The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-04-26
Swindling English Capitalists.
LANDS IN VIRGINIA VALUED AT S450,0
SOLD by A MAN WHO DIDN T OWN THEN.

LANDS IN VIRGINIA VALUED AT $50, 900
SOLD BY MAN WHO DIDN T OWN THEM.
A great fraudulent sale Of lands in Vir
ginia and West Virginia has just led to the
arrest OF Abram Suydam, q lawyer OF New
York. who seems to have an unsayory rec
ord. The New York papers state that
seven years ago he was arrested for bur-
glary, and four years ago for perjury. The
arrest was made ut the instance OF James
Madison Flagg, who is said to be Il real es-
tate agent in New York, and who is more
or less favorably known III Chicago The
facts, in brief, appear to be these Last
winter Mr.. Elleshousen, OF Nova Scotia,
visited New York while on his way to
England. Through him, and at the sug-
gestion Of several New York lawyers in
good standing, Capt. Berwick Cunning
ham, of London, on the recommendation
of Elleshousen who joined him in the pur-
chase, entered into a contract with Flagg
to buy six hundred thousand acres of land
in Virginia and West Virginia for one hun
bred and twenty-five thousand dollars. lie
paid six thousand dollars down to bind the
bargain, and, without waiting for verifi-
cation of the title, proceeded ut one to
England to interest other capitalists in the
development Of the property: The lands
which Flagg alleged he bought through
Suydam purpOrted to be- rs the deeds were
made to show, in Wyoming and Mcdowell
counties, West Virginia, and Russell, Wise
and Buchanan counties, Virginia. Ac-
cording to the accounts given Of them fhev
are of rich soil, and have magnificent tim
Der and valuable but unWorked mines Of
coal and minerals. The scheme of Capt.
Cunningham and MI. ElleshOusen was to
run railroad through the country, colo
niZe it with agriculturists from Scotland,
clear off the timber, and develop the min
eral resources. After paying the first in
stalment of the purchase money Capt. Gun
ningham went with Mr.. Elleshousen from
London to Scotland to secure the services
of MI. Dallas, OF the firm of Pringle, Dali
las Il Co., to examine the titles of the lands
and those OF IN expert in timber. They
came to New York Il month ago, and en-
gagged a competent mineralogist and sur
yeyor and all went to Virginia, when, to
use Capt. Cunningham S words, the titles
were discovered to be AL darned fans.
The way i'll which this very unsatisfactory
conclusion was reached was this While
Messrs. Cunningham and Elleshousen were
abroad perfecting their scheme of settle
ment they engaged Mr.. ID. Forbes Dallas,
Il lawyer of Edinbtlrg, Scotland, to make Il
thorough investigation of the Virginia
lands. Mr.. Dallas, with two assistants,
reached New FORK about the close of March
last, and after consulting with a law firm
in that city proceeded to Abingdon. which
was the nearest point to the lands in ques-
ton. The investigation which followed
revealed that one of the abstracts of the
title given to Capt. Cunningham-involv
ing three hundred thousand acres of land
was almost entirely false. Mr.. Dickinson,
the clerk OF the court in Russell county,
Va, declared that certain pages had been
inserted in the abstract, after his official
signature had been attached. Other irreg-
ularities concerning the abstracts were
discovered, including the forgery OF sigma
lures. In none of the cases was any title
found in the person of Mr.. Flagg, the re-
puted owner of the lands. In the case of
TIE three hundred Thousand acres, Mr.
Dallas traced the.titleS to third parties and
on the face Of the records those parties APP
pearcd to be the lawful owners of the prop
erts. The investigating party returned to
New y Ork and instructed the law firm en-
gagged by Capt. Cunningham to take imme-
diate steps for the detection of the frauds
Many OF the papers furnished by Mr.. Dali
las were found to be in the handwriting of
Suydam, and at an interview with Flagg
the latter stated that Suydam had been EN-
ployed by him rs a broker opurchase lands
in Virginia and West Virginia, and also us
counsel to examine and report upon the
titles. Mr.. Flagg asserted that the pay
ments for the lands alleged to have been
purchased by him were made in cash mot
in checks through Suydam. He did not
take any receipts from Suydam, and he had
no personal knowledge of the disposition
made of the money which he said that he
gave to Suydam, further than the fact that
he received some papers which Suydam told
him were deeds to the property in Virginia
and West Virginia. The story told by
Flagg was regarded as unsatisfactory, and
being hard pressed he offered to comprO-
mise by deciding over fifteen lots he said he
owned in Chicago. A telegram sent to
Chicago brought the information that
Flagg did not ownthe property he claimed, |
and no settlement was effected, and Fagg
was then IN measure, compelled to pros
ecute Suydam hence the criminal proceed |
ings. After his arrest Suydam refused to |
say u word about himself or the case but |
when he was locked up in the Jefferson
Market Police Court prison, it is said The |
sent a message to Flagg that their inter- |
ests were identical, and that it might be |
well to combine and fight to defeat the |
Scotchman." Whether there was or was
not collision between Flagg and Suydam, |
the hating explanations given by the for
mer, and the fact that he did not own the
Chicago lots he rendered to Captain Gun
bingham, certainly lay him open to grave
suspicious. However this may be, the
whole story as given in the New York pa
pers is an illustration of the credulity and
easy dupery of Englishmen who have money
to spare and who are eager to seize upon
what appears to be on the surface prom
Using speculation. If Captain Cunning
ham had taken tie simple precaution to |
ascertain whether Flagg's title to the land
was good before ne paid down six thousand |
dollars us earnest money he would not only |
have saved that sum but also the subse- |
quent expenses to which he was put abroad, |
and which make, according to his own ac-
count, his total outlay about thirty thous- |
and dollars. Moreover it is well known |
that large bodies of land in West Virginia |
are shingled over with patents some of |
them have been sold for taxes, others are
in Il muddle of cross deeds, and in many
cases the unravelling of the title would tax |
the best skill of the best lawyer in the |
States.
Frightful Cyclone.
a special dispatch from Wesson, Miss, |
dated the sd, othe New Orleans Pcdpuae |
gives a graphic account of a frightful cy-
clone which passed over that section. 1t |
says: "A cyclone struck Beauregard and |