Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-07-22
LOCAL EVENTS.
A Copy of the Blythe Will
Found Here.
THE REQUESTS 1T DESCRIBES.
Flo renee Is to Have All the Estate
Over About Three Hundred
Thousand Dollars.

Ex.Attorney- General w. II. Hart, of
San Francisco, who arrived in this city
on Saturday night, in search of the miss
ing will of the late Thomas Blythe, the
millionaire, returned to the North yester-
day upon the l 80 p. m. train, in order
to be present this morning when Judge
Coffey will resume the trial of the case
now pending before him, in which his
client, Florence Blythe, appears as the
plaintiff against all other claimants to
the estate. Contrary to expectation,
however, he did not take the missing
will with him, because in the first place
the original was burned shortly after it
was discoveredi in the apartments formerly
occupied by Blythe, and also because
the persons who claimed to have it, or
rather certified copy of it in their pos
session, were away from home when he
called at their residence, which is some
distance outside the city limits. Who
these people are is known only to Mr.
Hart and detective 7. G. Metzler of this
city who has been in the employ of the
attorney for over five years past; and
their Identity is due in some degree to
his persevering industry.
Mr.. Hart positively refused to be inter-
viewed yesterday morning before his de-
parture for San Francisco, but admitted
having copy of the supposed will in
his possession, although he had not seen
the certified copy of the original which
had been destroyed by fire.
1t WAS learned from other sources after
he had left the city that the document in
question was supposedly written by
Thomas Blythe about five years after his
return from Mexico, and was found in
Blythe's rooms by Alice Dickerson, his
supposed wife, shortly after his death
and placed in the hands of
her friends, who notified Florence
Blythe's attorney of its existence within
twenty-four hours of the decision in the
Sharon case. The terms of the entire
will could not be ascertained for various
reasons, but it is understood that the
majority of the estate, valued at 81 000,-
600, is left to Florence Blythe, whose
parentage is acknowledged. Florence's
grandfather, Mr.. Perry, is appointed
her guardian, and Hon. M. M.
Estee appears as one of the di.
rectors; and the presumption is that
the document will be offered for probate
in the near future. At the time at which
the supposed holographic will was made
Blythe himself estimated his estate at
$3.50 900, of which he left 100000 to
benevolent societies in San Francisco; !;
$l0,0 900 to the Masonic lodge of which he
was member; and sums ranging from
$500 to $40 900 to individuals and societies
in the State, the residue being left to his
daughter Florence. There are peculiar
statements in the will which clearly es-
tablish its authenticity, but what these
are could not be ascertainod. Mr.. Hart
stated that facts were contained in it
which were only known to Blythe. The
will also orders Florence to erect hand
some block of buildings upon the block
bounded by Market, Geary and Dupont
streets, and directs how the buildings
shall be erected.
The Miss Mcclellan referred to in yes
terday mornings HERALD as the teacher
of Florence when in Europe, some three
years ago, proves to oe Mrs. Mcclellan,
the wife of A. s. Mcclellan, of this city.
She remembers her former pupil per-
fectly, as she was when at school at
Northenden, in England, and her daugh-
ter, who is about Florence's age, was
playmate of hers when at sch ool. She
and her husband and daughter will
prove important witnesses in the case.