The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-03-15
Millions EATEN UP.
HOW VAST ESTATES VANISH IN
LAWYERS' FEkS
~ OpteataI's 100000 -Srs"
$4,000. 600 samuel Wo"us "s'VV"'-
OO0-Oah~r Legal H"nnns"s.
Nnrk Inurnal.I

New York JourDal.i
"Ah, how many are Iioiing on dead
mems millions"
Tn, was The exclamation OF a cOnserv-
ati,e lawyer Of prominence In speaking
of the management Of largo estates which
the machinery Of the courts Is invoked
10 settle.
Behind the names of Stevens, Stokes,
Cutting, Stewart, Anderson, iiatnerslel,
Jumel. Colah, Hoyt, Wood, Souiter, ~
den. Gilman, Paine, Lenox aud Soeidon
lilo recitals of moie enhancing interest,"
and of stranger situations than any rot-
trsyed by the novelist
Properfv valued AZ tens Of millions OF
dollars il at present III litigation IN tie
Surroga,e's Court. Lawyers VIII noi
openly acknowledge that they desire To
prolonR this lego sirlfo, but that tins
purpose is clos" at their hearts is Wei
known. The e. ije pays The expenses
of the litigation, aud while anything Is
left the conscientious attorney mas tna'
tits necessary 10 make some further move
I'm the interest of his client"
1t is the old story of dividing the oys-
ter-each litieaut takes q she'll and the
LAWYER takes the meat. When man
dies leaving bis heirs 500 600 to hght
over. the proper division of the estate
according 10 the legal conscience IS 81
most as follows: Legal ices ana coS,s'
500 600 disbursements and incidentais,
$1,000; heirs, $1,000.
The heirs are not always rs fortunate
rs this extreme case would indicate
Facts from the record will show this
An Oriental merchant, who Iejoiced IN
the picturesque name of BOmanJee by
rapiee Colah, visited in this city eigh
Teen wears ago. lie went on spree ana
cot locked np in a cell. The police found
1000 IN paper money and gold on hI'
person, and al examination OF his room
IN the Hoffman House showed that he
had an additional $50 600 there.
He was stranger in n strange lana
and fair game for the lawyers. They
CHARGED that the PaTsee merchant was a
luuatic aud that II was necessary to ap
uoiut "A committee 10 take charge OF bun
relf and his money. Nathaniel JARVIS
Jr.. who Is iawyer in addition TO beibg
clerk OF the Court If Common Pleas, was
the man who got the 500 600 in charge.
The Parsee was sent 10 Bombay, where
he died. at cost of 500. 600. Mr.. Jarvis
reported to the court that the balance he
had on hand va, exactly S33 SO.
Samuel wood. after whom the town
of WoodsLure, J.. l.. is named, died III
1873. leaving Il fortune estimated at - :
100000 By specific requests he ieff
1897 900, To relatives, and the balance
was TO be expended IN founding Col
lege of Musc. The college will never be
founded for two good reasons-the be
quest has been declared illegal and the
money has been eaten mp By expenses
The little item of 81 400, 600 of the estate
has vanished Eight different attorneys
and rs many eminent counsel have been
operating on the estate "in the lntetes'
of tho College of Music" for ten years
past, and this fact tells the story.
Jesse Hoyt, tho famous produce mer
chant of this city, died ia 1882, leaving
$1,000 600. He left the income of 81 .,
$50 900 for the use of bis widow during
life, and the same sum 10 his eccentric
daughter, Mary Irene. They were dis
satisfied and half 81 dozen lawyers were
called ~, among them Gen. Benjamin +
Batter aud Roscoe ConkliHg A young
attorney named Aaron Kahn, who wa'
in the case. rendered little bill fol
$40. FAC. 68. but how much the big gunt
will receive is hot known. The estate Il
a legal bonanza
Mrs. Paran Stevens has enriched the
lawyers. Her husband died in 1872
leaving 81 000,0O0 She received 500, OOt
outright. Lesitcs the income on $l,OOO,
900, a city residence III Fifth avenue and
the villa at Newport where she enter
taiued the Duke of Marlborough last
summer. She was not content, and there
has been a constant scene OF legal squad
bles ever since, ard there Is no probabu
jtv that they will be ended IN her life
time.
The Duchess D'Auxy seems to like The
LAWYERS also Before she became 1
Duchess she was Mrs. Charlotte SOutter
the wife of Robert Soutter. Her charge
of fraud IN the management of the estate
occupied the courts for years.
Litigation over the millions left by
Samuel }. 1iideu is likely to occupy TIE
balance OF the present century. The con
test is over the clauses providing TO
Tilden libares in this city, Yonkets anC
New Lebanon az q cost OF 81 100000.
The famous Nathaniel Gilman estate
has been before the courts for thirty
years, and the lawyers are not likely Il
tire as long as a penny is left.
The fight over the $l,OOO,OOO left bN
Cornelius S. V. Roosevelt has just beer
settled by the good sense Of the relatives
and TO the chagrin of the lawyers, anC
the same is true OF the estate of Harvey
Sheldon.
On "A Grave.