Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-07-25
Vert vs nGdTg % a9R James % Mrs G.

:
II ng, J. R. Wertz; standing from left to
"tz, G. c. Wertz, Mrs. G. w. Lantz, Fran
boon to the "con' man, who now ant
then assumes to fit heirs to some ven
cradle collection Of soverigns ane
pieces Of eight and to secure retain
er (strictIy in advance; please) Iol
} his influence with the king and the
} royal chamberlain.
American Heirs Number 400.
But in the fortune of Gen. Wertz
, there are real things. One of them
Is the fortune, others are the nearly
400 American heirs; the rest is Mrs.
Estelle Ryan Snyder of Chicago, Mrs.
Snyder, herself a Wertz, in February
undertook the task of bringing matters
to point where the governmentBof
the Netherlands would have to remit.
She began with family tradition and
sixteen known heirs She now has a
Dutch family bible over 200 years old,
an ancient family tree that gives nee
essary and forgotten names and dates,
a bandolier and spice mortar, be-
longing to the originator of the tfor-
tune, and the nearly 400 heirs before
alluded to.
When the Wertz family assemblies
in Davenport they will still have OBJ
stacles between them and the gulden
First of these is the edict of 1852 by
which the Netherlands confiscated to
the crown all fortunes at that time I'M
claimed. The second difficulty is that
, while all the descendants Of the Ameri-
can brother have been discovered
there were three other brothers Of the
wealthy general, and about the fate OF
these there is still some question.
| In regard to the first Mrs. Snyder
has ascertained that the Dutch gov
eminent has broken it's own edict in
! several cases and is disposed to equity
! in cases when a convincing claim is
presented. In regard to the missing
brothers there is also fairly we'll
founded belief that they died without
issue. Mrs. William Brockman OF
vesper, Wis, herself born in the house
| in Germany which belonged to Gen.
| Wertz, has undertaken to establish by
! German parish records that the three
| brothers did die leaving no heirs.
If the three brothers did not die in
Germany they emigrated to America.
Mrs. Snyder has been unable to find
any record of their arrival. 1t is said
| complete lists were kept by the colon
| ial authorities. If they did come to
America and no record can be found
of them further and no proof made as
to their descendants it is hoped at
least to secure from the Dutch govern
ment the fourth to which the Amer1-
can heirs are entitled.
| 4h:~l l;Ho,,1+,, bo, ~ ho m ond
that is money. 1t is apparent to even
the most unintellectual fortune seeker
that The Hague is not going to give up
millions until it has seen complete and
satisfactory proofs. This is going to
cost money. But large number OF
the Wertz family have COIN And they
are going to spend some of it in max
ing the Netherlands divide.
Even in tracing the nearly 400
| American WertZes among the Amerl-
can millions there was some difficulty.
When 500 had been discovered and
| identified and classed as to their
grandfathers there still appeared to be
no hope. The Virginia Wertzes could
not be found. Wertzes had been dis
covered in almost every state OF the
union, in Canada and in Mexico, but
they could not be found in Virginia.
At last an account CT the fortune in a
newspaper brought Mrs. Snyder let
ter from a Colorado man who said his
son had married a girl named Wertz
in Virginia, Mrs. Mamie WeEtz Yoed-
err of Roanoke she proved to be, the
last surviving Virginia Wertz, and the
one person needed to present COM
plete case for the American branch.
The Wertz fortune hunt began in
this country at the time of the Phila-
delphia centennial Hollanders, men,
hers of the clan, then came to Amerl-
ca with the amiable intention of shak-
ing hands with their relatives here
and presenting claim to the Dutch
government. But they found so much
geography and so few Wertzes that
they gave up in despair. Others have
failed since Mrs Snyder spent
months in finding the family bible,
which was in the possession OF Jacob
and Joel Swoveland at Foraker Ind.
The originator of the fortune was
born in Aug (Kreis) county, Prum
(Regierings Bezirk), state of Trler,
Germany. The house in which he was
born was rebuilt in 1917. and still
stands. Kidnapped at u years of age,
: he was taken to India, became sail
or, then merchant prince, sending
: many galleons back to Holland. Fl.
nally he came home, presented the mar
grave gold crown, was given grant
/ Of land near his village, killed neigh
/ Dor in quarrel over water rights, was
sentenced to death, but was pardoned
: On giving up half his estate He emf
1 grated to Holland and, it is thought,
/ died in Amsterdam. He left no direct
a heirs