usually. kept. In
other p aces pages were cut from the record
books, and in various ways mefnbsrs of .gs tho
gang sought to destrov evidence OF their guilt
II is even asserted that Ham was In Washington
previous TO the fire iH the patent offtte wn6Te1u
In addition 70 models Of inventors. @ are g, sfored
records Of original land grants from the gov
ernm6nt. a
But this is not all. Graver charges are made.
na great eensprsey ag 70 Which, Il properly exposed
bids fair to rival the great whisky ring expose
These charges arc t0uL ded on tnOSG faefSs
There has been well organized system Of
forgery in full practice in this Western country
for tie rast eight or nine years The same Or
ganizatiop which is now fore ng the Texas land
scrip on the market has been perpefratinN
some OF the most terrible forgeTies ever per<
petrated r. is for being cont egted with this
conspiracy that Ham,. Miller and Btevens
were arrested here yesterday and taken to Texas
| At the same time that they were arrested
! twenty or thirty persons we're arrested IN sts
| Louis, st. Joseph, Chicago and Indianapolis.
| The mode OF working by the gang IL this. They
| have agents in each district. with attorneys In
| the ei les. An old man or old woman OF wealth
| falls sick and the doctors give her or him no as
| likely to die In some places the gang have a.
doctor as one Of their agents. and ne assures
| the deaEssf the victim at the proper times "A
| personassIving been assured to die, and the
| gang having examined the recordsvof the props
erty belonging 10 thg doomed person. the heirs
gang. Then deeds are preparedsm due
| form and &yomhn or man - eacn
members Of the ing appeared before o 1ns-
| tiPe or notary, and#he d3 ing mans property u
| duly decided away before his death, his naTSa5
forged and that Of his wife. and the same placed
on record. This business has been and is being
| carried on all over the country Just now and
| lawsuits over dead mems estates are growing
| up all over the land. In Kansas City two or
| three heavy suits are charged to the working Of
| this far reaching conspiracy, 1t js. charged
that the parties lately arrested are all Interest,"
| ed In these forgeries, but that will be decided
on their arrival in Texas.