The Newport miner. [volume] (Newport, Wash.) 1899-current, 1908-05-07
THE MYSTERY OF
THOMAS MERITHEW.
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In 49, Thomas Merithew. Il wealthy
gentleman of Buffalo. died. His life
had been exemplary He had eXpend
ed large sums in charity and on his
church He had never Zen i'll bust
ness, nor had it been Necessary for
him to earn money. for he had inner
tied a fortune. which grew steadily
while in his possession. Since he left
no children. his wife inherited all his
property. A few years after his death
the wife died. and the estate passed
into the possession of Merithcw lnger
soil. his nephew.
During Thomas MeritheW'S life there
was said that he did not live happily
with his wife and that be would fire.
uuently go away from her; that when
he did so no one knew where he went;
that at such times instead of being a
model of probity he led j wild life.
But there was a discrepancy in these
reports, for if no one knew where he
went how could it be known that he
lived a wild life?
Ten years after his death his former
friends and acquaintance were aston
ished to read in newspaper that
| a young man living in New York city
had put in claim for the Merithew
fortune. This person had been brought
up under the name OF Edward Coyle,
! but claimed the name of Edward Meri-
thew, asserting that he was a legiti-
mate son of Thomas Merithew, that
his mother had been married to Meri
thew prior to the latterS marriage to
his acknowledged wife and that as the
sole surviving heir he was entitled to
all of his fathers property.
The case proved intensely interesting
to both those who knew the Merithews
and to the public generally. AS soon
as it was begun the rumors that had
been circulated during Thomas Merf-
thew's life took shape. Leonard Crit
fin. Buffalonian, testified tOt he had
had speaking acquaintance With Meri
| thew: that on one occasion while visit
| ing New York he had met MeritheW On
! Wall street had bowed to him, and
| Merithew passed on without noticing
| him. Wondering if he could be mis-
taken in his man, he followed him and
| saw him go into an Office. Merithew
| soon came out, and Griffin, going in,
asked who the man was. He was told
that he was William Coyle, ostensibly
a bond broker. but really a speculative
| investor.
Another witness, Putnam Palmer,
testified that in Il restaurant in New
! York he had seen man he supposed
to be Merithew Merithew was with a
woman and a boy. Palmer looked at
Merithew. who returned his gaze with
out recognition. Upon inquiry at the
desk he was Informed that the man
often dined there with the woman and
the boy. who were understood to be his
wife and son.
Leonard Anderson testified that Meri
thew had told him that there was
man in New York who so closely re-
sembled him that the two men were
often mistaken for each other. Counsel
| for defendant before the trial came Oh
had endeavored to find this double. He
traced him up to a date not far from
that Of MeritheW's death; then the dou-
bic suddenly disappeared. Ne also
searched for the wife and son, but
could find no trace Of them. The at
torney made a strong point of the fact
| that they had made no claim to Meri-
! thew's fortune at the time Of his de-
cease. o..
Witnesses were produced who knew
Thomas Coyle Of New York, and they
one and all testified that he was not a
man of good character by any means.
He was known to have been interested
! in the organization of spurious corpo-
ra,ioas. from which he invariably re-
ti:atl with the money of the credulous
! Investors.
| There would have been no case at all
for the claimant had it not been for
Thomas Merithew's frequent disap-
! pearances. Counsel for the defense
made every effort to fix the place or
places to which he went during one or
more of his absences from home, but
| failed. The moment he left Buffalo he
seemed to have passed out Of exist
ence. Ingersoll. the defendant, ran
sacked his aunt's letters, hunting for
one from her husband written during
one of these periods, but found none
to prove that he was not in New York.
When the trial was concluded and
the jury returned to the room to an
nouncs verdict it was found that
there was no agreement. Six jurors
were for the plaintiff and six for the
| defendant. OF course there was a new
| trial. New evidence adduced at this
trial was mention by Mrs. Thomas
Merithew in letter to her husband of
former marriage of her husband, but
when Merithew had come to Buffalo
many years before he gave out that he
had married at nineteen and his wife