Evening journal., 1916-01-03
maryland HEIRS
TO MANY MILLIONS
A Colorado Land Fortune
Awaits Proof of
Ownership
LARGE CITY IS
BUILT ON 1T

ELKTON, Md, Jan. 3.-About a
century ago John c. Prize. then a
resident Of Hollands Island, left the
Eastern Shore and went to the wilds
of Colorado TO carve out for himself
fame and fortune. He settled on a
large tract of land near Denver, and
for amany years made a scant living
farming and raising cattle. The coun-
try being so sparsely settled and the
hardships of life so great Price fin
ally abandoned his homestead and re-
turned to Maryland. He came back to
Hollands Island and settled in his
old home and finally died there. a
very poor man. leaving a son by the
same name, who in turn. raised a
large family of children, several Of
whom lived ON the Eastern Shore.
Not one of the descendants of the
first John c. Price ever had an idea
that out in Colorado their ancestor
had left a large tract of land upon
which was being built big city
which some day was to be worth mill
lions of dollars. When he returned
from his western experiences and
settled again in his Maryland home,
Price never mentioned the fact that
he had owned this big tract Of land
out in Colorado.
Many years ago a railroad was sur
veyed through this property, a post
fuI. fs1a ufu fpI
to develop. With the years of pro-
gress in that far western country.
this town developed into a hustling
up tO-date city, and all the while it
was being built upon the land left by
John c. Price. Streets and avenues
were laid out, public buildings were
constructed, opera houses and office
buildings reared their heads where
once the coyotes and the prairie dogs
used to roam.
Price and his heirs i'm Maryland
we're blissfully ignorant of the fact
that millions of dollars we're being
Invested on their real estate holdings
in Colorado. and today probably would
be as ignorant of the fact except that
last fall an advertisement was pub
lished by the authorities in the State
of Colorado asking for information as
70 the feirs Of the late John c. Price,
former resident of that State.
A guarantee company in looking mp
the records of a real estate trans
action i'm Denver found that the prop
erty originally belonged to a man by
the name of John c. Price, who left
for parts unknown. and that no one
owning property in the city had any
legal rights TO il because there were
defects in all the transfers of real
estate for more than 100 years.
Caleb Price, a Virginian, noticed
the advertisement and came to the
Eastern shore to hunt up his rela-
tives. believing that they were the
real heirs of the first John c. Price.
Caleb Prices father was named John
c. Price. and he knew that his grand
father also was named John G. Price.
At Biyalve. Caleb Price found a
cousin. the mother of Mrs Edward
NJ EffOrd whom he showed the ad-
vertisement, and she at once remem-
vered that years ago she had seen the
family Bible of the Price family IN a
house on Smiths Island. A visit
was made to this house, the family
Bible was found and the book showed
conclusively the direct line back to
John c Price. the founder Of the
family who had immigrated to Colo
RADIO.
A search OF the tombstOnes on Hol-
lands and Smiths Islands helped to
prove the case, and Caleb Price at
once engaged an attorney to answer
the advertisement and to 90 West
and look into the case for himself
and the other heirs. Recently. af-
ter spending two months in Colorado.
the lawyer returned with a repre-
sentative Of one of the big trust COM
panies of Denver, bringing data to
show that Caleb Price and the mother
OF Mrs. Efford were direct heirs of
the original John c. Price.
Mrs. Efford is the great -granddaugh-
ter Of the original John c. Price, and
the attorney said that there were 10
direct heirs and so other heirs en-
titled to participate in this large
estate. The lawyer stated that this
estate was worth from S100 900 TO
100000 900. and that there would be
absolutely no trouble to prove the
claim of the heirs.
He also declared that there already
was lying in the trust companys s
vaults several million dollars belong
ing to the estate, and that when the
persons who now hold the property
make settlements as to obtain proper
deeds the estate will be one of the
largest in the United States. A meet
ing has been arranged for the 10
heirs in Baltimore some time this
month. when the entire party will go
West and prove their claim to this
tremendous fortune.