Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-09
A RAID ON ATLANTA REAL
E,STATE.
An Effort to be Made to Set up Lost
VIII.


Atlanta has unearthed Mrs. Myra
Clark Gaines on a small scale Mrs.
Mary Rasberry sues for the possession of
about 25 acres of land IN the Fourth ward
upon which there are at present about 70
| or 80 houses.
There is an interesting story connected
with this piece of litigation, which may
be recited as follows:
In 1855 and in 1857 two pieces of proper
/ ty were conveyed to Jasper 5. Smith.
| The land consisted of about twenty-five
acres and was bounded by what is now
4 Wheat on the north, the Boulevard on the
| east, Foster street on the south and But
/ Ter street on the west. One of the deeds
4 was made by William Ezzard as admin
1 istratOr on the estate of Hardy Ivy and
! the other was made by Daniel johnson.
/ The last named deed was made in 1865
/ and the Ezzard deed was made in 1851.
/ These deeds were duly recorded by JAS
per Smith in the Office of the Clerk of the
I Superior Court. Atlanta was then
\ comparatively small place and the prop
/ erty was not worth much.
But time passed on, and Jasper Smith,
/ in the year 1862, sickened and died, leaV-
/ ing as his only heir at law his wife, Celia
/ Ann Smith. In 1868 Mrs. Smith was living
1 in Cobb county. She was taken sick and
Z
! her end. She was convinced that the
! time was at hand when she should make
| disposition of her property, and, calling
| in Col. 4. w. Hammond, she made her
will, which was duly signed and the
/ names of witnesses attached. The pro-
! ceeding was in every way regular and
| the property, so it is said, was left to Mrs.
| Mary b. Rasberry, a devoted niece of
Mrs. Smith and a daughter of William
| Harville, of Atlanta, brother Of the
maker of the will.
Soon thereafter Mrs. Smith passed
away and the Will was turned over to
/ William HarVille.
Accompanied by his wife Harville left
I for Atlanta in a buggy, reaching here
| from Cobb county without mishap. In
/ some mysterious way the will, however,
| was soon after lost or stolen, but, under
/ the direction of the courts, Harville pro-
/ ceeded to settle up the estate. The young
niece, a daughter of the administrator,
asked her father if she was not made an
| heir, but was informed that such was not
| the case. She was somewhat surprised
/ at that, as she had expected she would be
remembered in the distribution of her
! aunt's estate. HarVille was long time
/ administering on the estate, butIhnally, in
! 1879, he sold the property to his sOn-in-law,
| DIR. NJ. c. Martin, for $1,000, a very low
price. The property is worth about
/
! given by Harville as administrator on
/ the estate of Celld Smith, and that deed is
recorded on the books in the county clerks
/ office.
The letters of administration, it appears,
were taken out in this county, although
| Mrs. Smith died in Cobb.
In 1880 Harville died. In the course OF
events the property has finally passed
/ into numerous hands, and now, built up
| pretty thickly, is worth perhaps $4,000.
/ And now comes the strange part Of the
story.
Lately Mrs. Raspberry has found two
| living witnesses to the will, which was
made over 20 years ago. They say they
saw it made and duly signed, and one of
! them was with Mrs. Smith nearly all the
time until her death, and that she could
I not have made another will without his
having known of it. He says the Will
left the property to Mrs. Rasberry, and
that he Is willing to swear to that state
ment.
So it turns ont that Mrs. Raspberry will
attempt TO prove that sho has hoon
Wronged by her own fanIor. who. either
Intentionally or unintentionally, kept her
out of her own. The evidence on this
point will be exceedingly interesting, as
several very delicate points will be
| touched upon. Harville's widow is step
mother of young Mrs. Raspberry, whose
maiden name was Mary Harville. She
now resides near Wheat street on about
two acres Of land that her father gave
her.
AS Mrs. Rasberry has become quite
prominent before the public on account
of this suit, an interesting statement can
be made as to who she is.
She is now a widow, and has been for
thirteen years. Her husband was, during
his lifetime. well known detective, and
about 1870 or 1871 became considerably
mixed up with certain men on account of
what they said were questionable methods
in working up cases.
One night the usual crowds lOunged in
the arcade of the Kimball House. Among
those present were Raspberry, Penn Bedeil
and others. The crowd noticed the two
men begin a quarrel, and suddenly a
pistol shot was heard and Raspberry fell
dead. Bedell was arrested and Uried, but.
pending the legal proceedings, he became
involved, and at the corner of the same
building, while under arrest, was shot
and killed by Mr.. Gaines Chisholm. Mr..
Chisholm was tried and cleared. and all
the details passed out Of the public mind.
and are only brought out now as a part Of
the life history of the lady who now sues
TO recover twenty-five acres of Atlanta
land, on which are located seventv-five
| or eighty houses.