The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1891-06-20
STRANGER THAN FICTION.
"a Large Fortune Tied Up In q
Handkerchief.
The Remarkable Incident Recalled by the
Death of Charles It. Chickerine-
Queer Methods of q Wealthy
Old Miser.

The death of Charles F. Chickering,
the piano manufacturer, recalls one Of
the most remarkable incidents on re-
cord, says the New York Recorder.
james Henry Paine, who died in De-
cember, 1885, in an attic on Bleecker.
street, this city, was known as "Oldl
Miser Paine" He was the grand
nephew Of Robert Treat Paine, one of
khe signers Of the declaration of indie
pendenoe. He received, on reaching
his majority, a large property from his
Hather's estate and began then to loan
hng money on the streets at high rates
lof interest. He o gained on the
streets a most unenviable notoriety for
his practice of loaning money on stocks
and then bearing the stocks through the
columns Of the newspapers on which he
WAS employed as financial reporter, SO
las 10 keep his securities as long as
possible while vigorously collecting his
monthly per cents.
For nearly thirty years prior to his
death Paine q estranged from his
Family and lived absolutely on charity.
but he was a mine of wealth in musical
knowledge, possessing a fund OF almost
inexlaGstib1e character. This trait at
Itracted the attention Of Mr.. ~Chickering
and Dhe aided Paine in many ways.
AT that time every one supposed him to
be penniless, as he lived by begging
what he ate and what he wore. But a
few years before his death his brother,
Robert Treat Paine, of Boston, said:
and fifty thousand dollars In his own
-l-lA W. L-- $500. ~ tAOtb
Tho question puzzled many u head
after It's utteranoe, for there was no
answer given nor any explanation from
The miser. James Henry Paine was
buried by the same charitable people
who donated to him his means of pre-
carious existence, and scarcely had he
been placed In his grave when a con-
hest was begun in this county On the
missing viii Of the deceased. The Gus
dragged on nearly o year, when
Attorney General Russell, who was
conducting the case for the heirs-at-
Jaw, asked his opponent, Gen. Chamber
lain, Of South Carolina, II he had any
objection to q witness he was about 10
call. This was December 10, 1887. Mr..
chamberlain replying In the negative,
counsel for the heirs called upon
Charles Chiclrering, who was seated in
the court. Mr.. Chickering rose quickly
from his chair, and, lifting a big bundle
that he had been carefully guarding,
walked up to the witness chair. After
answering o few questions he was
asked to tell what he had to say.
Quietly and without the slightest sign
of excitement he said:
ST knew James Henry Paine for years
before he died. I was brought into
communication with him often through
his love for music. Though 1 had heard
that he was supposed to have some
money hidden away somewhere, I real
ly knew nothing about 1t. One day
near the close Of the COS he came to
me with this bundle in his hand. This
Us the bundle. He asked me If he could
leave II In my possession, and l told
him yes I told him / would put it in
any safe. He objected TO this, and asked
me II I had q private safe at home
which none of my employees ever
opened. 1 said yes again, and he said
NE would like me to place 1t there. I
took the bundle and locked it up, scarce
~ ever again giving the matter q
bnOuBnb. OuCo, ycdrs dltSrWhIu, ho
asked me II that bundle was all right.
4 said certainly, and he did not allude
TO it again during his life. After the
old mans death / remembered the
package and took It out of it's hiding
place one day to see If it contained any
thing worth keeping. 1 supposed 1t
held nothing more than some old must
cal papers. Tearing open one corner I
caught sight of a roll of bank bills. 1t
seemed to me in the hasty glimpse /
caught of them that they must amount
TO many thousands Of dollars. I tied
the bundle again quickly and took the
next train for Boston to sec Robert
Treat Paine, who, / thought, was the
nearest relative. He said that there
were nearer heirs-at-law than he, and
he named the Claggetts of that city.
March 1, In the presence Of Sumner and
Charles Claggett and my attorney, Mr..
Swift, we opened the package. Gold
and silver dollars, bank notes by the
thousands, certificates of stock and
SCRIP rolled upon the table. The little
old green handkerchief with which the
bundle was wrapped for nearly twenty
years had closely guarded the treas
ure, amounting to something over four
hundred thousand dollars. About one
become outlawed-"
The heirs-at-law subsequently OBJ
tanned the money, bank notes, scrip,
ETC., surrendered by Nj. Chickering.