The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-04-26
GOING AFTER S17ooo,ooo
MIR. Boyd's Story of the Rich Inherit
ance That Awaits Him in England.
From the Neio York Sltn.

From the NeU York Sttn.
EAsroN, Nd, April -. Wilson R. Boyd,
one OF the best-known citizens of the East
Shore, and man of capacity as business
man and of considerable wealth, is prepar-
| ing to 60 to England next month, expecting
| to bring back the very neat sum of Sl7 ,0O0,-
! 900, besides proving title to a still heater
sum of 500. OO0, 900 in real estate.
Mr.. Boyd's story of inherited wealth
through European ancestors differs from
that ordinarily told by those who are look
ing for such estates. He said to a Sun re-
porter that in the year 1868 he happened to
buy copy of the New York paper one
day, and in glancing over the advertise
ments saw one calling for information
about the descendants of William Mckay,
deceased. The advertisement was inserted
by the British government, and said that a
large amount of money was then in the
Bank of England awaiting the heirs of Nc
Kay. Mr.. Boyd pricked up his ears very
quickly on reading that, because his great
grandfather's name was William Mckay,
and had emigrated to America from Scot
land. Gong home, he got out lot of old
papers and letters that had come down
from the old gentleman, in all three barrel
fuls, all slowed safely away in the garnet
of the old family mansion.
The old documents were sorted over very
y, anu e4lbGI q Wun6 d yellow OlQ OH
of parchment was found that made Mr..
Boyd exceedingly comfortable, for it was
the original will of the man whose British
estate was the subject of the advertisement
that had appeared in the New York paper.
The will was dated Dec. 3, 1894. 1t left to
each of three children of a widow ne had
married the use for life of ten acres of land
in Glasgow and Edinburh, and after their
death the land was to become the property
Of nd ,x-I L1tw e Il
City, Md, who had married William
McKay's own daughter Mary by his first
wife.
1t appears that the relations between the
three stepdaughters of old Mr.. Mckay, who
lived in Scotland, and the Boyds of Mary
land were not cordial and intimate, and
that the old mans will was somehow over
looked and forgotten in the Boyd family.
The Boyds appear to have no idea about
the value of the property left to the three
stepdaughters, and so TO have kept no track
of them, or made no effort to learn whether
they were dead or alive, until Wilson
Boyd saw the advertisement of the British
government official. It has since been
proved that the first stepdaughter died in
lS45. the second in 1858, and the third in
1862, and that it was soon after her death
that the advertisement for the heirs of vii.
liam Mckay was published.
~ oColI1o Oudb Ouo pEOpoIOy WHICH OlQ
Mr.. Mckay was of no great value when he
died in 1895 anyhow. 1t has since, by the
spreading of tie city of Glasgow, become
immensely valuable
On learning that he was direct descend
ant of the Mckay in question, Mr.. Boyd
went over to England to see about it. He
called on Judah P. Benjamin, and was told
at first that the claim could not be prose-
cuted successfully, but on closer examina-
NJ - 80 L. = - e.
20 per cent. of the proceeds. He prosecuted
the case until his death, spending at one
time 900 to get hold of valuable docu-
ment that had been stolen by some of the
English heirs to the estate-that is, heirs of
the stepdaughters who would hold some of
the property in case Mr.. Boyd could not
establish his claim TO the whole.
After Mr.. Benjamin died in 1886 the case
went into the hands of George Bell of Lon
don, and has been carried on ever since,
and with success. MIR. Boyd has had to
collect facts about the life of William
Mckay that amounted to a pretty COM
plete biography, even going so far as to
prove the date on which the old gentleman
left England for France, the day he landed
In France, the day he sailed thence to
America, the name of the ship he sailed on,
the day he arrived here, the port at which
he arrived, all about his life as a Mary
all but endless labor and patience. but
it has at last been accomplished. Mr.. Boyd
was in Washington the first week in
April and had talk with the British min
lister, who. he says, told him that word had
been received at the legation saying that
the claim had been allowed. and that notice
would be sent to Mr.. Boyd in May request
ing him TO come on and get the cash now in
the Bank of England. This money is the
accumulation of income from the Glasgow
| and Edinburgh real estate. The sum is
about S17,000,000. Title to this sum also
includes, of course, title to the real estate
that produced it, which is said to be worth
| over 500, 10000
Mr.. Boyd does not get the whole of the
| estate, for there are other heirs, but he is to
have over one-half of it.
The sum is so large, and the prosecution
of the claim has extended over so many
years. that the friends of Mr.. Boyd doubt,
even now, whether he will ever get the
money; but he is cheerful over the prospect
and does not mind their doubts in the least
| He says if he were in the place of any one
| of his friends and the frieEd in his he would
| doubt, too, but he thinks that when he in
invites them all to big dinner next fall or
his return from Europe, as he means to do
the material evidence of wealth which b,
will have in hand will dispel the doubts.
1