Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-12-24

SEEKING sHADOWY SUMS.
The Fortunes spent by People who Be-
Iieve Themselves Heirs to Great
Fstates-A Glance into the English
Court of Chancery.
Thousands of dollars have been spent
within the last quarter of century by
people Of moderate means in endeayoring
to become possessors of estates in England
supposed to have been left by persons who
died years ago. So largely has this theory
been entertained that it has developed
into a sort of mania. and the records show
that several people are now inmates Of
asvlums. made insane in their attempt to
grasp a fortune which never existed, and
if it did, had long before their time
dwindled to an insignificant value.
The revival Of the Hazard case, inyolv-
ing. II is claimed. about SlS,OO0,OOO, IN
Bristol. England. with a long accumula-
ton of interest. and TO which there are
number of ambitious heirs in this eoun-
try. including two or three in this city, is
very likely but another case OF estate
hunting which, when 1t is colored up and
the property of the self-styled heirs is
sunk in prosecuting, will prove-like hum
dreds of Others-withOut the slightest
foundation.
An eminent lawyer in England is said
to be working on the case. While this
may be true, and this particular estate. II
there is anv, may be transmitted down the
ancestral line to the aspiring heirs, the his
tory of hundreds of others goes to show
tina 1.-THE pet theory OF an English estate Is
usually an igHiS fdtuuS. a large fortune
in England with a line of ancestors trace
able back to somewhere near is orlgl-
nal possessors is an inspiring thing to
think about. The Unborn desire for wealth
and the natural weakness of mankind are
taken advantage of in many instances by
unscrupulOus lawyers by shrewd and
well devised means. The man with an
ancestral history needs but little encour-
agement to spend his moneyin the hope
of acquiring great wealth. and in this way
a fortune is turned to the shrewd limbs of
the law. ''The truth isl said pIomi-
nent lawyer to a MORNING News repor-
ter, ''the people who usually seek their
fortunes in English estates, show little dis
cernment and are very readily the prey OF
designing sharks"
ITO what do you attribute this mania"
inquired the reporter.
1T is easily explained" was the reply.
every many Americans can easily trace
their ancestry back 10 England, and many
in the Olden times have had wealthy per-
sons in the family. But because one
branch of the family happens to be
wealthy, it is no certainty that every
other branch was also rich. These people
have heard their grandfather say that his
great-uncle's reat-grandfather was a
wealthy bachelor and died without issue,
leaving a large estate which had never
been claimed; consequently, when they
/ read a speciOus advertisement calling for
information about the family of Tom
Jones or Bill Smith, they fall readily into
the trap"
Chow can it be ascertained whether a
| person is an heir to an estate in Eng
landr'
'.AIl wills in England are registered,
the country being divided into eleven dis
tricts, each district having a Register.
When a man dies and leaves a will, that
document is registered in the district in
which the deceased resided, and copy is
also placed in the records at the Somerset
House in London. In order to trace out
an estate 1t is necessary to search these
records and get copy of the will
''Is that difficult thing to doY
sit is, for the reason that no one is al
lowed to copy from the records except a
person in government employ. 1t requires
a fee-tO be paid in revenue stamps-tO
| gain access to the records, and if you
wish a copy it must be obtained from the
government at high prices. 1t costs,
generally, from 910 to 915 to get copy"
Cannot the London lawyers copy these
wiIls?,
mo. People here write to a London
lawyer about an estate, and he has to
employ government officials to get him a
copy. This makes it very expensive"
care there many estates without law
full Owners?'
"There are 4 number. Up to August
81. 1888. the aggregate of moneys in the
4 IF hoT urrfp To
heirs amounted to something over $780,
| 100000, besides boxes containing bonds,
etc. In addition there are hundreds of
collections Of jewelry, portraits, gems
and family valuables."
"DOes-nOt this money pass to the crown
after 4 certain time has elapsedE"
THAT is popular fallacy. The truth
is. however, that this money will lie in
the hands of the Treasurer of the Court of
Chancery until Gabriel blows his trum-
pet in the morning. When a will has
been proved it is necessary before the
estate is divided to cite every heir, and
advertisements are inserted in the news
papers. This has been the custom for 200
years. If no heirs come forward, the
estate is placed in the Treasurer's office
/ to await the discovery of the lawful
| owners. The government claims right
to loan this money on interest, and hence
/ the estates never decrease, but are worth
more each year,
"What particular cases are there now?
"There are hundreds. The famous
| HYDE estate was all mOOnshine, gotten up
! BY shrewd lawyer, who made fortune
/ out of it. There never were but two di-
visions made in the estate: one of f5 and
| the other of e. There is the Brown es-
/ tate, involving about a million of dollars.
/ The estate Of Charles Siddon. dating back
/ to the seventeenth century, and invOlv-
/ ing about $4,000, 600; the Easton estate,
which has been in chancery since 1856;
| the Bowling estate dating back to 1776,
| and a number of others. The history Of
the Court OF Cbancery, if written, would
unfold pages more romantic than those of
! a novel, and fuller of detail than thou
/ sand lawyers would attempt to unravel."
Mr.. Il. W. Tiffins, Bulbs Creek, Ga,
says: MY wife recovered very quickly
from malaria and biliOusness by using
/ Browns Iron Bitters."