The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-16
NO WILL OF ANNIE HARRIS.
HER B0I AT TEE NASSAU BANK
OPENED YESTERDlT.

Relatives D,sappeintea who say she Ma Told
Thes ehe mad Wiiled Certain Articles q
Then-suit 70 Set Aside nsr Husbands sais
or her Real Estate made ncfsro she Diea.
Richard Herbert Smith, q lawyer at 4 War.
rem street, representing himself and others, has
begun q suit in tho Supreme Court against X.
Burton Hart Of 90 East Soventy.ninth street
to set aside the sale of o certain parcel of land,
with the buildings thereon, at Smithtown. L.
l., made by Hart to George H.. Reeves. q lum-
Der dealer and box manufacturer of 139 Greene
street, Brooklyn, who lives in New Rochelle
Hart made the conveyance, as attorney In fact
for his wife, Annie, now dead, who had inner
tied the property from her father. Tho plain
TIL seeks TO have the sale set aside on the ground
that the power OF attorney. under which the
property was sold, was obtained by Hart from
bis wife by undue influence.
The suit thus begun is only the FIRST stop
taken in what promises to be q long drawn
out contest over the property of Mrs. Hart,
who died at her husbands residence early on
the morning Of Monday. Fob. z. Mrs. Hart
had been i'll about throe months, after q stroke
OF paralysis. She was supposed to DO wealthy
and II was understood by certain Of her rela-
tivcs that she had made n will. After her
death no will was found.
Mrs. Harris maiden name was Annie Bly,
denburgh. She was tho daughter of the late
Hamilton Blydenburgh, who was for many
years President OF tho Nassau Bank. Her
mother was Annie Smith, q daughter OF tho
late Ebenezer Smith Of Smithtown. Mr..
| Blydenburgh died at tho Clarendon Hotel
something more than a dozen years ago. He
left an estate, of about 100000 He was a
widowcr and his daughter Annie was his only
living child. He left her all his property. saye
|. BESIDES her fathers fortune Miss Blydenburgh
had about $4,000 inherited from her grand.
Miss Blydonburgh had gone little into socie.
ty. Her health was delicate and her father had
frowned upon any EounG man whom n, ne sonsid.
tor, because he feared fortune hunters. On
more than one occasion he forbade young mon
had n' Sap Gentd'i to call Ii upon HSSe"MShis Miss BiydenburgS
more than twice to discontinue. their calls. For
these acts his only explanation to his daughter
Annie. they are not after you. They're
after your money, and l won't have EN- around
here. Your father is beau enough for you. You
The result was that when her father died
which women usually marry. She continued to
live at the Clarendon Hotel in the winter and
at her house Ct smithtSwn In the 4, :. summer EiII, .o OK,
summer resort. In the summer of 1892 she
was at Saratoga. While there she met =. Bur
ton Hart, d widower, not far from so, with four
children. Mr.. Hart was a man OF means and
richer, probably, than she was. His brother.
G Gss3ns s. Som nast, senior SnoTn m ss GeoT 81 ' 6 H fRees e
Co.. OF which E. Burton Hart is inc Treasurer.
was President Of the Second Avenue RAILROAD
Mr.. Hart paid Miss Blydenburgh, tho first
marked attentions she had ever received. This
time there was no one to forbid them, and in
the following autumn she and Mr.. Hart were
40 years old. and she at once took charge of her
husbands house ut 80 East Seventy ninth
street. They never had any children. Her
Phyie. wife Of James W. Ihyie oi a4s WesS
three years ago; Richard H. Smith. the plain.
S%i.6 q 4. 2 9st,, Mes xjf g~ q Y. GIsr str Calm and d
manufacturer of iron and steel of PlttsburE.
With these relatives IS, Mrs nf yI Hart b. was .S on tn. the
q sef r. mf II. smith nf h and ' esSeSs' Mr !S 1 Hsr s' frssaen,;
to whom in that viii she had left certain Of her
Possessions., For instance; Mrs. Hart owned q
dinner 7, service sey fs,S Of OLD f.% S,SsliE Ter ware ysse., w 'fSis, had asl
have made to Mrs. Phyfe. she had devised by
and rubies. of which she had a valuable collec-
ton. and other jewclry. she is said to have stat
and that her viii so directed. In regard to her
male cousins; she is alleged to have said:
Father told me that he would leave all ms
It. I shouldsdiiStde it up among the cousins,
those to have the largest share who had been
They won't care for heirlooms and jewelry."
dence on Feb. o. The burial was at Wood
lawn. shortly after the funeral one Of the
c cousin $ mo not Dr bearing os thst M Any H S11l w asd e1 sis
wife's will was. Mr.. Hart is reported to have
said: I'LL r.
Annie left any, it is probably in her safe deposit
box at the Nassau Bank. don't know any
r r. II. smith, Who quoted the above to a re.
County Clerk of SUFFOLK county that on Jan; %
Annie Hart signed Il document giving to Il. Bur
ton Hart a power of attorney TO sell. mortgage.
and convey any real estate. owned by her. and
ward Payson Fowler of SO West Fortieth street,
Mrs. Harris attending physician. The County
Clerk also informed smith that under ! sao the power power
ing. a piece Of land OF, about twenty-five acres.
with the buildings thereon. the Blydenbnrgh
ton named being 5000. This oeed was re-
corded on Feb. 3. George II. Reeves is the
Having learned SO much smith applied to
Surrogate Arnold on Monday for an order
permitting pc snamin6 him Mrs as H hsir st b 5SW IN hnd the heNt S "a Kan;
Bank. The order was granted Smith, and the
box was examined Yesterday at IL o'clock IL, In
the bank and an attache OF Smiths office. No
will was found, A few securities. consisting
were found. After:the box had been examined
smith turned TO Hart and said:
well, Mr.. Hart, | suppose YOU know that IL
no will can be found the personal property goes
to the husband of the intcstate and the real cs-
tate to her blood relativesf'
81 think you are mistaken about that" Hart
Is reported to have said. 81 think YOU will
find that when a woman dies intestate the prop
erty goes to the blood relatives on her fathers
side"
Mr.. smith reminded Hart that while his UNI
derstanding of tho law was correct 80 long as
there were descendants in a direct line from
the father the law provided that. in case there
were no such descendants. the real estate of the
intestate went to the direct relatives on the
maternal side. The interview 'ended and
Smith went back to his office, got the papers
ready in the suit mentioned and gave them to
q clerk to serve upon Hart.