St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-04-11
Many Residents of Indiana to Get Slice
ola French SpOliatiOn Indemnity
of S5.000,000
As Soon as They Prove Themselves
Branches of the Genealogical Tree
Of Col. Ball.
Remarkable Scenes I'm n Remarkable
suit Which Had Remarkable
Ending.
4 Brown-Eyed Buckeye Maiden Gre.
ates Gossip by Eloping With a
Married Man.
Lucky HoOsiers,

Special to the Globe.
LoGANsPoRT, Ind, April 10.-Letters
have been received in this city by several
prominent persons. informing them an i'm
mense sum Of money was lying at Wash
ingtOn, to which they were heirs. 1t is
stated that the fortune is q portion of the
large sum paid over to the government as
indemnity for French spoilation during the
French and Indian war, which rightfully
belongs to the estate of Colonel Ball,
wha was then in control of large lines
of shipping at Philadelphia, and many of
whose ships were seized By the French.
The amount of the claim and interest is es-
timated at $4,000, 900. The news has
aroused much interest among the heirs
here, some of our most prominent residents,
including Mrs. Daniel Conrad, S. A. Gus
ter, Mrs. Susan Krieder, Samuel Horne.
George Horne, Mrs. A. j. Sutton, Mrs. An
drew Burnett, Samuel Conrad, Mrs. Mary
Morehart, L. b. Custer, Chauncey Custer,
Mrs. Elizabeth Brown, Mrs. Joseph Chest
nut and others. Besides these are George
Custer of LithOpols, o., John L. Custer of
BOnaparte. Ia. Levi ID. Horne of Roches-
Ter, Ind, and Adam W. Horne of Oregon.
As 1t Is known that there can be no more
than
ONE HUNDRED HEIRS
in all branches of the family, the fortune
falling To each will be considerable, averag-
.ng nearly $50, 900. The information Just
received revives all the legends of the fam
tiY concerning its genealogy. From inter-
Jews with the most interested heirs the
entire story of the family, its origin and
fortune was learned. 1t has long been a
tradition of the Custer family living here
ahat one of its ancestors, Col. Ball. was a
marvelously rich shipping merchant in
Philadelphia over 125 years ago. A daugh-
Ter OF this Croesus of colonial
times was married to an English
gentleman in those early days. The
evolutionary war and the progress of civil
zation carried this branch of the family
westward through successive generations.
Although the genealogy of the branch of
The family living here can easily be traced
Oack, yet there remains no definite record
If the death of Col. Ball and the disposal
Of his enormous riches. About sixty years
lgO it is know that he distributed large
tracts of land in Greene county, Pennsyl-
sania, among his heirs. As the land was
hen considered worthless, Paul Custer dis
posed Of his portion for
A SMALL SUN,
as did nearly all the other heirs. The
lucky purchaser made S11, 600 out of the
speculation. Thirty years ago the descen-
dants of the old millionaire in the neighbor-
nood. were aroused by receiving letters
from lawyer, Charles DE LeSSing of Phil
ldelphia, which stated that vast plats of
real estate in the business portion OF Phila-
Ielphia belonged TO the heirs of Col. Bail,
and that he had collected $40, 900 in rentals,
ETC., which ought to be divided. The willy
lawyer further requested that as
there was some dispute over the prop
erty, each heir should sign over power of
attorney TO hini-as a matter of eOnven-
ience. Many foolishly did this and were
Swindled out of their birthright. Anthem
tic records, however, still exist pointing to
the fact that Col. Ball once did own large
proportions of Philadelphia, when young
city, and several large tracts of land in
Pennsylvania. His wealth was certainly
IN the millions, but for nearly a century
one branch of his family has been defrauded
of its just inheritance by trickery and de-
ceptiOn, they claim. The heirs in the city
and county will make an organized effort
10 get their own,