Norwich bulletin., 1909-03-11
pANIELsoN..


Checks from Estate Of Henry W.
Lothrop Of Providenoc--punn Com
pany May Take ElmviIIs Mill-Death
Of Simon s. Waldo.
pie are In receipt of checks. for vary
4ng sums from the estate of Henry w.
Lothrop, who died in Providence five
years ago, leaving 100000. The time
since Mr.. Lothrop's death has been con-
sumed by the trust department OF the
Rhode Island Trust company in effort
to locate all the heirs and the settle
ments now being made complete a
strange and unusual story relative to
the search for the heirs and the dis
trfbutfon of the fortune.
Henry w. Lothrop died Tuesday,
January 6. 1904, at his home on John
street, Providence. He was bachelor,
a scholar, and devoted the greater part
of his life to, scientific research and
in the study and collection of all sorts
of insect life he was an expert. He
compiled many papers on subjects in
cident to this special line of research,
many of them of great value, though
few have been published. He. was
connected with various historical and
scientific organizations.
Mr.. Lothrop died without leaving a
will or a bequest of any kind, not even
to his aged housekeeper, who had
been with him since his boyhood, and
the search for his heirs began.
Adams T. Carol of Providence, a
relative. undertook the task. Since Mr..
Lothrop was a bachelor. with all lines
of relatives extinct back to his grand
parents. it became necessary to trace
brothers and sisters of those grand
parents, These were the people born
a century and a half ago, whose liv-
ing descendants, the rightful heirs,
were largely distributed in the fourth
fifth and sixth generations, and scat
tered through every state in the I'M
ion, Canada, Newfoundland, Alaska,
some even In Europe and South AM
erica, Altogether they have been
found to number 545.
Starting at a period when town rec
ords of births, deaths and marriages,
providing they were kept at all were
exceedingly defective. when large fam
lilies were the rule, when the spirit of
migrating westward was most preva-
lent, when all means of communica-
ton were deficient and expensive, all
trace of one another was ra. idly lost.
Separating, some achieved great sue
cess, becoming United States senators,
doctors OF divinity, famous engineers,
prominent in business and members of
distinguished and wealthy families.
Others filled more humble positions in
life, as tillers of the soil, miners. sail
ors and cowboys, all forming a group
of heirs who had little idea OF being
of the same ancestry and by far the
greater part with no cognizance what
ever of possessing any rights in this
estate. The gathering of links in such
a chain involved not only the employ
ment of all usual means OF gathering
such information, but also resorting to
many novel methods, that sometimes
proved unexpectedly successful and
again fruitless. It meant many tedi-
Gus search beyond what is apparent in
the printed list of heirs located. such
as the necessary tracing of all ex-
tinct branches, the running down Of
many false lines and careful wedding
out Of every false CLAIMANT 1t reveal
ed how amazingly meagre knowledge
many people possess of their relatives.
There were brothers and sisters, liv-
ing in close radius, who believed each
other dead, and others in this day of
easy communication, ignorant of each
others whereabouts for periods Of
many years, There were four families
of the branch to be traced, the Lo-
throp branch, the Adams branch, the
Thornton branch and the Carver
branch. II is from this last named
branch that the eastern Connecticut
people, established heirs, are descend
ed; from Hannah Carver, who married
John Carder. and who lived from 1747,
to 1928.
OF the number to be enumerated of
the beneficiaries in this part Of the
state few had knowledge of their re-
lationship with the deceased and the
checks now in their possession came
as a surprise. The amounts they re-
ceived are not great, varying from $40
to $500, the apportionment being based
on the degree OF relationship to the
deceased accurately established by a
genealogist.
OF the 545 heirs, the following are
from eastern Connecticut: Miss Anna
E. Carder, Miss Ruth G. Carder es-
tate Esther M. Heath, Mrs. ]. w.
Trowbridge, Mrs. Irving H. Roberts,
Mrs. D. n. Medbury, Mrs. L. o. Will
liamE, Miss Fredell r. Randall, Miss
Blanche A. Randall. Miss Mildred K.
Andrews, estate Of Lucius 3. Durfee,
Ingoldsby w. Trowbridge, Mrs. George
w. Webster, Mrs. J. N. Douty, all Of
Putnam; Mrs. Henry Martin. 205 Ash
street. Willimantic: Mrs. Ruth Ham
nell, East Killingly; Frank T. Field of
Dayvills, Miss Maud X. Arnold.
Miss Florence Chase. Woodstock Hill;
Z. Warren of Moosup, Miss Josie
Wetherall, Mrs Henry Young. Mrs. S.
P. Humphrey, George Wetherall. Mrs.
NJ. V. Woodwork. Mrs. Charles T.
Place and Timothy Z. Hopkins, all of
Danielson; Miss Amy Arnold, Stafford
Springs.