The times., 1901-03-12
THE GILMAN WILL FIGHT.
Great Legal Battle Probable Over
the Vast Estate.

| the laws of two States are involved, 1t
may not be decided until it reaches the
! United States Supreme Court
Mrs. Blakeley Han. who is in practical
! possession Of the Brightwood property,
| came to New York today to consult with
! her lawyer She said she had in her pos
! session evidence which would prove that
/ she was tho heir to the estate left by
! George Francis Gilman Her claim, she
( insisted. would prevail above all oti.ers,
/ but when asked TO explain the grounds
! on which she based it she said this was
! matter which she had been instructed by
! her lawyer not to talk about to anyone.
! Irs Han said she regarded herself as
absolute mistress Of the Black Rock es-
! tate and that the distant relatives of Mr..
! Gilman, who were now in the house, were
| there merely on suffrance. one of the
/ deN elopments of today was that Frazier
! Gilman, the Oldest half-brother of the
late millionaire who is leading the fight
on behalf Of the blood relatives, is per
! fectly willing that Mrs. Hall should keep
] the Bridgeport estate.
| He SAYS that it is heavily mortgaged
and is not worth struggling for. 1t was
/ apparent today that the serenely conf
! dent attitude of Mrs. Hall is a source Of
J great perturbation to the lawyers who
/ are acting for the fuil-blood and half
! blood relatives. As one of them described
/ ii today, she had them guessing.
The legal combat will be upon the qaes-
/ ton as to the residence of the late Mr..
/ Gilman If it is held that he was a resi-
/ dent of Connecticut, the descendants of
/ the five brothers and sisters of the dead
man. headed by Edward l.. Norton. VIII
/ divide the estate, as the laws of Con
I necticut do not recognize haiI-biood rela-
! tives Mr. Giman's hal-brothers and
/ their children will endeavor to prove that
| his legal residence was in this State.
Frazier Gilman. a half brother of the
| tea merchant, arrived here today from
/ Dakota - aid his brother Theophilus, of
! Brooklyn. in the fight they are about to
/ begin for a share of the estate. For r3ore
! than twenty years Frazier Gilman has
! lived in Dakota. In looks he Is typical
! Westerner He wears his hair down to
I his shoulders, and is tall and 1.-the. lie
| said:
| "Our father died forty-three years ago,
/ leaving a fortune of about s., 5,C0o,o9o, which
/ he made by running blockades in the war
! Of 1872 and in the South African trade. At
the time Of his death he was reputed to
! be the third richest man in the United
States When he died George and CO.
! executor. named Edward Mcclellan, took
! nnssessiou of the estate Immediately
! George began to live high. lie bought
/ fast horses and all that kind of thing. 1t
was on the money he thus had control Of
( that he built the la'ge fortune he had
when he died.
/ when my mother, my brothers. and
/ sisters and myself tried to get share of
/ the estate that we were entitled to George
| refused to give up anything. In 1871 ! at
/ tached his stores and other property and
/ after a lot of litigation a compromise
/ was effected whereby the ten heirs were to
! receive $500 each and share in $3.50, 500
worth of Arkansas bonds owned by my
/ father Mother was the only one of It's
1 who got the $S50'9.
/ George refused to pay out the rest OF
! the money on the technical ground that
! one of the heirs had failed to sign the
! agreement. For myself. | did not mind
much because / thought eventually !
/ would get the money. / went to Dakota
| and began farming. As | made about
! 81 600 "A year for some time | did not
/ trouble my brother. Bat for two years
| in succession the grasshoppers came. and
! at the end OF that time ! was out $3o.0G0.
/ / settlepa4lIeIafms except about $17.Gp
II came To New York intending to get
the money necessary to pay these debts
from my brother When / met him at his
office in this city told him what / want
ed and le told his clerk to draw a check
in my favOr for $4,000. When | went with
the clerk to draw the money the bank
had just closed. Next day when | went
to my brothers Office / did not see him
until after bank hours. This went on for
about two weeks, when l began to get
I q nj E..r4 la..
Office telling me he would not give me
a cent. a few days after / met him on
the street and he offered me cents
smacked his face. Then / went on the
Warpajn FOR fair
1T was in 1877 that the Broadway incl
dent happened. George had gone to the
I Equitable Building 30 attend a confer
cnce. AS he got into his carriage l went
to speak to him when his cOachman hit
me with a loaded whip, splitting open my
head. My brother who came to my as
sistance, also had his head laid open.
drew my pistol and ran after the cab /
ca-ght up with it in a few blocks and
had my brother arrested
In retaliation ! was locked uj for at
tempting to shoot him and his coachmau
! was tried before Justice Gildersleeve
and acquitted. The Judge ordered my pis-
tol to be returned to me. After that l
was continually dogged by toughs. One
day WAS set upon at Thirty-thrd Street
and Avenue y and was stabbed in the
face.
Il may tell YOU that my two brothers
and myself had agreed among ourselves
that if either Of us was killed, we would
xii George When drew the pistol
on hiin in Broadway 1 certainly thought
/ would murder him. At that time I had
| no money. was living ON 10 cents a
day. while George was living in luxury
and on money that partly belonged TO us
"Wcu. after this sort of thing and Jaw
suits had been going on Tor about five
years George gave me $4,000 on a quit
| claim But an / made out of il was about
500 I he rest went 10 pay legal tN-
%. uees Since then I have been on good
| Terms with nay brother. comparatively
spcalIug. / met him several times and
! STAYED in the same hotel with him IN
| Saratoga about twelve years ago. ] don
! think he lett Il viii because ne could rot
| bear the thought of death and no one
ever dared mention death in his pr-s .n"e.
Mrs Elakelry Hall is thirty-eight years
aid Her maiden name was Helen Potts.
| She came from Pennsylvania When she
| was about twenty-five years old she
| wont on the stage, taking the name OF
Helen Standish. She was a member of
| the Boston Museum Company for time
| and later WAS of the support of Maud
! Granger in piece called The Fisher
Maiden.
! Years aao when she WAS still on the
stage After her marriage to him she
retired About three years ago she ana
her husband separated and she went to
/ live at the Black Rock house OF MI
! Gilman. Ii is not generally known how
| 49,, ..r,. f., be acquainted with him.