The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-07-10
THE VANDERBILT SKELETON.
A Son of the Commodore Whose Estate viii
Not Pay His Debts.

Not Pay His Debts.
New York World.
The time to hand in claims against the es-
tate of the late Cornelius j. Vanderbilt, to
/ the executors, Samuel P. Colt and George N,
Terry, will expire on the 23d inst. In con-
versation with George B. Ashley, the attor-
! ney for the executors, yesterday, that gen
tleman said:
There have already been large number
of claims filed with me. l cannot give you
the aggregate amount, as | have not vet foot
ed them up, but l know that they will great
ly exceed that part of the estate which can
be used for the payment of debts Outside
of the trust estate, Mr.. Cornelius ]. Wander
bit left very little property which consist
ed of his equity in the house in Hartford,
Conn, some personal property there and
some i'll New York. The creditors in Con-
necticut have had their own administrator
appointed to look after their interests. None
of the claims have any public interest, ex-
cept, perhaps, one of Zachariah Simmons for
$50, 900, for obtaining. as he alleges, COM
promise in the contest of the will of the late
Commodore Vanderbilt
I'VE intend to contest the legality of that
claim on the ground that Mr.. Cornelius J.
Vanderbilt never contested his fathers will
and received no money from his brother,
William HI. Vanderbilt in the form of a
compromise The only contestant was his
sister, Mrs. LIE Bau, and when the bequest to
her was raised William H. voluntarily in
creased the trust fund of $500, 900 which
Commodore Vanderbilt had given to Corne-
liue to 100000, Most of the claims are for
borrowed money. Mr.. Cornelius J. Wander
bilt was unfortunate in his speculations, but
do not know that be gambled away any of
the money he borrowed. Ihave heard state
ments to that effect, but 1 have not found
any evidence that any of the debts are debts
of honor"
'Will the bequest to Mr. George N. Terry
be reduced on account of there being not
money enough to pay the creditorsp' asked
the reporter
mo; he will receive his money in full
There were two trust funds, one of 100000
given by Commodore Vanderbilt to his son,
and the other of 100000 given by William
III. Vanderbilt to his brother. By the terms
of the first trust fund Cornelius ]. would
only draw the income, but had no power to
dispose of the principal When he died that
fund became extinguished and the money
went to William H. Vanderbilt. By the
terms Of the second trust fund, Cornelius J..
could draw the income during his life and
dispose of the principal by will. He has dis
posed of the major portion of it to Mr..
George n. Terry, whose counsel l am. Hav-
ing no control over it during his lifetime, it
could not be liable, as we hold, for his
debts"
But the creditors hold otherwise, do they
not?'
Some may, and when they find that there
is not enough to pay them they might take
the matter into court. If they do, shall
present a case recently decided in the Court
of Appeals in this State which covers a SINH
lar state of facts, and in which it is held that
the trust fund cannot be charged with the
debts of the deceased except by his voluntary
statement in his will"
May not a number of the late Mr. Van
derbilts creditors have loaned him the ready
money which he borrowed, on the strength
OF getting it back from the trust fund.-
Il do not believe so. | think they loaned
1T on the deceased mans personal assurances
to repay the same without reference to the
trust funds. At any rate they could or
ought to have bnown that the trust fund
could not be made liable, except in the man
ner | have already stated. OF course had
Mr.. Vanderbilt made will reciting that his
debts should be paid first out of the trust
fund aud the surplus to go to Mr. Terry, that
would have been valid Then the creditors
would have been paid, and Mr. Terry's leg
acy would have been much smaller Than 1t
now will be, but as Mr.. Vanderbilt has made
| no such testamentary directions, it is not for
us to make good his omissions"
Have the heirs of the late Horace Greeley
filed any clamp
'No; they have been paid in FULL and have
no further claims against Cornelius ]. Van
derbilts estate"