Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1911-07-25

Sttting-Mrs. Sarah Wertz, Lam
II. Myers, Mrs. Ell Long, n. J. wei
An estate valued at s1so,000,o00 now
IN the possession of the Holland gov
ernment will shortly. become the prop
ertv of the American heirs OF Genera
wertz four of which reside In the city
of Ctt,lmwa. The Ottumwa heirs are
great-great grandchildren OF Jacob
VERT. brother of the general VINO
landed in this country in 1882. 9. u
Vert. of South Moore street, VINO
seems to be the most active among
the Ottumwa grandchildren, is enthus.
iastic over the prospect himself and
hrothers and sisters have of landing
a large share of the $180,0OO,OO0, and
in an interview this morning, he re-
lated some of the incidents of the LIE
and character Of the old Holland gen
eral.. whose fortune will, in Mr..
Wertz's opinion, soon be the property
of American heirs.
The Ottumwa heirs are:
Mrs. James Lanning, sos Walnut
avenue. o..
Mrs. c. H. Myers, South Ward ST !.
Mrs. Mary Wertz Doggett, west Oh
town.
e G. wertz, South Ward street.
Frank Mccoy, Timber street.
Other heirs who are shown IN the
,hove picture are Mrs. E. J. Long, or
Agency. Mrs. G. w. Lantz, of Nora
springs, J. r. Wertz. Of Keota and II.
J. Wertz of Harding, Mont.
dSC.aC Wertz and his brothers and
sisters are grandchildren of Conrad
VERT, who was one of the sons OF
Jacob Wertz, the only brother and
sole heir of the fortune of General
Wertz f
Direct Heirs Number 100.
C. G. Wertz, who has been giving
considerable time to locating the helrs
of the Wertz fortune, states that IN
his opinion there are only about loo
great-great grandchildren OF JACOB
Wertz, the direct heirs to the fortune:
In an interesting manner he tells OF
the great wealth of the deceased gen
eral. and he has a good scheme by
which the American heirs can gain
possession Of it, Mr.. Wertz's plan is
to make an international affair OF the
case. asking the governemnt to use It's
efforts in getting the Holland govern
ment to turn over the money.
General Wertz, who was first
sailor and then merchant prince, had
after several years on the seas, return
cd to Amsterdam to locate. At his
death he left half of his vast estate to
the city OF Amsterdam as recompense
for keeping the other half in trust FOR
his heirs when they should call for 1t.
There is no question in the mind OF
Mr.. Wertz but that the United States
goyernme will lend its aid in secur'
Inc from the Holland government
every penny of the original estate, and
interest that the money has earned
since it was turned over. With other
heirs, Mr.. Wertz will meet in Daven-
port or some other centrally located
city on or about August /, to devise
WAYS and means by which the fortune
can be secured.
The attention of the American
wertzes was called to the vast
fortune Of General Wertz by the
unsuccessful attempt made by the
Wertzes living in France, who endeav-
ored to establish relationship with the
general and secure the money. The
French families formed company
and fought the case vigorously, but
the Holland government declared that
thew failed to establish heirship, and
thus were not entitled to the money. A
notice of the failure of the French
Wertzes to win their fight was contain
ed in Chicago paper, and it came to
the notice of Estelle Ryan Snyder, one
of the distant heirs, who Immediately
started to locate the American heirs.
The Chicago Tribune, in telling Of the
campaign waged by Mrs. Snyder, con-
tanned the following story in a recent
Issue:
Several things have happened since
September 20, 1892 For one, the
fortunes of General Wertz, in the
keeping of the government of Holland
has increased from few thousand
gulden to s1S0,000,OOO. For another,
the heirs of Jacob Wertz, brother,
who landed in Pennsylvania en- the
date mentioned, have grown in number
from three to nearly 400 AS third,
not past event but to occur on Aug.
!, probably at Davenport la. the Amer
lean Wertz heirs will hire a large
hall and have reunion. Family feel.
ing enters INFO the idea, but the gath
ering has to do mo My with getting a
clutch on the ripe old gulden.
A fortune $50 years old is a matter
Of interest aside from it's dollars The
claiming and clutching of such musty
wealth is matter of difficulty. II
most cases it is never clutched at al
but goes on century after century il
the list of lost fortunes safely anC
profitably held by foreign government
for heirs who cannot prove their heir
ship. These fortunes, not few i
number, have been boon to roman
tic fctie~, Trey have also been