Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1880-08-06
STRANGER THAN FRICTION.
4 Lawsuit Involving Si,OOO.00O
Worth OF Property Tildeu's
Claim &c the business Portion or
Toledo.
Dispatch il Cincinnati Enquirer.

The title to suit now before the
courts of Ohio is Tilden W. Hayes ct A.,
the parties litigant being no less per
sonages than Judge Myron A. Iilden,
of Ohio. cousin Of eX-Gov. Samuel J.
Tilden. and President Rutherford b.
Hayes. Chief-Justice Waite, and the
late Senator Ben Wade, of Ohio. The
suit is of great magnitude, involving rs
it does the title To one of the principal
business portions of the City of Toledo,
now valued nj several millions Of dol
lars.
The facts in connection with this suit
~ traced back rs far rs ISL. show that
about that wear there lived IN Baltl-
more sea captain named Ford, who
married widow by the name of Lovey
Buskirt, who was the mother, rs she
claimed of daughter named Emelinc.
Capt. Ford. shortly after his marriage.
vent ON privateering cruise Finally,
returning home, an cstrangement took
place between himself and Wife and III
ISL he went west and located land
warrants. one of which was nj the
mouth of the Maumce river. which is
now the site Of the City Of Toledo. lie
again returned to Baltimore and en-
deavorcd to reconcile matters with his
wife, but being unsuccessful, he enlist
cd as lieutenant III the navy Of Mexico,
i'll which service he died intestatc in
the year 1872
His wife remained in Baltimore and
being the mistress Of a noted house Of
ill-repute. The girl Emelinc showed Il
IishnsitIA,, 10 fNllA,t INT tho f,AtstA,,S e
her rcpnted mother, but afterward mar
rled, and is now dead.
At the time of the death of Capt
Ford the only known heirs to his estate
were his wife and mother and sister
who were living i'll the New England
states. About twelve or thirteen years
subsequent to the death of Capt. Ford
persons came to Baltimore in search Of
his heirs They found Mrs Ford, and
she represented To them that Emclne
was the legitimate and only child of
Capt Ford and herself For a small
sum She conveyed to these parties her
dowry interest, and caused Emeline to
convey the fee The sister of Mrs
Ford, who was privy to the transaction,
begged her sister not to make the con
yeyance, and entrcated her to disclose
to Emeline the true story of her par
entage. Mrs. Ford refused to. do this,
and the sister, for private reasons, said
nothing more on the subject.
In 1875 those holding the Baltimore
title became uneasy, and proceedings
commenced at Toledo to quiet title,
Lawyers were sent to Baltimore to take
testimony. They visited the sister of
Mrs Ford, Elizabeth johnson, who
lived ut Cristield. Mrs. Johnson after
a series of questions, said that she had
kept the secret for fifty years, and
could not keep ii any longer, and in
whole matter When, finally she was
asked as to the parentage Of the girl
Emeline, She said: II am the mother
Of Emelne, and her father WAS an Irish
sea-captain, who left Baltimore shortly
after her birth She also said that ut
the birth of the child she was only Is
years old, and that her sister had hid
her shame for her.
After obtaining the direct and valu-
able testimony, Mr.. Handy advised Mr..
LYMAN to return to Ohio, file peti
ton in the court of common pleas to
have the deere quieting the title set
aside on the ground that it was obtained
Ivy the means Of fraudulent and forged
dispositions; also that Judge Tlden
bring suit in the United States Circuit
Court at Cleveland to recover possession
of the property, valued ut $1,000, 900
This was done, and, rs stated above,
the suits are still in progress, and will
be probably reached in the respective
courts 1T the next fall term. Old Mrs
johnson has since died