Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-08-20

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When William II. English of Indiana had
been nominated for President on the
ticket with Hancock, the correspondent of
the Times telegraphed from Cincinnati that
English was very unpopular in his own Stale
on account of the greed he had shown in ac-
quiring money, and especially for the cold
blooded manner in which he had foreclosed
mortgages held by him upon the property OF
his neighbors To this it was answered that
English was ''the poor mans friend" a cor
respondent of the Cincinnati Commercial has
furnished nearly an entire page of testimony
as to his character as ''poOr mans friend,
taken mainly from the official records of the
County Clerks office These are in the shape
of list of 1S5 suits of judgment and fore
closure of mortgage entered since the panic
another list of As sheriff's deeds from the
Sheriff OF Marion county to William H. Eng
| lish 80 deeds issued under foreclosure 10
tax deeds from the city of Indianapolis to
William III. English and 90 tax deeds from
the County Auditor of Marion county to
| William H. English. The records reveal
the interesting fact that rarely did Mr.. Eng
\ lish. when buying under the hammer, bid
the full amount of his mortgage, thus leaving
IN individual judgment against nearly every
one of his unfortunate creditors. Nearly 800
/ pieces of frst-class real estate have have
gathered in by this poor mans friend"
through the medium of foreclosures and tax
sales.
The correspondent gives three cases as
illustrating the manner in which these oper-
ations were performed, the sufferer in the
first case being a Republican, in the second
a National, and the third Democrat. Capt
J. Bieler, an employe in the postofiice. said
'Some six years since l purchased for
$4,000 two lots from James Frank who had
laid out an addition on land bought from VII
liam II. English. knew Frank intimately,
and had so much confidence in him that |
was careless about looking at the abstract Of
title, Is he said all was right. | paid part
down, and altogether raid 81 600, and then
had a chance TO sell the property TO good
advantage, but the would-be purchaser
found that English held first or blanket
mortgage over the whole addition. l then
went to him and asked him 10 release it, Of
fcring TO pay extra my pro rata OF the mort
gage. when he said he would not do it, as the
mortgage was not due until 1880, and he would
see about it then. This was in 1876 or 1877.
In the mean time Frank had turned over 10
him my last two notes, and | told English
that unless he released the mortgage | would
not pay another cent, as he might come on
me for any amount he saw tit in 1880. He
l,.a \
| foreclOsed on the lots. bid them in himself
and secured an additional personal judgment
against me Of $1,000. When | learned this
| went 10 his office and asked what | owed
81, 900 for; that | had paid him 81 600, and
| that he had the lots back, and what more
could he ask He said what he asked was
| his money, and he proposed 10 have ii, AMI
that right away. | then told him what |
| thought of his robbery, and he ordered n'c
out of his Office. had Il small harness sboi'
on Delaware street, anG WAS compelled 10 g.
into bankruptcy
Charles W. Moody, formerly a druggist,
said to the correspondent
In 49,; or 1871 | was in business Il, the
intcrs, ,ction of Indiana avenue and Tennes-
see street and owned the building Was
doing well, but concluded to add 20 my
building. and. as had little extra money,
and there was Il large amount of building
going ON. | thought | would buy some
ground and start Il brickyard, and that.
thereby, could make the brick for my house
free of cost. | accordingly bought ten acres
south of town. from b. +. Heffgen, for
$3.50 per acre. and paid on the property
sl,5o0, lcavin. two trst-mortgage notes Of
81 900 each yet unpaid. These Hetfgen
sold TO English, and on them | paid until
| owed him S69S. 45 according 10 my
figuring. also paid the taxes, and this was
the only incumbrance on the ground In the
meantime there WAS no sale for brick, busi-
ness was dull. AMI though worked night
and day was unable 10 meet the interest.
English then foreclosed, ami though met
him at the court house, and on the steps
asked him To be lenient. that was doing all
mortal man could do. and that would pay
him as soon as possible. he said; and these
are his exact words: II eoL. don't harry ap
and pay me tiistCr, I sriN dyiUe gOU % heH
dad gone p
But this is not ALL" continued Mr.,
Moody. "he bought in the property and
closed my drug store on a personal judgment
of $500. How he got that | could not dis
cover, until | found that the notes were
'gold-bearing, and that he had eXacted the
premium When he closed my store other
creditors of course came and was ruined
At that time | considered myself, and WAS
woiih clear OF everything, So, 5,0GO, and ELL
Engii.a ruined me-
The correspondent NEXT ,isitei an old
German named George Schriter, who has
also felt the grip of the iron hand;
lie was formerly in the saloon business
and owned ihrec-story brick building on
Washington street, opposite the court house,
and is an honest, hard working man. lie is
now quite fcc,'lc, and when talking Of his
business with English grows yer, excited
According To his statement, he IrC.d his
property with the Octopus for tU'r huuS's
and six lots in English's addition, and suhs'-
qurntly mortgage d the property, w.ic', ~S-
valued by English m the l:adr Al : 10 t1i ~
him fOT 81 $40 10 pay IA security dat Tn"
inevitable foreclosure followed, and VII
friends helped to redeem the property or the
last day there was M item of 800 for attor-
ney's tees for his son, who attended the case.
The poor mans friend also exacted the
full penalty On the tax certificate which
Sehrit,,r Iyus unable In take nm On .crn;iut