The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-05-18

days was carelessly done, errors were
many; but where none appeared these
villains were ready, for a sufficient
money consideration, to make trifing
changes, such as would throw cloud
upon good title.
Through their management the num-
Der of leagues in many land grants
were so raised that they would cover
or be "hoated" over hundreds and
sometimes even thousands of acres.
which the Mexican government never
coded to the grantee. The falsifiers
this wholesale robbery. Again, when
dishonest men coveted the fine young
orchards and comfortable dwellings of
industrious farmers, the faded ink in
the ancient register was, if possible,
tempered with, then a stranger would
appear, and presenting an old pre-
emption, forged and manufactured for
the occasion, claim the premises. An
appeal to the "doctored records
would show a defective title, and the
honest citizen, with his helpless family,
would be turned penniless from the
home which their own hands had made.
In other cases alterations were made
simply to obtain fees for informing in
terested parties of defects in their
deeds, until, for a time, California real
estate investments were deemed haz-
ardous. Happily, those days are past,
and a 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 newspaper
item, which said that one j. r. Brown.
an attorney from New Hampshire, had,
the previous evening, stopped at the
hotel. 1t also stated the gentleman
had come to the city in the interest of
the heirs of Mat F. Graythorn deceased
Ga brother of their former townsman,
Nat 7. Graythorn), these heirs claim
ing to hold the title to some of the most
valuable property in the city, their de-
mand being based upon memorandum
found among the effects of the deceased
brother. The manuscript, the editor
stated, was yellow with age, and the
ink so faded thatit was difficult to read.
The first, dated May 81, 1S47, ran as
follows: "Sent to Nat T. 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 10,
1S4S, received 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 ap.
al tn hn ,tx,o
tainly show that the residents were
safe. Those records had in years gone
by been thoroughly searched, and so
many certificates of title given, from
time to time, in the numerous transfers,
that there could be no possible founda-
ton for so absurd 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 dis,
turbed by the mornings news, aud
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 Qears which they
would not acknowledge even to their
own hearts, to observe the cool, eXult-
ant expression on the face of the
penetrating vision, the capacity, men
tally and financially, of each man be-
fore 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 alb
stractors had carelessly overlooked it;
but the letter was surely an M"
On looking further they are amazed to
discover line, which had never been
noticed before, short, but distinct,
across the back of the letter, which had
always been called CT" but was I'M
mistakably an "; and the name
was therefore Mat F. Graythorn, in
stead of Nat 7. Graythorn, as they had
supposed The work of the adroit
changer of records had been so skill
fully done the fortnight before that no
suspicion of the forgery, so lately per-
petrated, crossed the minds of the
wronged people.
The property was now of immense
value, its assessment roll reaching to
many hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Of course, for time excitement ran
high, but the citizens, finding that they
could not contradict the records, and
believing that there was no way of es-
cape, submitted to the inevitable, and,
assessing themselves each in proper
ton to the amount of capital at stake,
bought out the swindling Graythorn
heirs for seventy-fve thousand dollars.
j. r. Brown, the base impostor, after
paying his associate two thousand dol
lars, one thousand each for those two
marks, returned to his native state,
gave the Graythorns twenty-five thou
sand dollars, while he himself, for his
portion of the ill-gotten gains, and as
payment for his six months plotting
and iniquity, pocketed the fine fortune
of forty-eight thousand dollars.-Se-
lected.