The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1914-10-21
STORY OF M|SER
AND HIS EFFORT
70 Destroy Much OF His
Fortune.
ORDERED A SERVANT TO BURN
Bonds To Amount Of S1l,135,
But Some Were Saved
Others Stolen.
DIDN'T WANT KIN TO SHARE

Louisville. Oct. 1g.-One of the
strangest stories set forth by rec
ords at the jefferson county court
house was brought to public atten-
ton Saturday morning when Judge
| James Quarles entered judgment re-
quiring the Commissioners of the
Sinking Fund of Louisville to pay
outstanding and lost city bonds of
1874, amounting to $11.135.
These bonds were among bonds
and cash, running into the tens of
thousands of dollars, which w. /.
| Hilton. general merchant at
Franklin, Ky, until his death in
| 1883, deliberately ordered negro
servant to burn, though he had pre-
iviously exhibited a miserly DISPOSE
ton for years.
Miss Elvarine Hilton, a sister of
Hilton. came upon burning nail
key in a CRATE in time to save many
of the bonds. She turned over 81 D.
600 in bonds to the administrator
of the estate.
Later bonds for $4,000, which
had been stolen from the estate in
some manner, We're recovered in a
most unique way
A Mr.. Larue, banker, and 9TH
ers learned that the guilty party
wanted to make return of the
bonds and arrangement was made
to accommodate him. 1t was car
ried out by some one throwing into
Mr.. Larue the $4,000 worth of
bonds and Mr.. Larue throwing out
of the window 81 per cent. of their
value in currency.
That Hilton, known for his abso-
lutte avoidance of banks. and his &c
centric methods of secreting his per
sonal property about his residence,
should have directed the wanton de-
struction of so much cash and bonds.
after boarding them, was astonish-
ing.
II was supposed that his act was
prompted by the determination that
no one should inherit what he had
accumulated. At the time ,of the
nail keg" fire. which the negro
thought was but an innocent burn
Ing of worthless papers--the papers
having been concealed under nails
Hilton was suffering from illness
that resulted in his death. his Wife
was insane, and a committee for her
had sued him for her maintenance
and son had spent money that was
given him too freely and was absent
from home.
For some reason il had been
feared that Hilton might set fire TO
his house. while ill., and the sheriff
of Franklin county had spent some
time with him. but he mahaged to
have the key set afire.
Some of the stolen bonds. which
were railroad bonds, We're recovered
by watching for the person who
cashed the coupons. He did this at
bank in Nashville and turned out
to he an official in IA county of this
State. He was indicted but the in
dictment itself was stolen.
According TO an attorney the
nearest Hilton ever came to depos-
itina his valuables in a bank was the
use he made for a brief period of a
vault of the old Fidelity Trust COM
pany.
The case in which Judge QuaIses
handed down his decision was one
in which j. Whit Potter and c. W.
Mi!liken We're the plaintiffs. as trus-
tees for the son and the widow of
Hilton, respectively. The commits
sioners of the sinking fund had not
defended the action on the ground
that the burning of the bonds alb
solved the city from payment, hut
they wanted the ownership of the
bonds determined by the court, as