, 1880-03-14
BIG LAND SUITS.
Richard T. Thomas Going for the
Foss Property Near Jeffer-
son Park,
Prospects Of an Immense Amount Of
Litigation for Other Lands.

Yesterday Wesley and William II. Stsson. at
torneys for tha heirs of Jesse B. Thomas. again
filed suit OF e1cctmcnt In the Circuit Court
Clerk s Office, On behalf Of Richard 7. Thomas.
10 secure possession OF the trnct OF real estate
lying Immediately north Of Jefferson Park, COM
prlsing whole squire, and known as the Foss
property. The claim is made upon the same
ground as that Of the suit entered the day be-
lore oy the same parties for tho purpose OF
securing possession Of Jeffcreont Park, an ac-
count OF which case appeared In TIE TR1BuSE
yesterday morning.
There are seven Of the direct heirs Of Jesse B,
Thomas, all his children, a. follows: Richard
I. Thomas, Jesse B. Thomas Clara F. Thomas,
George ". Thomas, Mary 4. Thomas, Lucy E..
Thomas, and Ella a. Thomas The defendants
IN the last case are Robert q. Foss, Fred D. Foss
John P. Foss, William II. Foss, Eliza Foss
widow, Pliney E. Merrill. Neil Weir, and Kate
Lathrop.
These two suits, which have been put into the
Circuit Court by Richard r. Thomas, are simply
1orerunaers Of great mnny Of like nature
which will follow closely. Tho single complain
aut brings suit to recover an undivided seventh
Of both pieces ct property, Park and
tho Foss property,-t being considered that
these will make the strongest cases, for the rea-
son that neither tract has ever been subdivtdeti,
and both the city and tue Fossos are tho direct
FAAeoaoCAoo VI LILO P1oPSi ~ III fAc AuHlnlStIIl-
tors sale OF the estate, and consequently there
are no innocent purchasers to figure in the
transaction and no plea Of equity.
On Monday Or Tuesday Of this week suit will
tho owners for tic recovery ora strip Of land ia
Hugh Maher's Subdivision, scventy-fiyc feot
wide, between Fourteenth and Sixteenth streets.
;s,. e the iake: e1nosacins; about tSi!ty
he erlgaai sqsssy q this Pisee Of Pzoperty aass
As stated in yesterdays TRIBUNE, the plaintiff
claims right to all this property on the ground
departed from tho ownership of the heirs was
made upon an order from the County Court,
which the Courts we're then acting,
WAS ILLEGAL AND VOID,
1nasmuch as it was therein provided that the
Circuit Court only should order Il sale Of real
estate tor the payment Of debts Of an estnte.
provided that such sale of real estate should
only be made after the personally Of the estate
was exhausted. and then that only enough
ness. They will doubtless attempt to show that
Judge Thop1as-who was the owner Of vnst
quantities Of real estate, both IN and about this
being in the City Of Springfe1d-was indepcnd-
ent, did not owe dollar, and that the admins
ator s9d eyeEy f1os Of the property az be
Inference drawn can only be to tho effect TINT
the administrator, DR.. Levi D. Boone, who is at
present alive and residing ia this vicinity, was
guilty Of dupllcity in managing his estate. lis
said that he wns an uuclo Of Mrs. Thomas, the
widow Of the deceased, and that the manage
nent Of the entire estate Was left by the heirs in
her hands and that OF the administrator. The
point Is also raised, which will not bo dwelt
upon, that the titles to and deeds Of the several
tacts OF land sold are defective in themselves,
they not being properly signed and sttcstcd..
1t Is further claimed by the contestants that
the heirs are all poor, having been left pennfless
in tho bad management Of the estate, and that
while they desire to recover portion nt lcnsr Of
the property which belonged to their father, they
do not desire to work hardship upon
any innocent purchaser, or to take
advantage of any simple technfcality tn acquire
possession Of the property. As before inttmatod,
the suits already commenced are but the har-
b1nge:s Of others 70 follow, which will Involve
the right Of proprietorship in hundreds Of lots
in su5divlded sections in this city! and acres
upon acres Of land In the State. The contem-
plation OF the amount involved seems almost
like dream, so great is the magnitude. The
attorneys for the petitioners point Significantly
to the fact that the original purchasers OF tracts
OF this real estate who are now in possession Of
the same-the city Of Chicago and the Fosses-
have never subdiyfded the property. but hare
left the parcels intact and have paid taxes upon
the same through all these years without der1T-
iQE any benefit therefrDn.