The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1886-12-24
kn oId Mfser.s Hidden Fortune.


James Il. Paine. Graud-NcDhcw of
One Orthe sign r. Ofthe DerIaEatton
of Independence. Dies a BegEar i"
ar Attic and Leaves BuRdle with
$500 ooO i'm il.
l. is rarely that a more roman'ic ic sto-
~ ia heard than that which was told
"Wednesday Of last We k before SurTo-
gate Rollins. OF New York. . d NJ
ser Paine s. history and the story %
his miserable end have been told Ov 'ls.
papeJs, and their readers Will remem-
her hat Paine was a grand nephew 81
Robert Treat Paibe. who signed tue
Declaration of Independence mem
Der of one of Massachusetts, Oldes, fam
lies. well bred and educated. On the
23d of December last he died in an attic
on Bleecker street, half starved, half
clothed, and half crazy. He had been
estranged from his family for yeaIs, and
was buried almost 10y charity. He had
lived nearly a quarter of y century by
begging what he ate, and what he wore,
yet not very long before his death his
brother, Robert Treat Paine, of Boston,
had said James ought to be worth
$3.50, 900 at least in his OWE right
What has become of itp' This ques-
ton has puZZled many a head since,
and this is what Charles f. ChickeTiEg,
the piano manufacturer, answered yes
terday.
Ex.Attorney General Leslie Russell,
who, with Theodore Swift, is conduct
| ing the case for the heirs at law, cum
ningly asked his opponent, ex Governor
| Chamberlain, of South Carolina. if he
| had any objection to the witness he was
/ about to call. and was answered IN the
4 negative. Chickering then lifted up a
/ big bundle, which he had been jealously
/ guarding on his knees, and walked up
/ to be sworn. Putting the bundle down
| beside him, in TespOnce to Russel's bid
/ ding 10 tell what he had he began his
tale as follows Il knew James Henry
/ Paine for years before he died. l was
/ brought into communication with him
through his love for music. He was an
| expert musical critic, and this poor old
! miser had at his tongues end wealth
/ of iraxhaustible information. Bat
though l had heard that he was popu.
/ larlv supposed to have money hidden
away, [ never really knew anything
abou. it. One day he came into my Of
flee with a bundle in his hand. This is
the bundle" pointing to the package
beside him. 1T was about a foot long
and six CT eight inches wide. 1t was
wrapped in an ordinary brown paper
and tied with an ordinary string. Ou
the outside was carefully bound an old
green handkerchief. He asked me if he
could leave it IL my possession, and
/ answered yes I told him | would put
it in my safe. He objected to this, and
asked me if / had private safe al home
which none Of my employees ever opened.
| said yes again, and he CaTelessly re-
Piled that he would ike me 20 place it
+ there.
81 took the bundle and locked it up,
scarcely ever giving the matter a
thought again. Once years afteTwaTd,
I met him II the street, and were talk
ing about Won BulOw, the pianist, who
had recently arrived In this country.
Suddenly he interrupted me and asked
me if that bundle was all right. l said
yes : and he didn't allude TO it again.
In faCC. l think he never spoke of it
{ again during his life.'
The little old green bundle remained
hidden in the safe gathering dust and
forgotten for years After the old
mans death Mr.. Chicksrine remem-
bered the package. and took il from its
place one day to see if it contained any
thing worth keeping. Il had supposed
it contained nothing more than some
old musical papers, - continued he, ''aud
carelessly united the string. Tearing
open one corner l caught sight of a roll
of bank bills. 1t seemed to me IN tie
hasty glimpse | caught thai they must
amount to many thousands of dollars.
I tied the handkerchief together quick
lv and took the next train for Boston to
see Robert Treot Paine, whom |
thought was the nearest living relative.
He said that there were nearer heirs at
law than he. and he named tie Clag-
gets. On the 1st Of March, in the
presence of Sumner and Charlie Clag-
gett, and my attorney, we opened the
packet God and silver dollars, bank
notes by the thousand, certificates of
stock ard script rolled out upon the
: table. The Iittle old green handker-
I chief foe nearly twenty years had close
, ly guarded treasure amounting to over
S4OO. 600. About S14, 200 has become
outlawed. The $40, 900 which the GER
tificates represented has been paid up
to me as administrator by the Metro
, politan Bank. The remainder of the
property is worth its full face value -
There is more property which is nOt yet
collected" "
Much more testimony was taken dur.
ing the day, including that of r. B. T.
, Wood, who for thirty years was en-
plOyed in the Metropolitan Bank. He
remembered, he said, as far back as
1861, when Paine had made a special
deposit in the bank of SAC. 900 and had
received the certificates that were at
terwards found in the handkerchief -
They had been made payable to one OF
the officers of the bank, as Paine did
not wish his name to appear. Ex Gov.
ernor Chamberlain then said that in
! view of the days disclosure he would
apply to the Court for an increased bond
on the part of the administrators com.
mensurate with the estate itself. The
administrators have given bond to the
amount of 81 600 only. The case was
then adjourned till Monday.