The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1915-03-26
After Half
Century
By JOHN TURNLEE

One morning when John Merton Of
Chicago awoke and looked out through
his front window he noticed some men
digging in a vacant lot opposite. He
was seized with trepidation lest some
Objectionable building was to be erect
ed on the lot and. dressing himself.
went out to make inquiries. He learn
ed that the lot had been sold and the
owner was about to erect on 1t a soap
factory.
Mr.. Merton at once sought the man
and secured an option on the lot at a
substantial profit to the latter. Then
he visited several Of his neighbors,
proposing that they should club to-
gether and protect the locality by buy
ing the lot. Only n person. a man
named Cavity. was willing or per-
hans able to make such an investment,
and he and Merton became the owners
BY agreement they put the property in
the hands of a trust company, to be
divided among the heirs Of the third
generation, or the grandchildren OF the
two owners. The Mertons were to
have the north half and the Gawtrys
the south half.
Twenty years later, both Merton and
Cavity being dead and the part Of the
city in which the lot lay having be-
come used for business, the trustees
leased the lot for thirty years, and a
store building was erected upon 1t.
BY the terms Of the lease at Its explEa-
ton the building was to belong to the
owner of the lot.
Meanwhile the descendants of the
Joint owners had become scattered, the
trust company's directors and officers
had been changed. and there was no
descendant of either Merton or Cav
try who knew about the lot, for which
but $500 had been paid by the two pur-
chasers.
One day an advertisement appeared
for grandchildren of the late John
Merton and Samuel Cavity. 1t elicit
ed no response and was repeated from
time to time for a year, when it met
the eyes of a young bank clerk named
Spencer in a western city. His ia
tber and mother were dead. but he
knew that his mothers maiden name
was Merton. He wrote to the adver-
tiser and received a printed statement
setting forth the facts in the case of
the Merton-G awtry lot. Spencer. con.
WINGED that the John Merton named
was his grandfather, investigated the
case and, after a long hunt, found that
he was the only living grandchild of
the said Merton and consequently heas
to the north half of the property.
No response to the advertisement
whatever came from the Cavity side.
and no division could be made OF the
lot and building until the heirs in this
family were found. John Spencer. de-
sirous of coming into what was a for
tune. at once made it his business to
hunt up these heirs. He began at the
fountainhead. making inquiries as to
the first and second generations of
Gawtrys. and learned that a son of
Samuel Gawtry had settled in Detroit.
Spencer went to Detroit. where he
learned that the widow of Samuel
Gawtry Of the second generation was
living in straitened circumstances.
Not wishing to excite false hopes in
this person. he made inquiries In a
roundabout way and learned that the
original Cavity had had several chill
dren, but the only living grandchild
was Marian Cavity, daughter of the
widow he had found. Having pro-
cceded thus far. Spencer returned to
Chicago and reported his find to the
trust company and left its officers to
satisfy themselves that he @pencer)
and Marian Cavity were the heirs to
the property in question and. this
done. to give each heir a half.
One morning Miss Marian Cavity.
when about to so to her school duties,
took Il letter from the postman inform.
ing her that the - Trust company of
Chicago was ready to convey to her
one-half Of a certain lot and building In
that city b%eQueathed to her by her
grandfather, Samuel Cavity. She re-
ferred the matter to her mother, who
said she had never heard of her father
owning such property. He had left
Chicago forty years before. a poor
man. Miss Gawtry put the matter
down as a mistake and, proceeding to
school. thought no more about it.
One evening she received a call from
Il young man named Spencer. He was
about to mention the fact that she was
an heiress when it occurred to him that
since there was a building on the prop
erty there might be difficulty in divid-
ing it and it would be better that they
should own it together. But he was an
honorable fellow and .sc0rned to win
her knowing that she was an heiress.
Miss Cavity" he said. II have come
to Detroit to inform you that you are
joint owner with me of a lot and build
ing in Chicago worth in all half a mil
lion dollars"
The young lady, remembering the
former information she had received on
this subject, coolly remarked:
That's q mistake. Ny mother says
her father owned no such property In
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