The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-07-30
4 Lawsuit with a Romance.
4 WOMAN KEEPING a SECRET FIFTY TEARS
MILLIONS or DOLLARS INVOLVED
PROMINENT PERSONS CONNECT
ED WITH THE CASE.

]
PROMINENT PERSONS CONNECT
ED WITH THE CASE
/ The Baltimore SIM SAYS there is now pend
/ ING in the courts Of Ohio a suit involving sew
eral millions of dollars in real estate, and
which, besides bringing some Of the most
prominent men in the country, including
I President Hayes, Chief Justice Waite, Judge
/ Tilden, and others, forward rs contestants,
has an intensely romantic history connected
/ with il, in which a Maryland family consti-
I tute the principal characters. The story goes
I that some time in the year 1912 q Captain
/ Ford, of this city, was married 10 one LOvey
Buskirt, a widow formerly Miss LOyeyWard,
/ Of Somerset, county. Nd. Shortly after his
marriage Capt Ford is said % have left Bal
/ tmOre IN command Of pTivatecr which was
+ captured by the British Captain Ford was
& taken captive and placed in Dartmoor prison,
where he remained for some time. but final
~ escaped by tunneling his way out. He
went 10 Sweden, and after the close Of the
war returned TO this city, having been gone
about three years. On his return he found
bis wife living IN good style. lie also found
that there was an addition TO the household
IN the person OF q lovely little girl, whom his
neighbOrs said was the captains and Mrs.
FOrd's child, but whom some Of their most
intimate acquaintanccs, il is alleged, declared
was an illegitimate child. The captain and
his wife, however, claimed the child rs their
. own offspring. Capt. Ford did not long re-
main inactive, but soon after his return fit
ted out SLAYER and made several trips TO
-AtAlNfls 4dlA4li- lAlo llhll4 GhlENf-o III Alll0
country, at Charleston. Savannah, and Cuba
Returning home again. his wife is said 20
have bccOme jealous Of him Capt Ford
then LEFT the house again, and went West
where ne located q number Of land warrants,
among which was one at the Indian block
house, or fort, ut the mouth OF the Maumee
river, then (ISlT) wilderness, now the site
OF the city Of Toledo. 1t is over the owner
ship Of this property that the suits are pend
ing. Captain Ford, after an absence Of
three years, came TO Baltimore once more,
iUt finding his wife determined not 20 have
anything TO DO with him, ne left, going to
Mexico, where he entered the navy Of that
country, and served as a lieutenant until
1922, when he died iutestlte. His only kins-
people, so far rs known, were his wife, Low
ey, his mother and sisters, living in one Of
the New England States, and his so-callef
child, the little gill, whose name was Eme-
line
IN 1855 or 1884 persons from the West came
her" and commenced search Tor tie heirs
- Capt, Ford To these persons &c was al
legged that NlrS. BuSkirt, or Ford, represent
ed that Emc'iue was the legitimate and only
child OF Capt. Ford and selling her dowery
interest 20 the Toledo land To Them. she caus-
et Emeljue To convey the fee receiving for
% q small sum Of money. There was living
with AiTS. Buskirt q sister named Elizabeth
Ward. VINO 10 is claimed begged Mrs BusEirt
10 UudPCciye Emciue and TO tell her whose
child she really WIS, SO that a fraud upon
the purchasers of the property might be pre-
vented.
Meanwhile. another party, observing the
growing importance of Toledo. inquired as
10 the title to Ford'S property then vacant
and ungurlC~el. After investigating TO some
extent Capt. FOrdS fifr. this second party
came TO the conclusion that the captain had
lcft no legitimate children. and so purchased
the title OF the property from Captain Ford's
mother and sisters Ia the course OF time u
happened That Ben Wade got an interest in
the property and sent some Of his agents
there 10 see that the title was clear. These
gupTrG found the marriage record of
Ford and IOyey BuSkiTt i'm old s. Paul's
parish record. After a great deal Cf fight
ing in the Ohio courts between the owners
OF the two tIt!eS, the case was finally decreed
in favor Of the Baltimore title, dispositions
having been returned 10 the court alleging
that Elizabeth Ward had sworn that Eme-
line was the legitimate daughter Of Capt
Ford and his wife LOvey
About year afterwards, however, Eliza
beth Ward, who was then married 10 a man
named Johnson, and was living near Marion.
few miles from Cri~feld, Somerset county,
Nd, saw an account Of the decision in
Baltimore paper, and was heard To- declare
that great wrong had been committed, and
that she and she alone could right it. To
Alr. John II. Handy, OF this city, and Mr..
Hyman, western lawyer, who called TO see
her, she refused to disclose anything rs TO
who the real parents were, but persisted in
saying that she never said she was the daurh-
ter OF EPI sister, wheTguUon Mr.. Hyman fill
ed petition to set aside the decree on the
ground that IL was obtained by forged and
fraudulent testimony.
Judge Iilden, q cousin Of Samuel !. Til
den, and the principal person conc erued.
then brought suit to recover possession of the
property lost by the decree; after which
Judge Irving, of this State, by special com
mission, took testimony to sustain the case.
After = great deal Of hard and slillful work
Mr.. Handy succeeded 1t last in 1877, in get
ting Mrs. johnson, rec Elizabeth Ward, TO
make statement in which She acknowledges
Emeiine was her own daughter, the child OF
an Irish sea-captain who freJueuted Capt
Ford'S wife. To cover her sisters disgrace
Can't. FOrd's wife had decla red 10 the world
that Emeline was her own child, and as such
she lived for many years.
And so at last the secret was disclosed
Emeline was married TO q former captain oF
an oyster pUnEy, who Is now living IN this
city. Her mother, Elizabeth Ward, died at
her house, in Somerset county, last year
Mrs. Buskirt has been dead many years.
4 great railway depot has been buil5 on
The Toledo property uud eT the Baltimore
title, and, 1t is said, nearly 800 dwellings. It
cOmpr ises almost all Of the fifth ward of that
city. \ large number Of persons are direct
IS or Indirectly concerned in the case.