Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1898-01-23
MYTHICAL MILLIONS HERE.
THE BAKER ESTATE AS A SAMPLE
OF WILD WESTERN ROMANCES.
Never Was Very Large Mt Any Time
The Claims Of Alleged Morris
Heirs Equally Unsub-
stnntial.
From the Philadelphia Record.

shN y NNeA 49,
which alleged Western heirs of sanSuine
disposition have magnitied to the splendid
value of $500, 900, 900, Is to be taken as Il
fair specimen of the great properties in and
around Philadelphia for which claimants
are constantly turning up. generally in
the far West. somebody is making
a pretty penny by the deliberate deception
of the innocent persons who figure as heirs
in these fairy stories. In the Baker case
these heirs have started up all over the
country Htt to claim a share ,ha OF pi,, the b raGhes
to them by right of descent.
INSCRIPTIONS lawyers have been doing
a a,a THRIVING vi sob business nna in In G 1bs hia Ird saktr
left by the old Philadelphia merchant
and Revolutionary soldier. 1t is strange
luded with this idea. and can be p.ersuad-
ed to put up money for attorneys fees.
Meanwoils the real Baker heirs s are en-,
have long been in possession.
No Big Baker Estate.
The fact is that there never was a Ba-
ker estate of any extraordinary value.
Jocib Baker, it is true, had large holdings
of and in this city. including almost the
whole of the block bounded by Fifth, Sixth,
Market and Arch streets. and a tract
where Moyamensing prison now stands
When he died, however, some time before
1890. his property was not highly appraised.
for in those times land could be had in
any part of the city at very low figures.
course there are no direct descendants. as
some of the promoters would make the
guliible believe. All that he owned legal
Henry and Samuel, and there are papers
existing to show that the estate was
properly settled.
About forty true heirs are at present
the beneficiaries of Jacob Bakers accumul-
ations. and not one of them can be called
wealthy. All are the descendants of Sam
,,I IL - 49, ~tla "r tla
line of Henry died out after one generation.
The only one of the living heirs who is a
Baker is another Samuel, an old man who
lives at Lambertville. N. j. The majority
bear the name of Belts and reside in Phila-
delphia and in the neighborhood of Tay-
louisville. Bucks county. Among them they
land, but not one has any considerable por-
ton. 1t is said that there never was a
Baker of the Revolutionary stock: even
including Jacob and his brothers, who was
worth as much as $4,000
Property Was Scattered Long Ago.
If the land which Jacob Baker possessed
had been left intact it would form an i'm
mensely valuable estate. But such is not
the case. What the heirs now own in
scattering pieces is collectively not more
than a remnant. The first Samuel. to-
wards the end of his life, retired from the
made their money, and traded his down.
town lots, thirty-seven acres in extent. for
a l00-acre farm near Taylorsville, where
he established his country seat. This
farm belongs to an heir who wishes he
could trade 1t back again..
Just how the Jacob Baker estate came
to be selected as a bait for credulous
claimants is more than any Of the real
ever had their rights to the property &C
tually disputed. The lawyers who are play
ing the game operate at a distance. and
apparently never get down to the work of
looking up titles or filing suits. combining
their htrSipaSG instead N tha nnlt6nfinn nf
fees. Among the public records of Phila-
delphia there are many entries to show
what disposition has been made Of the
estate.
Mythical Morris Millions.
On a par with this Baker estate myth,
is another which comes from Asbury Park,
N. j., and which represents the alleged
heirs there of Robert Norris, the great
Revolutionary financier. as preparing to
push a claim against the government for
for sums advanced to the government when
the colonies were fighting for their liberty.
but they are in Philadelphia, not As
bury Park, and they are not claiming mil
lions from Uncle Sam. One Of them. DR..
street, brushes away the Asbury Park
fabrication in this summary fashion:
AS a great-grandson of Robert Morris.
of the family, l am naturally acquainted
with my relations. and can give. if you
desire 1t, the names OF all OF them, and am
sorry to say that / am not related to those
enterprising Morrises of Asbury Park; and.
further. that they are not descended from
Robert Morris. of the Revolution. who died
in Philadelphia, on May Z. 1906, but from
Robert Morris. of New Jersey. who died,
l think, in 1880, or thereabout.
THE descent of my family is a matter
Of record in the courts of Pennsylvania,
New York, ETC.. both when his sons APP
piled successfully. about 1925. to nave his
bankruptcy dissolved. and in suits connect
ed with the North American Land Com
pany to recover some of his property. Our
signatures have been too frequently need
ed to make 1t at all doubtful who are his
descendants.
18th newspaper cuttings state that Rob-
ert Morris had a son who was a private
in the Revolutionary army. As Robert
Morris. the ~financier. married on March 2,
1863. and as Cornwallis surrendered Sep
TENDER 10. 1881, this poor private. If lesit-
innate. was only u years old when the war
ended. Robert Morris. Jr.. lost two sons
in infancy. The only other son he had was
my father, DIR. Robert Morris.
THE Asbury Park Morrises. according
to the newspaper clippings. claim descent
from James Morris. who. they assert, was
the son of Robert Morris. .Jr. The only
James Morris in our family was my
brother. who died before he was 5 years
Old
MUSICALE GIVEN BY RATTLERS.