Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-04-25
CASE DISMISSED
Against Mrs. L. r. Adams. Charged
With Improper Use OF Mails In
Connection With House
Estate

| The suit against Mrs L. r. Adams
before United STATES Commissioner
Reeves in this city today was dis
missed. District Attorney Wishard
aba ndoned the prosecution here on
accouLt of the expense and will take
| the matter up before the Federal
grand jury at Indianapolis when 1t
meets next month. The complaint
against her was that she did know
| ingly and feloniously deposit in the
| United States mails for transmission
| as part of scheme to defraud. 10
one Julia Harrison of ErlaDger, ky.,
and Mrs. Elizabeth Dalzell of Carlyle,
KY, certain letters relative to an al
legged mythical estate Of one John v.
House." Signed and sworn to by
W. T. Fletcher, postoffice inspector.
There were large numb, of wit
nesses for Mrs. Adams, besides nu
merous depositions from those who
have paid her money, claiming that
she did not solicit money from them,
and that what they paid they did of
their own free willingness and were
satisfied with what they got for their
money. The United States commits
sioner sent them all to the city build
ing, and when the prosecution did
not appear went to the city building.
Robert White, Mrs. Adams attorney,
moved the case be dismissed on ac-
count of lack of prosecution, which
| was done.
An amusing tt ing in connection is
this. Mr.. Fletcher sent out a lot OF
decoy letters Among others he
I
Adams at once saying that she had
received letter from Fletcher ask
ing for the correspondence she had
had with Mrs. Adams, but she had
paid no attention to it las think be
is confidence man. None of the
others replied to him, and many sent
their testimony in favor of Mrs.
Adams.
One of the interesting documents
ia connection with tie matter was a
type written statement dated Au
gust Il, 1899, from Henry Clay Cam
eron of Princeton, n. j. He writes
that he is a son of a descendant and
that his father when he was boy
went to the place and found the old
estate then as described in metes
and bounds precisely as his father
had told him. Andrew House came
from the Palatinate early in the 18th
century; his wife was a Huguenot
and escaped from France after the
revocation of the edict OF
Mates. Before 1928 House be
came possessed of the mill site
on Antietam creek where it emp
ties in to the Potomac, writer
thinks by purchase from the Cham
plain family, who owned great part
of Maryland at that time. The main
value of the land was this mill site
and House built a mill there, which
was, writer said, standing for ZOO
be visited the place the year before
1SSS-and found the mill but the dam
was gone. He adds that the water
power which was held by House he
was beaten out of by trick by par
ties who wanted to put forge thee
and left in disgust, giving the lntru-
der lease for 90 years, and settled
in Kentucky In 1910 the members
of House 5 family went to look after
it. The lease was not yet up, but
all the landmarks were located just
as House had described them They
SedIC CIto tuC AVSoiocY ouo VIZ oOo>
containing the record of the transac
tion could not be found.
Later on, in 1910, they went again
and found the book OF records with
the record OF the leasein i, at Upper
Marlborough, Prince Georges coun
ty. The lease still had IA years to
run, I his book of records has now
disappeared and the lack of the rec
ord and also the lease is what stands
in the way of recovery. Later on,
January 10, 1900, the same man
writes letter to Mrs. Adams in
which he says ''this effort to recover
anything will prove fruitless.
The will of House is recorded in
the records at Owingsville, Bath
county, Ky. 1t was probated July
y, 1926, and bequeaths this property
to his children who are named. At
torney White produced a proper y
accredited copy in the court this
morning