The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-11-14
THE HAVEMEYER DISPUTE.
,oys or 4 MAYOR or NEW FORK AC-
'V cUsED OF SHARP PRA CTICE.


.-r,,, over Family Property Developing
go Family Feud-FishtInE "a Out In the
"..yt.-How the Trouble was BeEun-A
~. ~ Long Island Railroad History,
aHsyemeyer against Havemeyer is the
,..,pd. telling Of bitter family quarrel. pre-
ted BY the calendar OF Part |. Of the SUI
,,,or Court. On the 22d OF August. 1874
w., Uavemeyer, brother Of tho late Mayor
,y.w York. died in this city. William A. and
snry O. a son and cousin. became the ad-
Snis,rators OF his estate. In that capacity
Sav instituted a suit in 1876. based upon
.h.,oes OF fraud and deceit in connection with
N. long Island Railroad Company. against
,hor cousins. John c. and Henry Havemeyer.
.ons Of tho late Mayor. and within tho past
,o., attained judgment against thcm for
,so7ii The suit now on trial before Judge
Van Worst is instituted pv Henrietta s. Have
MAYER. a niece OF tho late Mayor. against tho
,sme defendants. For the plaintiff appears
John L. Parsons. who was counsel In tho other
case. and the defendants are represented by
Judge Porter. Nelson }. Waterbury. and MIR.
Bangs.
When Albert Havemeyer. the Mayors brother.
died. he was in possession OF ll.l96 shares OF
stock Of the Long Island Railroad Company. OF
the par value Of $50 share. Otthcse. 6'ooo be-
Ioneed TO him absolutely. and in the rest. 4.241.
he had an interest equal TO their value. Will
liar, A. and Henry o. acquired control OF this
stock as administrators. Al the same tlmo mo
defendants. John C. and Henry, rs executors OF
their fathers estate. and otherwise. were In
control Of 9776 shares The entire capital stock
OF the road consisted OF $4,000 shares. Oliver
Charlick who had persuaded the Havemeycrs
10 invest in the stock. was running the road.
and the Havemeyer family came to the conclu-
siOn that il would be wise to try, with their
twenty thousand and odd shares. TO get control
81 the road themselves.
The complaint il the suit Instituted iSnt by
agreed with the defendants to combine for
this purpose, as well as with general view OF
d:posinS 81 their stock sdysnIiSSEteoqEy
porunty Of selling their stock was offered by
kdoph Poppenhuscn who had control OF the
south sides OF Long Island. Hc was DESTROYS
Of getting possession OF the Central road, boz
cause that would enable him to run the three
more probably than he could expect to do while
The hostile competition existed. He was ready
tobuy enough shares TO give him n controlling
Interest. and the shares held by the Have
meyers would have answered his purpose. or
the shares belonging 70 either estate, with a
Nm az the comnlnint says either estate n, a
In aposition to sell out the other. while the two
combined could give the control to Poppen-
the cold To get the best of Charlick the repre-
sentatlvcs Of both estates considered no moro
HSyemeyers into investing In the stock. which
siierward they could not dispose OF ex-
eept at q loss. Under these circumstances. the
complaint says, the defendants agreed that
neither estate should sell its stock without tho
o,her.
In April. 1875. the two estates combined to
vote Oliver Charick out, and John G. Have
meyer was elected President OF tho road. and
Henry Hayemeyer was made member OF the
Executive Committee OF the Board Of Directors.
Prior to that time the plaintiffs. William A, ana
Henry o.. commenced negotiations with Pop
ceived an offer for the combined stock OF the
TWO estates that they deemed satisfactory. and
Informed the defendants OF It. The latter pro-
fessed. the complaint says, TO be unwilling n
sell. The plaintiffs. had they chosen. could
have got stock enough from other holders to
DO so on the promise OF the defendants thai
they would stand by the common interest OF the
tive estates, and that neither should sell unless
plant alleges. the defendants secretly placed
themselves in communication with Poppen.
Guiding the Charlick interest, at low figure
and while the plaintiffs were confdingly wait
sn Of sh sqs rSRPe
cent OF its par value. about 81 400 900. BY this
stratagem they made heavy profit on the stock
bought UP by them. sold their own at n hand
some price. and left the plaintiffs entirely out
Another allegation OF the complaint was that
having entire control Of the Long Island road
the defendants had reduced its fares 10 a very
low figure. TO the damage OF its stockholders
husen. II he wanted to avoid the ruinous com.
petition. 70 buy their stock quickly.
husen's purchase Is represented TO have be-
some worth in the market not oyer forty per
tween this value and seventy five per cent
which was the price that the defendants OBJ
TIMED and that the plaintiffs could also have
obtained. had the agreement set forth In their
complaint been carried out. they sued claim
ing Judgment for the damage thus caused to
the al shares held by Albert Hayemeyer in
trust They recovered judgment for the full
amount of their demand, $50 III An appeal
was taken and, for technical errors in the nd
fniaeiOn and pNpluaiOn Of aVidoppa and N tho
charge TO the Jury. the verdict was set aside
and new trial ordered, The defendants have
supplied themselves with new and strong ar
ray OF counsel. and very hard struggle II to be
made 70 prevent second verdict against them.
The SUIT now on trial. in which Henrietta \.
Havemeyer is plaintiff is based upon the same
allegations as the iormersuit. In that case judg-
mentwas given for che loss 10 424l shares OF the
lll96 owned by Albert Havemeyer. Henrietta
,, sues Tor the damage 10 her part OF the estate.
some 300 shares, and seeks judgment for an
amount that with interest will approach
$4,000. Several other suits by other members
9tthe family are also pending. The Long Island
Railroad stock owned by Albert Havemeyer was
Consisting OF his widow one unmarried and two
married daughters. ana son under age. had 70
look mainly 10 that for their income. II is said
. have been steadily decreasing in value since
The sale to Poppenhusen. aud 10 be worth to-day
Only about twenty per cent. Of It's par value.
In all these suits the defendants deny that the
agreement between them and their cousins. the
sdministre,ors Of Albert Havemeyer,,s estate,
over agreement they did make was terminated
before their sale 10 Poppenhusen.
Henry o. Havemeyer has. thus far. been the
only witness in the suit now on trial. He was
eross-eXamined on Tuesday. His residence
is IN Fifth avenue. and he belongs 10 the
ttngar-reilnlng. frm OF Havemeyer 4 Elder
had with the defendants at the time Poppenhu-
sens offer 70 buy their combined stock WIS
made, and testified that he had said to them
Now, we have no writing between us you
Know but this Is an important matter and
tpere ought not TO be any change, sales, or pur-
clhsfs oil stock To this he that .IOln
Hayemeyer replied warmly: Honor bright
Harry"
Mr.. NORM4N'S QUEER RING.