Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-13
YOUTH MAKES
GRAVE CHARGE
AGAINST KIN
Says Relatives Want
His Estate
Mother Is Arrested on Insane Charge,
and Son Declares It Is
Part of the Con-
spiracy

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If true, promises to become one of the
most sensational of all tales of strug
giles for the possession Of property
from dead peoples stores which has
come to light in recent years.
Young Mccormack appeared at the
station at about 10 o'clock and wanted
the aid of the police to rescue his
mother, as he stated, from the unlaw-
full clutches of a deputy sheriff who
had placed her in the detention ward
for the insane of the county hospital
without warrant or authority of law.
The lad, who was visibly affected by
the situation of his mother, related a
strange story when asked to fully ex-
plain the matter. His mother and him
self. he said, were residents Of Denver,
Colo. His father was dead and with
his mother he was heir, with number
of other relatives, to an estate COM
ing from his grandmother valued at
close to half million dollars.
Calls Relatives Jealous
Because his mother and himself were
mentioned for larger share of the es-
tate than were some other relatives
there was an effort being made on the
part Of these relatives to gain possess
sion of their share Of the property since
efforts to break the will had failed, and
these efforts, according to the young
man, were of the most strenuous kind.
Late yesterday afternoon as young
Mccormack and his mother were COM
Ing from their former home at 22S
South Avenue Sixty-six, they were ap-
preached by man who stated that he
was an officer and that he had come to
arrest Mrs. Mccormack as an insane
person. The officer, said the boy. dis
played no warrant or complaint and
took his mother in charge without any
authority of law and conveyed her to
the county hospital, where she was con-
fined in the detention ward for the in
sane. The man who claimed to be an
officer stated that complaint had
been sworn out by one of the woman's
relatives charging that she was an in
sane person and a fit subject to be
confined in a state institution.
BY inquiry at the county hospital 1t
was learned that Mrs. Mccormack had
been arrested as stated by her son by
Deputy Sheriff E. E. Hubbard, but that
the officer when he delivered the
patient at the hospital said that he did
not have any warrant for the woman's
arrest, but that a complaint was In the
1sheriffs office and that he would pre-
sent the proper commitment tnls Horh-
ing.
s Bames Cousin
Young William Mccormack, who
average weight of responsibilities rest
ing on his shoulders, said that his
mothers cousin, Arthur Randall, in
whose house they had been living on
Avenue Sixty-six. was responsible for
the trouble in which they were in at
present.
Randall, however, is not the princi-
pal in the conspiracy which he alleges
has been formed against his mother,
but is acting, according to the boy, un-
der the direction of N. L. Phelps and
A. D. Merrill, who are uncles of his
and residents of Denver, Colo.
The boy in his story told at the police
station said that he and his mother
were the chief beneficiarieS under the
will of his grandmother, who died
some years ago at her home in W1scon-
sin She left a will leaving property
in Denver consisting of residence ana
business houses and lots, coal lands in
North Dakota, ranch and cattle lands
in Texas and farming property In Wis
consin and Kansas There was also
some money in Chicago and Denver
banks, but that this sum had long ago
heen drawn out and distributed.
The uncles, Phelps and Merrill, were
ieoatees under the will to the extent of
s50O0 each. Mrs Samuel Bennett of
ocean Park and her brother, Arthur
Randall who are cousins of Mrs.
Jeanette MCCOTIldCh, WClO oioO OCiS-
6ciaries under the will, their share,
however, not being a large one. Mrs.
Belle NJ Austin, sister of Mrs. Nc
Cormack, whose residence is in Black
River Falls, Wis, also enters into this
tragic story as a very important char
acter according to her nephew.
Makes Grave Charge
"My Aunt Belle" said young Nc
Cormack, tried to kidnap me at San
Diego so that she could take me back
east and become my guardian and get
possession of my share Of the estate.
MY uncles are trying, through my
mothers cousin, Arthur Randall. to get
possession of her share Of the estate by
putting her in an asylum where they
will have to have guardian appointed
for her. My mother Is no more insane
than you are, and the effort to place
her in an asylum is nothing more than
an attempt to get possession of her
property. My mother and get nearly
all my grandmother's estate. The
property is tied up in the probate courts
in Denver and at Black Falls, Wis.
"There have been numerous attempts
to break the will. In every case this
has failed, but the contesting relatives
have succeeded in delaying the distri-
button and settlement of the estate
until my mother and myself are nearly
OUT OIL HlOHcy. NOW lllSy diO IiJAiS "
put her in an asylum and to carry me
off and have a guardian appointed for
me who will Of course have control of
my property until I am of age.
IT do not believe that they can put
nv mother in an asylum. She is not
insane. She has been bounded and
driven from place to place and put
to trials until she is nervous and ex-
cited, but her mind is as clear and her
understanding as good as that of any
normal human being on earth. She
knows what is right and wrong. She
knows her own rights and she is willing
to give away a greater part of them
in order to be left in peace and enjoy
what they would leave her, but they
apparently want all or nothing.
Mother Is Shocked
'It was a great shock to her when
my aunt tried to kidnap me in San
Diego. 1t was a great shock to her
when her relatives shut us out of the
house we had been living in ON Ave-
nue. Sixty-six. We went from there to
Ocean Park, where we saw Mrs. Sam
Bennett, who really owns the house
and got an order from her for some OF
111xr r,aOkt1aw,z @htx,Oo xuhf0h were faS-