The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1907-03-01
n6lsle H. IN ESTATE
ksAs : ~ ari.h One OF ths Mum.
sropa Hsirs to An Estate OF
Fivp Hundred Miians.

M va 80
Fivp Hundred MIhoma.
We have received a copy of tht
Fop du Lac, Wis, Reporter. which
contains an interesting story OF the
hegappiaEs of an effort to get pos
session OF an estate valued at $500
000.000, which includes property III
the heart OF the business district OF
New York City. 1t has reference to
the. claims set up by the heirs of Mrs.
Anneke JAMS. and the story finds a
local application in this city.
Mrs. S. w. Smith, who resides on
North Main street, and who recently
moved. here from Mason City, Iowa,
andiE. H. Potts, a brother Of Mrs.
Smith, and Mrs. John Golden, of
Emneesburg, Iowa, are among the
heirs to, this vast property, and of
course are very much interested in
the development along the lines, that
are being pursued by the relatives
and heirs which have the inyestiga-
ton, in charge. A grandmother of
MRS. Smith and MI. Potts is a direct
heir to the property and this close
relationship would be the means of
bringiag. an immense sun to them in
the course of time, providing that
the claimants are successful in es-
tablishing. their. rights to the prop
ertyuin question
The; Reporter contains the follow
ing interesting sketch of the estate,
which had its origin away back in
1885,:
Much. has appeared in the press
throughout the country during the
past years In relation to the famous
Annexed Jams. estate in New York
city, Heirs to the estate are located
in different parts of the United
States, j. D. Lopez, who resides at
226 North Main street, in this city,
is included in the list.
Mr.. Lopez has a complete record
Of al the papers in connection with
~thesestate leading from one genera
ton dawn to the other (seven in alb
until 1t reaches his own. Such pa
pefsssasS he has not a record of can
very easily be obtained as all papers,
amdaxtts, etc, are in safe keeping
in 9. bank In. Kansas City. The heirs
to this estate are many, but as it
is opesofdmmense value all will real
fze -a;evary neat sum when the same
reaches the point OF complete settle
ment. OF the total number of heirs
about two hundred are in possession
of records proving their descent. 1t
has been found that in this. matter
as In a great many others of a sim
liar nature ~people have been very
negligent in keeping tracksaof their
ancestors, "a
Not only is Mr.. Lopez, in possess
Ion OF these records, but he also has
q copy Of the will executed by An
neke JAMS, January 20, 1863. Be-
sides this he has a. map showing
the boundaries of the New York
City property together with. the
streetsss blocks. etc. a record of
which is,, on Ale in the Office Of the
secretary of state at Albany, In the
patent book on pages 20. 20 and 80.
The Property involved.
The New. York City property in
cluddead IN the estate is valued at
from fours9to five hundred million
dollars. 1t is commonly known as
the Trinity church property COM
prtsing about 1872 acres, partly ly-
ing In the heart Of the city and is
covered with valuable mercantile es-
tablishmeats. The titles to these
pronsFtias were afterwards con-
frhedsto, Anneke JAMS Bogardus by
grants from the Dutch. governor,
vansTwiller, in the year 1885, and
by. sabseauent grant of the Dutch
governor. %stuyvesant, in 1854.
Nine years later Mrs. Bogardus
died. and In 1864 New Netherlands,
as New York was then called. passed
into the hands Of the English. On
August 81, in that year, the English
govefaoT. no Nichols, confirmed by
grants the title. of the properties to
the heifa Of Anneke Jams Bogardus.
In 1895 the English church prepared
a patent and forwarded it to Eng
land Ter. the signature of QueepsAnne
whoshoweyer. absolutely refused. to
place her signature to the same and
forbade the governor of New York
to issue any patents OF the property
to the church. A half century or
more after this agents of Trinity
church, d~tspossessed the heirs. and
since thsn have held the property.
At the close OF the Revolutionary
war the property was leased to the
Trinity church Incorporation, but said
leases were given without being in