Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-06-21
Saturday, June q, 1870
AFTER HIS SCALP.

company. DuTlilS lle PoSe WV ">-
there has been talk of dozens Of war.
rants and at least one has been issued
on an affidavit charging Mr.. Nicely witr
obtaining money under false pretenses;
but the reporter has no information up
to this time that it has been served.
Mr.. Neely came to Yorkville several
months ago representing himself to be
the agent of the United Mutual Lie
Insurance Company Of South Carroll
na," which he glowingly described as
most commendable enterprise estao'
lished on the small admission and easy
assessment plan and backed by $l3,OOo,'
900 Of capital. He located the general
HEADQUARTERS of the concern in New
York, and gave the name of Geo. r.
Oulights" as president, and seth j.
Barmley' as secretary.
The general plan Of the company was
to require each member to pay small
initiation fee, and to agree to pay a
specified assessment on the death or q
member. In addition to this, there was
stipulated a nominal amount for an
nual dues and that was all there was
to 1t.
Being a smooth and persuasive talk
er, Mr. Nicely had but little difficulty in
securing a large number of MEMBERS
Before he had been operating two
months, he gave out that he had issued
some 300 or more policies. and finally,
a month or two back, he had his figures
up to 600 or 700. Just how many poll
cies he really had cannot be definitely
established just at this time, for there
Is no definite information on the SUBJ
iect beyond what he himself told men,
bers and prospective patrons. There
is no doubt about the fact, however,
that up to February last, and for at
least a month or two thereafter, Mr.
Neely wrote numerous policies and
collected many premiums.
But in February there developed an
incident that has been attended with
not a little trouble for the enterprising
insurance man. About that time Mr..
James G. Duncan, of Yorkville, died,
leaving a policy for 81, 900 in the United
Mutual Life Insurance Company OF
South Carolina" and the beneficiaries,
the parents of the deceased, called upon
Mr.. Neely for their money. Just what
occurred on the occasion of their de-
mand, and the story Of their subse-
uuent efforts to secure the amount due
NJ rec
ord; but it is a fact that they finally
became so discouraged over the proba-
bility of being able to collect the
money on their own account that they
turned their claim over to j. S. Brice,
ESQ. After this the situation began to
grow more interesting.
81 called upon Mr.. Neely," said Mr..
Brice, land told him my business.
He said yes, yes, that is all right;
lust bring me a certificate Of death
from the attending physician, and
will pay the amount in full I asked
him If the certificate Of the attending
physician was all the proof of death he
wanted, and he said yes. I got the Ger
tificate and sent for Mr.. Nicely to come
to me. When again made demand for
the money, he said he had forgotten IN
the first instance. but that he must
also have a certificate of the under
taker. I got that. and gave 1t to him.
After a few days more Of delay ne
said that all that would now be neces-
sary would be a certificate from Mi.
Duncans parents. showing that l was
duly authorized to receive and receipt
for the money and I showed him that
Then he began to try to make 1t appear
that Duncan had not paid his initia-
ton fee, and I showed him his own re-
ceipt. He explained that the receipt
was given in exchange for due Dill
payable on a certain date, with the
understanding that If not paid, the
policy would be no good. 1 asked 10
see the due bill; but Mr.. Nicely failed
to show 1t to me. In the same connec-
ton Mr.. Neely claimed that they re-
fering to the alleged northern par
ties) had issued the Duncan policy by
mistake-that they" were not aware
of the failure of the insured to settle the
due bill, etc. Mr.. Nicely explained
that he had nothing to do with the is
suing of policies-that the policies come
from New York. 1 called his atten-
ton to the fact that the Duncan pol
lev was mailed to Mr.. Duncan through
the Yorkville postoffice, evidently by
Mr. Neely, and that the poStmark,
was subsequent to the date OF the al
legged due bill. Then he said that In
that particular instance the policy
might have been mailed to him, and,
If so, he mad mailed it to Mr.. Duncan.
In the face of all this, concluded MT.
Brice. there was nothing for me 10
do but to sue and sue at once, so toio
MIR. Nicely that 1 would not attempt
any further negotiations
The complaint that MIR. Brice filed IN
TINS case has already been published IN
THE ENQUIRER. Up to the time or the
publication, Mr.. Nicely was still Sollc-
iting members and collecting pre-
miums. He continued to collect a few
even after that publication: but not
many. The warming had gone to al
most every nook and corner OF the
county, and there was no longer any
excuse for any reasonably intelligent
man who would fall into the trap.
In the meantime, policy holders had
been pretty generally stirred up.
Those who were directly served by Mr..
Brice with copies of his complaint
were stirred most. of course, and the
publication in THE ENQUIRER gave the
balance a definite idea of the actual
situation. Then came Mr.. Neely's an
swer through the paper, containing an
attempt at assurance and an ofer TO
chow bis hooks etc About the same
time, the policyholders received an
other death notice. calling for an as
sessment to pay the premium of one
z NJ Smith