Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1909-04-22
STRANGE CLAIMS
TO BIG ESTATE
Exhibits Lease and Option For
$4,000 on Charnock Prop
erty Worth $4,000.

woman, who has twice mysteriously
appeared to claim large estates of men
who were as mysterious as she, is
under investigation by the District
Attorneys office on account of a
third situation similar to, but even
stranger, than the others.
This is alsN more complicated than
the ones thai have preceded and be-
come historic. 1t appears that Mrs.
briggs now claims, by virtue of a
lease and option to purchase, posses
sion of property worth $4,000. Her
option, if valid, is worth $4,000 at
this moment
But there is a counter claim. Mrs.
Lillian Charnock Price, a niece of
John J. Charnock, deceased, who
owned the property, has recorded a
deed to the 1877 acres of land involved
The two claims conflict and nat
urally presuppose fraud by one of the
two contestants, or amazing eccentric
ity on the part of Mr.. Charnock
Acting upon the idea that some
one must have flagrantly erred in lay
ing claim to the valuable. real estate,
the District Attorney is trying to
learn which party should be preferred
in the premises. Incidentally a
criminal complaint may arise from
the confusion of putative interests.
Left R212,ooo Estate
The facts, in brief, are as follows:
Mr.. Charnock, rich and frugal far
mer and money-lender, whom some
of his neighbors called a miser, died
in his humble home at the Palms on
March %, last. He left an estate
appraised at $4,000, the bulk of the
property being in cash or gilt-edged
mortgages.
A week before his death Mrs. Price
recorded a deed to the tract of land
adjoining the Charnock home place.
This comprises 1877 acres and is
worth $1,000 an acre.
On March Is Mrs. briggs recorded
a lease and option on the same
property, the instrument bearing the
signature of John j. Charnock.
1t is this signature that is in dis
pute. If it is genuine Mrs. briggs,
according to the terms of the lease,
will have one-fifth of the crops
| fay nr CHI oh
she may purchase the entire farm
within ten years for $500 an acre.
! Such a purchase would give Mrs.
briggs clear profit of $500 an acre,
or $4,000.
Heirs to Contest Claim \ 2
The heirs of Mr.. Charnock are pre-
pared to contest Mrs. briggs claim.
These are George Charnock of the
Palms and Edward Fleming Charnock
of Los Angeles, brothers; Mrs. Julia
F. Ruth of Hollywood and Lady
Dutton Green, wife of an English
peer, nieces; Mrs. Harriet Charnock,
widow of Charles, brother, and
Miss Laura Charnock, adopted daugh-
ter of Charles. The persons directly
and most vitality interested, natural
ly, is Mrs. Price.
Walter F. Hass, attorney for the
estate, and G. r. Smead, executor,
were non-committal yesterday regard
ing the intricacies of the case,
though Mr.. Hass termed the situation
astounding.
Mrs. briggs, through her attorneys,
Charles M Alderman and G.. B.
Ladd, strongly intimates that fraud
has been practiced by the opposing
parties and that the deed is a fraud
ulent instrument.
Conquest of Aged Farmer
The repression exercised by Mrs
briggs does not extend to the other
parties to the threatened contest,
however, and while none will be
quoted the story of the versatile wild
ow's conquest of the aged farmer is
told somewhat as follows:
Mr.. Charnock, who had lived at
The Palms for years, was a bache'
lor, 81 years Of age. He had never
married; didn't want to marry. His
only companions were his relatives,
and the one nearest to him., George
Charnock, brother. These two oc-
cupied the same cabin, better suited
to the poverty of a Lazarus than the
wealth Of a Dives.
| One day about two years ago Mrs.
briggs, riding along, noticed the
broad, level, fertile arces. and, posi-
IDLY, admitted them. She inquired
whose they were and learned that
they belonged to Mr. Charnock, thong
| how, why or where is a lost record.
In the matter of inspiring admira-
ton it appears, however, that he ex-
ceeded his acres.
So great was Mrs. briggs concern
for the aged recluse that she estab-