New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-04-14
TIGHE, THE RICH RECLUSE
SOME ECCENTRIC HABITS OF THE DEAD
MILLIONAIRE
LIVED IN BIG HOUSE ALMOST ALONE
AND AMUSED HIMSELF DRAWING UP
MANY WILLS

The settlement OF the law suit which had arisen
over the 81 10000 estate of Richard Tghe as re-
ported in The Tribune yesterday. revtves pubic
interest that eccentric millionaire. who had come
10 be known as 1.-THE recluse of Union Square. He
came here from Ireland in early life. bringing con-
siderable money with HIM. which he had inherited
His people there were gentlefolk. though not
wealthy Tighes fortune was not large either, out
{, was not necessary for him TO enter any bust
at once, and he took TO specializing with ms
patrimony. Unlike many young who come to
q new country with money one could, in the
terse but inelegant language of Wall Street, play
him for sucker" So shrewd was his mother wit
that he able TO form admirable estimates OF
and affairs and from the very start his in
vestments proved good ones.
Tighe who pronounced his II It were
spelt "Ty," a plunger. The small but
safe order Of speculation the only kind that
attracted him. and he nearly always came out on
the right side OF the deal. He married Miss Caro-
line Chesebrough in 1871 The bride was forty
years old, and the bridegroom six years younger.
They had no children. Tighe bought a big house
the east side of Union Square The lot has
L. which through to Sixteenth-st. and on
this he had stable. in which he kept carriage
and team of horses though 1t is said he almost
never used them Few kept for
such a big establishment. and the daily life of the
household frugal as 10 border close upon
rserliness. Tighe always dressed shabbily. and
denied himself every little luxury. that hardly
any suspected the size of the fortune he
quietly piling up
HAD ONLY TWO INTIMATE FRIENDS.
The close couple never entertained went into
society. though Tighes standing in Ireland
and that Of his wife in this city could easily have
procured them entrance into the most fashion
able society Of the day. it is said Tighes only
innate friends. besides his wife, were the late
Joseph W. Gerard and the late James T. Ruggles.
Their secluded life went in this way uneventfu-
ly until 1891 when Mrs. Tighe died. She left all
her property, valued at more than 100000 to her
husband, and after her death Tighe's habits be-
came more solitary than ever. He discharged most
OF his servants. closed up most OF the rooms Of
his large house and drew himself into his shell
completely. He survived his wife only five years
When his estate inventorea by his executors,
who expected find perhaps $4,000, they were
astonished the figures mount up and up
until the 100000 mark was reached and slightly
exceeded. Mr.. Tighe, ii appeared. had particularly
liked investments in railroad securities and all of
those which had bought outright had appreciated
in value upon his hands. From many of the rail-
way bonds in his strong box ii was found that the
coupons had not even been cut for ten years. But
when it his will peculiar state of
affairs discovered.
DREW UP WILLS FOR AMUSEMENT.
The drawing up of Photographic wills to
have been of the few amusements of this quiet
couple in their declining years. They would
employ lawyer TO do II for them, but drew up
viii after will. signed them. let them lie for
while and then drew up others. This habit SEEM
ingly began when the pair were seventy-two and
seventy-eight years old. respectively, and a large
number of such wills found in the drawer
of bureau used by Mrs Tighe. The docu-
ment which was admitted to probate the last
will Of Richard Tghe bears date of March D. 1884
and is IN the handwriting of Mrs. Tighe. One gen.
eral plan is apparent throughout all these wills
Mr.. Tighes scheme to leave the whole of his
estate r his wife if she survived him, but in
She died first three trivial legacies to SER
wants and then divided the residue of his big
estate into hundred equal shares. These shares
he would allot among the relatives of his wife in
certain proportions. As his affection for certain
of these benehciaries waxed or waned he would
rush to his Will and alter allotment of shares
TO suit his whim, or he would draw UP an entirely
new viii as the fancy seized him. He never how
ever, left any share to any of his relatives
The nearest he had in Ireland were first cousins
and ne had none anywhere else.
ALTERING OF WILL CAUSED LITIGATION
1t was this habit of altering his will. however
which resulted in his Irish getting share
of the estate. Tighe's last will was drawn I'D
partly in ink and partly In pencil. The parts in
Ink showed no attempts at alteration but the
parts in lead had been frequently erased and re-
will came for probate, decided that the writing in
ink expressed the final determination of the tes-
written only tentatively ard did not express a
determination of the testator, who Intended 10
reserve to himself the power of making disposition
of said shares thereafter. and intended the final
disposition thereof be in ink writing" Here Is
Lable Which shows in convenient form the shares
allotted In ink and those allotted in lead pencil in
the last will:
Harriet g Davenport. S stuyvesant Wainwright 6
Frances Isabella Dowi Ric mayheT WWsnwrgh
HossrS Sg,1sGhRidt Henry stqyvesan
PENCIL.
margaret L. Catlin. Z Augusta s