The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-04
SALT LAKE WOMAN HEIR
TO Her UNCLE'S MILLIONS
Mrs. William A. ByerS is Richer By $3,OOOOOO
Today Than She Was Yesterday.
Will Get TwO-FftS Of Enormous Estate Left by Nathane
J. Brown of Illinois.

! she was forced to leave and come To
Salt Lake with her husband on account
OF her health Mr.. Byers worked for
Mr.. Brown at the time. and was al
ways on the very best of terms with
him. They have been back many times
since, and have always made their
home with the old gentleman.
At OLD Mans Bedside.
Mrs B-ers' sister has been in con-
slant attendance upOn the old gentle
man ever since Mrs. Byers came WesL
she was At his bedside when ne died.
and he relied upon her more than upon
any other after he became in The
brother, Arson r. Brown. enlisted
When the war with Spain broke out:
ne fought all through the war in Cuba
and IS now in Manila
The estate is left in a peculiar con-
dltlon by the death of the Old gentle
man. and there viii be litigation with
out end, no matter what course is pur-
sued. The whole estate was a partner
ship, and, although the other partner
had been absent for thirty years. his
interest was intact, and even if Mr..
Brown made will. he had power 10
viii but half of the property. If he
dld make Will, and the will stands
Mrs Byers will get but her one-ffrb
interest in the half that could not be
Wilied away If the viii is broken. and
she IS confident that it will be. she
viii set twO-fifths. as stated above In
/ either case, she will be rendered indie
pendently wealthy.
Buying Out Heirs.
She ard her husband have been for
! some years past Systematically buying
out the heirs in the half of the Dropar
~ that could not be WiIled by Mr.
| Brown, so that that part of their in
terest fs secure. They viii not go East
at this time on account of Mrs. By
erS Door health. they do not consider
it necessary. so far as their interest in
| the estate is concerned. as thew have
kpeople there now looking after them.
and they are kept advised all the time
as TO what is going on.
The deceased, Nathaniel J. Brown.
was noted character man of strong
parts. He was born among the granite
nllls or Vermont in 1872. When a mere
boy he took boat load Of lumber from
Michigan TO Chicago. the first load of
lumber that ever entered the place.
Not having license his lumber was
seized and the license that he then
TOOK out is still preserved as an heir
/ loom IN the family. From the time
or his debut in the great metropolis
OF the west he was a factor in its
growth and development. He became
a large lumber dealer. a canal builder.
! a quarryman and d land specuIat tor.
He rose 10 prominence side by side with
Long John Wentworth.
Character of the Man.
One incident will show the character
OF the man: When the question was
up before the legislature of Wisconsin
as TO the location of the state capital.
Brown got wind Of it. The legislature
was in session in a distant part of the
state; the government land office was
IN Milwaukee. Brown went to MiIwau-
kee with all the silver that he could
gather together. He put a faithful mes
Senger in the town where the legiSla-
ture was in session with relays Of
horses all the way to Milwaukee. When
the legislature decided upon Madison
Tor the state capital Browne messenger
started for Milwaukee with the news
and beat all others by several hours.
On his arrival Brown went 10 the land
office with his silver and bought all
the land upon which Madison now
stands for $1.25 per acre. he made big
money out of the deal He bought land
IN Chicago for $1-25 per acre that he
afterward sold for $4,000 -per acre.
he bought one thousand acres Of land
where LemOnJ now stands for song
it was very poor soil and was hardly
worth the taxes for many years. But
when the old Michigan canal went
through there it developed an mex
haustible quarry of the finest lime
stone rock As Brown himself put it.
he went to sleep at night a man in
moderate circumstances; he awoke the
inc "a to mt y tic
wealth. He built the town OF LemOnt
until it became a little city of 10000
people and he lived there among his
people until he died.
Bells For Churches.
A volume could be filed with stories
of this peculiar man. He endowed every
church built in LemOnt with a bell and
made no restrictions as to the size of
the bell. The only specification was
that every bell was to be rung at his
death-nOt tOlled, but rUng. He had
special pew built Tor himself and
family in the little Methodist church,
so arranged that ii faced the rest Of
the congregation There he wOrshipped
until he took Offense at one Of the min
ister'S sermons, when he quit and never
attended church again. He is said TO
have been a very hard man and at the
same time a very cndrlJdOle one, ana
many poor people viii have reason TO
bless his memory His funeral will be
/ held on Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Byers took the news
of their sudden enrichment without the
least excitement and chatted about it
in their elegant little home on Vine
street as though it concerned every
body else in the city more than them
At the same time Mr.. Byers said that
if J. J. Brown had will signed by the
old gentleman he had a big fight on his
hands, and he said it as though he
meant it.