The sun., 1903-02-10
FIGHT FOR FAIR MILLIONS.
MOTHER or MRS. FAIR TO TRY TO
UPSET SETTLEMENT.
she and Other Heirs.at.Law Of Mrs. Fair
Aliegc mat Mr. Fair Died First and
Charge Deceit In Securing Agreement
by which They Got Only SlSS 900.


Aliegc mat Mr. Fair Died First ahS
Charge Deceit In Securing Agreement
by which They Got Only Slss.Ooo
The complaint was filed yesterday In
suit brought in the Supre mo Court here te
set aside the agreement by which HANNAH
E. Nelson and her children accepted some
SiH6 900 rather than try TO get larger share
in the estate Of Mrs. Caroline d. Fair. who
was killed with her husband, Charles l.
Fair, In an automobile accident In France
last summer. Mrs. Nelson ia Mrs. Fairs
mother and lives with her son, Abraham q
Nelson, the proprietor OF o small store, al
New Market. N. ].
The defendants in this suit are the sisters
Of Charles l.. Fair-Thereaa Alice Oelrichs
the wife OF Hermann Oclrichs: Virginia Van
derlilt. wife Of W. X. Vanderbilt, Jr. and
Joseph Harvey and Charles $. Neal. the
last two individually and "a trustees OF
Mira Oelrichs and Mrs Vanderbilt.
n is alleged IN the complaint that as =
matter of TACT Charles l.. Fair did not sur
viye his w!fo ii the automobile accident,
but that on the contrary fhe survived HIM
by n, least twenty minutes; that she thus
had Inherited under his will leaving every
thing to her: that Mrs Nelson. a. the rio'tcr
Of Mr. rnir. was the iigntfu! hoir I" the
estates Of her daughter. who practically
died in'e.t ate because her will left every
thing to her husband. and that Mrs Nelson
and the Their signed releases which were
obtained by fraud and wiJHolit considera-
ton"
The plaintiffs assert that the entire estate
of Charles H. fair ,as worth about 5000, 900
and that h- wifr'g estate announced d 10
SjOO,"0D Or 5000 900. They also say that
Mrs. Nelson and rer son. Ab-ah1m e., were
summoned to san Francisco Immediately
after the accident hy people who said th,"
wee "w,rm friends" Of Mrs. Fair and that
they were met at Reno. New, winch "a
some 900 rnlos from san Francisco, by
Joseph Harvey and Charles s. Neal.
When they arrived IN San Francisco, the
complaint says. Mrs Nelson, who is over 20
years old, received many social attenti ems
and unusual ciyllit!es OF many kinds al
legged to hovo been provided for her by
Mr.. and Mrs, Harvey, by Neal and by Her
mann Oelrichs. AL these protestations Of
sCl,citude, the complaint says, were one
nnd all parts Of plan and scheme deliber-
ate!y and ingeniously formed and carried
out by the defendants, Harvey and Neal,
and by the said Hermann Oe!richs (who
then was the agent and attorney IN fact OF
Theresa A. Oelrichs and Virginia Wander
bilt), for the sole purpose OF first enticing
the said Hannah y. Nelson TO San Francisco;
and second, when once there and away
from home and her lifelong friends AMI
neighbors, cajoling and entrapping her into
a settlement OF her claims III sole heir OF
her deceased daughter. which would DO
greatly to the advantage OF the defendant.
and, In fact, into jst the kind OF and such
ny,t ah vla nd m "a
to her great pecuniary loss and injury,
and which ia now complained Of
The agreeme Mt, II is related, provided that
Mrs. Nelson should release all claims to
and convey by deed Of settlement NIL her
interest, claims and estate In the prop
erty OF her daughter except some jewelry.
furniture and bonds; that she should trans
fer to Mrs. Oelrichs and Mrs. Vanderbilt
all claims she might have against Nr. Fairs
estate and all the other claims against the
will Of her daughter, Mrs. Nelson was
to tS 90 al this and 20 rst her children 70 sign
3125. 900 To be paid TO her and for $4,000 to
each Of her surviving children. Of whom
there are six.
Mrs. Nelson. the complaint further re-
cites, was induced to sign the settlement be-
cause she was told that Mr., Fair had sur
vived his wife and inherited her whole
estate Of some $500 00O This story Of the
survival, the complaint says, was wholly
false and untrue. On this point Chandler 4
Beekman Of this city, the lawyers for Mrs.
Nelson and the other plaintiffs. said yester-
day that they Rad in their possession af-
fdavits from nine reputable persons who
saw Mr.. and Mrs. Fair at the timo Of the
accident or just after it and that all but one
Of those nine were confident that Mrs. Fair
lived at least twenty minutes longer than
her husband. Mr. Chandler also said:
while Mrs Nelson was in San francisco
mention was made Of an alleged child--a
girl-who was born out Of wedlock to dr.
and Mrs. Fair. md who was said to he on the
way from New York to claim the whole es-
tate. OF course this WAS a preposterous
story Mrs. Nelson and her son Abraham
will swear TO the relation Of IL. All this wor-
ried the old lady so that she became i'll and
wanted to have the whole thing settled up
at almost any cost She would have taken
$4,000 il they had Offered that instead Of
sl25, 600
Both Mr.. Chandler and Mr. Beekman as
serted warmly that they would not have
taken up the case If they had not been sure
Of their grounds. They flied liz pende rs
yesterday against the Fair properly AZ
Riverside Drive and Seven'h-nfth street,
which at the time Of the accident was in Mrs
Fairs name.
A member OF the Nelson family vhen see m
IN Plainfe,d, y. j., last night, said that
Nr. Bcckman, counsel for the plaintiffs,
was inParis when the automobile accident
occurred and learned nj that time that Mr..
Fair died fret. urcn returning TO this
again in search of further evidence. When
he returned TO this country a few weeks
ego he brought with him, II IL alleged two
af7davits OF evewitnesses Who Reid that
they raw signs CT life in .,rs Fair afte
her husband had died.