Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1913-01-07
SWINDLERS FIND
BUSINESS IN
GEORGIA EASY
IN TRAFFIC IN LAND GRANTS
PitifuI Instances of People
ViCtimizGd

Atlanta, January cit is a common
tary on the simplicity ofhuman nature
some of it at least-and upon the
Ingenuity of the depraved, that the lat
ter should succeed in selling and that
the former should purchase documents
supposed to be deeds to land, that
were declared fraudulent, null and
void, more than 100 years ago.
Yet the traffic in fraudulent Georgia
land grants goes on merrily just ex-
actly 119 years after these documents
were outlawed by the Legislature.
His recent summons to appear as
witness in a Louisiana court against a
man who had swindled somebody
through one of these worthless Georgia
land grants, led Secretary of State
Philip Cook upon his return from Lou
isiana, to look little more carefully
into the situation.
The bulk of these frauds were Iocat-
ed in Montgomery county, which was
Established by act of the Legislature in
December, 1893 On Aug. 4, 1894, the
land court issued warrants or grants
to about fifty persons for an aggregate
Of 1890 acres of land, whereas the
entire acreage of the county never ex-
ceeded 1 100000 acres.
The very next Legislature on Dec
I2S, 1894, took hold of the matter and
passed an act declaring all of these
grants null and void. Not one of the
old grants was allowed to stand, and
the thing had to be done all over again
and in strict accordance with law.
There were similar fraudulent grants
issued to a small coterie or clique of
persons in sixteen other counties but
nothing like as great in extent as in
Montgomery county.
1t is upon these old, nullifed and
outlawed grants which were put out of
business by the Legislature within less
than six months after they were issued
and upon human credulity that crooks
are trading or attempting to trade to-
day in many sections of the West.
Many of these crooks have gotten
away with their deals-sold the grants
to unsuspecting Western farmers who
would pack up their household effects
and come all the way to Georgia to
find that they had bought a farm that
did not exist.
Among other interesting discoveries
made by Secretary Cook was the fact
that although the land grant act pro-
hibited the granting to one person of
more than 1000 acres Of land, the land
court in one instance made grants Of
| 1,181,00O acres to James Shorter, who
was designated to survey the tract
himself, and he pretended to have COM
pleted the task in four days.
Many pitiful cases have come to
Secretary Cooks attention. A few
years ago a farmer from Kansas came
to Atlanta with his wife and five chill
dren.
He called on Secretary Cook and
sought assistance in locating a farm he
had bought in Montgomery county.
He had been first to Montgomery, but
was told his title was worthless. He
thought the Secretary of State could
help him out. Secretary Cook saw at
a glance that the document was one of
the worthless Montgomery county
grants. The man had sold his little
Kansas farm, paid the money to the
Iswindler and was penniless when he
finally landed in Atlanta.
A Californian came along who had
exchanged valuable sheep ranch for
100000 acres OF land in Montgomery
county. When Mr.. Cook told the
man his paper was worthless and that
the land didn't exist, he refused to
believe it.
Finally he returned home only to
find that his sheep ranch had been sold
and that the swindler had departed
with the proceeds.
Another case was that of a New Jer-
sey widow whose husband had left her
$4,000 life insurance and who had a
son who suffered from tuberculosis
Appealing to her on the ground that
the pine lands of Montgomery county
would be the very thing for her boy, a
couple Of crooks sold her worthless
grants to $4,000 acres for 100000
In all of these cases the crooks got
away with their spoil. The Louisiana
man appears to have been a little less
fortunate. He is now in the tolls of
the law and when he goes to trial in
the spring, Secretary Cook will have to
return again to Baton Rouge as a wit
ness.