The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1891-07-16
AFTER A FRENCH FORTUNE.
American Heirs Seeking Millions That
Have Lain Idle for Two Centuries.

American Heirs Seeking Millions THAT
Have Lain Idle for Two Centuries.
American claimants to great Euro
pean fortunes are getting more numer
GUS from year to year. The latest case
says the Chicago Post, is that Of three
men who seek to obtain possession of Q
sum Of five million dollars which has
been in the hands Of the French govern.
ment since the time Of the great Napo
leon. They are Charles Francis dc
Thiery, of Brooklyn, Jacob Pau, OF
Cincinnati, and Daniel Wolf, of the
same city, and they claim to be the
heirs of one Jean Thiery, of Chateau
Thiery, who died in Venice in 1870. He
left in the bank OF Venice eight hun
dred thousand "ecus la croix," or
about ten million francs, which he left
to the descendants of his, fathers
brothers. The Venetian republic re-
fused payment of the money on the
ground that the numerous claimants
had not satisfactorily proved their de-
scent and it remained In the bank until
Venice was captured by the French.
Napoleon seized all the money in the
bank and during his lifetime there was
no use attempting to dispute his action.
At the time of the restoration fresh
claims were put forward by the heirs,
or alleged heirs, Of the Thiery estate
Those claims were all rejected by the
courts; one only excepted. A Judgment
of the court at Remiremont dated May
Is, 1854, recognized Nine. Cotton as de-
scending from Claude Thiery, one of the
brothers of the millionaire, Jean
Thiery's father. In spite of that deoi-
sion, however, Nine. Cotton dragged
her case from court to court without
being able to obtain the slightest salts
faction. In order to bring about soll-
tion to this interminable affair, certain
deputies moved resolution to the eff
feet of granting the claimant an indem-
nifty of five hundred thousand francs, in
consideration of which she should sur
render all claims to the inheritance.
The ground upon which Mme Cotton's
claim was legally founded was as fol-
lows: The original sum of money ow.
ing to the heirs Thiery was a deposit,
deposit is not subject to the laws of pro-
scription; in taking possession of this
uSPoolo oiiS iChCu UIStSuIy COilSulGuUSu
itself the negotiorum gestor Of the
Thiery heirs; it has continued to hold
the money by virtue of the same title as
the bank of Venice and it could no moro
claim prescription than could the bank
itself, article 223e of the code civil for
bidding this. The parliamentary COM
mittee peremptorily refused to enter
tain such proposition. From general
standpoint they feared that If they en-.
tertained it it would encourage the GOV,
etousness Of number Of people, who
believe they are being cheated out Of
their dues by the treasury. The COM
mittee remembered that in 1901, after Q
vote of the assembly had authorized
claimants to come forward and state
their claims, more than two thousand
petitions were laid before the judges,
none of which were taken into account
1t is therefore safe TO say that 1t would
be quite useless If the Pfaus and Wolfs
should cross the Atlantic to look after
these millions, as they would surely be
in their expectations