The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-04-03
Last Chapter Written in Story
of Peter III. Anderson.
He AmaSSed q Fortune During
Alaska. Gold Rush.
HE OPENED UP A RICH MINE
Took Out Nearly a Million Dol
lars in Metal.
Missionary Society Takes All,
Even to Homestead.

Even to homestead.
Facts involved compelled courts
and attorneys to abandon their cut
and-dried methods in writing the his
tory of the case of Nels o. Hultburg
against Peter and Frideburg Ander
son, and make it read like Rex
Beach romance. Apparently the last
chapter was written today when an
opinion, written by John c. Pollock.
federal judge was filed with Morton
Albaugh, clerk of the court. The opin-
ion closes the back cover on story
that has been in the making since
Peter H. Anderson of Kansas went to
Alaska back in 1897 to make Christ
ians out of Esquimo Indians, and in
stead found gold.
Early in the COS Peter H. Anderson,
then little more than boy, was
struggling along out in central Kan
Through a friend he learned of the
Swedish Evangelical Mission Cove
nant of America, a missionary organ
ization in Chicago.
He learned that by binding himself
to give a certain number of years of
his life to missionary work under the
direction of the mission the latter
would agree to educate him free of
charge.
Anderson accepted the offer as an
opportunity. He was educated in Chi
cago, the mission paying the bills. His
agreemnt was to the effect that after
his education was completed he should
go into foreign fields and do mission
airy work. When his course was COM
p1eted Anderson was sent to Alaska, in
the Nome district, to assist Nels @.
Hultburg, the missionary in charge.
That was in 1897. Previous to that he
had met a nurse at the mission and
they had made promises.
Mission Claimed His Gold.
A year after Anderson reached
Alaska gold was discovered. Both An
derson and Hultburg filed on claims
and Anderson developed a claim from
which nearly a million dollars in gold
was taken. 1t was rich beyond all his
dreams and he worked it. Then came
the information from the mission to
the effect that he was a trusted ser
want of that organization during his
years of bondage and that his services
belonged to the mission, consequently
the gold he had mined belonged to the
mission.
Anderson came back to the states
and he and the nurse VINO had waited
made good their promises. The mis-
sion claimed the money he brought
back with him and he made some pay
ments to it up to 1900. Then he main
tanned that his duty was to his wife
and he purchased land in Dickinson
county and made it over to his wife.
In the meantime the Mission had
brought suit in an Illinois court for
the money Anderson had dug out of
the ground, but before the litigation
had progressed far all claims against
Anderson were sold to Hultburg by
the Mission.
He pressed the suit in Illinois and
got judgment for $232,200. The case
was carried through the Illinois
courts, through the federal courts and
on to the supreme court of the United
States. In every instance the judg-
ment of the lower court was affirmed.
Law Claims All.
After securing the Judgment Hult-
burg brought suit in the district court
of Dickinson county on the judgment
granted in Illinois. Judgment was
again given him. Then Hultberg
brought suit in the federal court Of
this district to subject the Kansas land
decided to Anderson's wife to the
judgment.
Judge Pollock holds in the opinion
handed down today that since the
Kansas land, although held in the
wires name, was purchased from the
proceeds of the mining claim it must
be subject to the judgment.
The missions interest in the case
was transferred long ago. The bene-
ficiary under the opinion of the court
is Nels o. Hultberg, the Swedish mis-
sionary, who labored with Anderson
in bleak Alaska to save the souls OF
the Esquimo Indians. He is the man
who drew the poorer claim when he
and Anderson filed in the Nome dis
trict, but in the end he is the only
one who profits from the claim-stak-
ing.
Anderson has dropped out of sight
so far as the courts are concerned. He
has not been party to any of the re-
cent litigation and has not been pres
ent in court. His wife, the nurse whO
waited for him during the years he
was saving souls and digging gold in
Alaska, must give up the land he pur-
chased and decided to her.
Judge Pollock did not pass upon the
questions involved between Anderson
and the Evangelical Mission. His in
.terest was solely in the land bought
with proceeds from the mine, which
proceeds other courts had held be-
longed to the mission, or to Hultburg
after he bought the claims.
In the original case it was held that
when Anderson went to Alaska as a
missionary all of his time and effort
belonged to the organization that sent
him there and that any earnings from
efforts expended belonged to the or
ganization.