The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-05-27

cases alterations were made simply to
obtain fees for informing interested
parties of defects in their deeds, until,
for time, California real estate invest
ments were deemed hazardous. Happi-
ly those days are past, and man may,
with as much certainty, purchase realty
in this sunny land as in the older States.
Two weeks after the visit mentioned
above, a thunderbolt descended upon
that town in the shape of a newspaper
item. which said that one ]. r. Brown,
an attorney from New Hampshire, had
the previous evening, stopped at the no
tel. 1t also stated the gentleman had
come to the city in the interest of the
heirs of Mat F. Graythorn deceased Ia
brother of their former townsman, Nat
T. Graythorn), these heirs claiming to
hold the title of some of the most valua-
BILE property in the city, their demand
being based upon memorandum found
among the effects of the deceased BROTH
er. The manuscript, the editor stated,
was yellow with age, and the INK so
faded that it was difficult to read. The
first, dated May 81, 1847, ran as follows:
''Sent to Nat r. Graythorn, my brother
in California, two hundred dollars to
pay for twenty acres of land, said land
to be bought for his home, but recorded
in my name" The second, ten months
later, said: February 10th, 1S4s, re-
ceived letter from brother Nat. The
land was bought and recorded in my
name, according to agreement"
The publisher, for the encouragement
of those concerned, added that an appeal
to the county archives would certainly
show that the residents were safe. Those
records had in years gone by been thor
oughly searched, and so many certiti-
Gates of title given, from time to time, in
the numerous transfers, that there could
be no possible foundation for so absurd
a story. That day j. r. Brown, though
early at the court house, found himself,
as he expected, preceded by ten of the
solid business men of the town, all not a
little disturbed by the mornings news,
and anxious to satisfy themselves that
there was no ground for apprehension.
As soon as business hours opened, the
ponderous old volume was once more
| brought forth, and the leaves turned,
until all eyes rested upon the manu-
script in question. The property own
ers were too busy with their own
thoughts and fears fears which they
would not acknowledge even to their
own hearts,, to observe the cool, exult-
ant expression on the face of the stran-
ger who stood by measuring with pene-
trating vision, the capacity, mentally
and financially, of each man before him.
At length the name was found. and
there, to the establishment of all except
the low-voiced, smooth. spoken lawyer
was mark to the n so light and dim
that, as they now supposed, the abstract
ors had carelessly overlooked it; but the
letter was surely an M" On looking
further they are amazed to discover a
line, which had never been noticed be-
fore, short, but distinct, across the back
of the letter, which had always beer
called IT." but was Enthusiastically an
"F''; and the name was therefore Ma
F. Graythorn, instead of Nat T. Gray
thorn, as they had supposed. The work
of the adroit changer of records haC
been so skillfully done the fortnight be
fore that no suspicion of the forgery, sc
lately perpetrated, crossed the minds o.
the wronged people.
The property was now of immense
value, its assessment roll reaching tx
many hundreds of thousands of dollars
nsT, OUT the citizens, finding that they
Touia NOT o. contradict the records, and be.
leVlng That there was no way Oh escape
submitted to the inevitable, and, assess
ing themselves each in proportion to the
amount of capital at stake, bought Out
the swindling Graythorn heirs for seven.
ty five thousand dollars. ]. R. Brown,
the base impostor, after paying his as
sociate two thousand dollars, ope thous.
and each for those two marks, returned
to his native State, gave the Graythorns
twenty-five thousand dollars, while he
himself, for his portion of the ill-gotton
gains, and as payment for his six
months plotting and iniquity, pocketed
the fine fortune of forty-eight thousand
dollars.-Selected