Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1908-04-25
PETITION FILED
FOR RECEIVER
INVOLVES EDDYvILLE WATER
WORKS, OPERA HOUSE AND
STORE ROOMS.
VALUE ABOUT $4,000
Deeds and Bill of Sale From Mary S.
Legett to Ida B. and L. A.. Rowe
Set Aside by Court
Last Fall.

The Eddyville water works system,
the opera house and two business
houses of that city may be placed in
the hands of a receiver. Yesterday
afternoon, late, Attorney Gillis OF
counsel for Mary Wroughton, w. E
Leonard and Emma Giles filed petit
tion for receivership in the Eddy.
vile property left by the late Mary
S. Legett to her daughter, Ida b..
Rowe, and son-in-law, l.. A. Rowe.
by deed and bill Of sale, which left
the plaintiffs without share of the
estate.
Last fall in the district court the
plaintiffs succeeded in having the
deeds and bill of sale set aside and as
the property Is still in the hands of
the defendants receiver is asked to
be appointed to conserve the interests
of oil parties in the estate, possibly
Of value Of s15,01J or more.
To Conserve Property.
In support of the receivership, pc
tition states that l.. A. Rowe and Ida
.. Rowe are receiving the rents and
Profits from the property as against
the other heirs L. A. Rowe is at
work in OttuEiwa the petition further
says and is unable to properly care
for the property and unless disin-
teresteG party is appointed to care
for the property it is feared that the
estate Will be wasted.
The petition of plaintiffs sets out
the relationship as follows. Defend
ant lda Is. Rowe is a daughter of Mary
S. Legett, now deceased, defendant
L. A. Rowe is her husband
Plaintiff Mary Wroughton and
Emma Giles are daughters of Mary
I.egett and w. E. Leonard is grand
son of Mrs. Legett.
Agent and Adviser.
''That during the lifetime of Mary
Legett and for period of about ten
years prior to her death L. A. Rowe
was the confidential agent and adviser
as to all business properties of Mrs.
Legett and up to within about eigh-
| teen months of hrr death, Mr.. Rowe
was the owner in f,e simple of the
property in question:.
The property consisted of an opera
house. swo b ,siness l.ouses, the water
works Plant and considerable 1rersonaf
property.
Rents Coming In.
The petition states that the opera
/ house and one business house are
rented and there are many consumers
from the water works and defendants
are collecting the rents from the op.
era house and business houses and
from consumers of water from the
water works.
| THAT about a year prior to her
DEATH the petition states, Gin an al
legged settlement which it is claimed
that Mary s. Legett had with L. A.
Rowe, the said Mary s. Legett trans
ferred all her right, title and interest
in and to said real and personal prop.
erty to Ida B. and L. A. Rowe.
| Deeds Set Aside.
| s'That plaintiff herein brought an
| action in district court against L. A.
and Ida B. Rowe to set aside the
deeds and bill of sale made by Mrs.
Legett, conveying property to the de-
PENDANTS upon the ground of fraud
and inadequate consideration; that a
/ trial was had upon the issues raised in
the case and on or about March %,
| 1908, decree was entered in favor
of plaintiffs in said case, setting
| aside and declaring null and void
deed and transfers of said property
to defendants, to which order the de-
PENDANTS duly excepted
Demand Large Sum.
The petition further recites that de-
Pendants demand $4,000 or $4,000 al
legged to be due from the estate, anil
defendants have failed and refused to
surrender the property involved in the
ldeeds of transfer and are still in their
possession and have for two and a
half years appropriated the rents and
profits to their own use and have plac-
ed extensive and costly improvements
on the property without the consent
and advise Of the plaintiffs, that in
| connection with the water works
| there was the job Of sprinkling the
streets of Eddyville which yields a
large revenue, but the streets this
year are not sprinkled although the
citizens of the city are desirous of
continuing the practice as heretofore.
Financial stress.
| The petition further says, Defend
ants are insolvent and are not finan-
cially able to reimburse in this suit
for rents and profits and if property
is not placed in the hands Of an un-
interested person the value of the es-
tate will be wasted to these plaintiffs
| Wherefore it is asked that a receiver
be appointed to conserve the rights
and interests of all parties"
l