The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-07-20
MYSTERY Of MISS.
|NG HEIR
Tecumseh, Nebraska, ARGUS
ed Over Mysterious
Will Case.

ASSuhAoSh, ANCU., uly HO"ANOluluS
has ever put the curiosity of the
citizens of Tecumseh under a great
Ell strain than the mystery of old
Scotch Wilson's missing heir,
which is to be solved by an unusual
test before Judge Livingston of the
probate court tomorrow. The claim
ant, who asserts that he is John
Wilson, Jr., the son of old Scotch"
Wilson, will, tomorrow, be given an
opportunity to prove his identity and
to establish his claim to the $4,000
which old Wilson left to his missing
son, provided he should turn up
within five years after the death of
the testator and prove his claim by
answering to the satisfaction of the
court, ten questions which old Will
son had written down and sealed and
deposited in safety deposit vault.
OLD Scotch" Wilson died about
five years ago and ever since that
time the mysterious package in the
safety deposit vault kept the curl
Osity of the citizens at high pitch.
1t is safe to say that there were not
two residents who held the same
theory concerning the nature and
purport of the ten questions. Every
possibility was discussed from every
imaginable point of view and for five
years the mystery of the test ques-
tions formed the all-absorbing topic
of conversation and contention in
Tecumseh.
The general interest in the puzzle
increased tremendously when, few
weeks ago, man appeared in this
city who claimed to be John Wilson,
Jr., the missing heir of old Scotch"
Wilson. He stated, in reply to Ques-
tions that he had lived in Houston,
Tex, for more than twenty years I'M
der the name of Alone Wilson and
that he had assumed that name to
difficult for his father to locate him.
He is an attorney and also a civil
engineer and has worked for he
Southern Pacific railroad for many
years. He said he had heard of his
fathers death about two years ago.
but did not wish to return to claim
the inheritance waiting for him. But
his wife and daughter had finally per-
suaded him to claim the estate for
their sakes and he had consented to
come to Tecumseh and establish his
identity through the prescribed test.
Old Scotch" Wilson, the testator,
was one of the oldest settlers in this
locality. He owned fine farm and
by shrewd investments accumulated
considerable fortune. He was man
of many prejudices, stubborn and lg-
norant and frequently quarreled
with the members of his family and
his neighbors. 1t was about thirty
SIX years ago that the old man had
particularly severe quarrel with his
son, John Wilson, Jr. and drove him
from out the house. The boy left
Tecumseh and was never seen again
since that time. One year later the
old man relented and began to re-
greet having driven his only son into
the world He made strenuous ef-
forts to find a trace of his son and
spent the greater part of his fortune
in this search. The search remain
ed fruitless and the old man died with
out having found a trace of his son.
Shortly before his death the old man
made a will in which he provided,
after his own style, for the possibility
OF his sons return. He deposited
$4,000, the bulk of his fortune, in
the Tecumseh bank, to be held in
July 81, 1910. The old man, realiz-
ing the danger that an impOster
might claim the fortune, wrote down
ten questions and the answers to
them, sealed them securely and en-
trusted them to the executor of the
estate, A. c. Sullivan, with the pro-
vision that the money should not be
paid to any claimant who did not
answer these ten questions to the
satisfaction of the judge of the pro-
bate court. In case no claimant
should appear and answer the ques-
lions before the expiration of the
five years the money is to go to the
nephews of the testatOr.