The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1913-05-20
A Vacant Lot Ye ss% %,su rs" ro osy
81 MARJORIE cLouGH.


business purposes And right In among
>ouc OF these dwellings was a lot Ot
which the owner proposed Ia erect d
store building Those who owned
homes IN the vicinity objected 10 a
store building being crry ted near them
and dubbed together 60 buy the lot
The owner asked the cNurh,Mut price
OF >l.Joo. hut it WAS thought best Ia
pay II and keep the ueI-hborhuod free
from what would mar IL Tor residences.
There were four pcr>ul,> Who Clipped
IN to Ouy the pr rrIl. hut since one
owner was deou ii more advisable
than four, three of them proposed L.
play game Of freeZcuut poker. the
winner Ia receive a deed for the lot
/ but one Of the four. being "a deacon in
/ the church ana aNCrSe 10 card playing.
/ suggested that they mahc over the lot
/ to trustee. To Ice decided Ia the oldest
graudchild Of any one al the owners
| iftN wears from the day the trust
Was made. The men were all between
the ages OF twenty seven AMI forty
years. aud no one Of thcm had n grand
child one was not even married Nor-
erthvie>S. he aSSeutcd to the plan: the
document was drawn up and signed
and placed IN the hands of the trustee.
la ten years from that limc two Of
the men Interested i'm the lot were
dead The dwellings iu the district
where the property stood were much
run down. being occupied for ~
looms and small shops lu ten years
more the other TWO owners had passed
away aud the trustee ~ well. and a
successor had been appointed 10y the
court. The immediate vicinity Of the
lot had been steadily dctcriOrating and
was now the worst location in the city.
But handsome office buildings were he
ing erected two or three blocks distant.
Since IL was probable that thai part Of
the city would eventually become vam-
able, the adjoining property was now
held at high figure Inquiries were
made for the lot in question. but IL soon
came 10 hc known that there WAS II
reason why il could not Zee sold. and i'm
time II was dropped out - possible
purchase
When furty-uiuc of the fifty years
Of the trust had pissed Edward Eli
son. the man who held the trusteeship
at that time, one day. looking over
some papers in his safe. came upon
the deed of trust and saw that in
ahont year from that time It would
a,
TONED 10 the oldest living grandchild
OF any one of the men who had made
the deed, II therefore behooved him
to take measures To- discover the per.
son entitled to the property.
The first step he took in the matter
was To learn the value OF the lot. and
he found tina: in the opinions OF real es-
late men it was valued ~ two or three
hundred thousand dollars He next
made inquiries rs 10 the descendants
Df the original owners of the property
and found that while one family had
remained in Chicago the others had
lrifted to other places lie found also
hat none OF them knew OF the lot in
question. AMI he deemed il advisable
q say nothing about il until he had
earned To whom the law would com
pei him to deed it, He succeeded In
earning the whereabouts of the chill.
lren ~ three of the parties To the ,
agreement. and there were eleven in
he second generation and twcnty.oight
As to the fourth man.
William Brown. who had been uumar-
led when the agreement was made.
he trustee could learn nothing about
rim An advertisement in the Chicago
failed to bring any re-
'ponsc.
Some time before the expiration ~ !
he deed Of trust Ellison called meet
ne Of all the descendants Of tho four !
men who had owned the property he
lad been able tn reach Twelve per
'ons attended and nine responded 10y 7
eiter Having got all the informa /
ion he could from those who were
present. including their ages Ellison |
dismissed them aud wrote Ia the 9th |
,rs who had written him. asking their !
'ges OF the twenty. eight grandchil- f,
IA mes. addresses ana ages ot twenty. !
me or the others he had No inrorma
ION whatever
However. week before the fifty |
rear period expired Ellison had mar !
owed down the probable ownership Ia /
me person. Edith Moore. II girl ~ /
nineteen. the oldest daughter " son
u one OF the four original owners of /
he lot. The trustee had proof that she |
vas the rightful owner unless the I'M
married. member of the quartet had I
married and had left - grandchild older |
han Miss Moore
Edith Moore WAS an orphan ~ very
,oor circumstances. She lived in chi
ago and was pndpavoring tu support |
ierself aud her Younger brothers and |
sisters 10y her needle Ellison did not
ike Ia inform her that she WAS rroha.
Dly heir tO II forum" until he rclt war
'anted Ia turning II over 10 her Rut
he matter hy this time had l.rcofne
generally known aud she heard of il
through others This was unfortunate
or until 1t was definitely proved that
he fourth man ~ the quartet had left
no grandchildren the trustee could not
deliver the property.
One day Edith Moore received "A note
from Mrs Brown. a lady living on