The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1923-03-17


and died In 1870. His daughter, Mary.
married Samuel McCrea. who appar-
emily had money. Efforts by Nelson
Tunnicliff to trace the rightful claim
ants for the legacy have so far met
with no success, but 1t is thought that
many will remember Elizabeth Buck
ley Lawless, who used to keep the
little candy store at 100 Boerum place,
Brooklyn.
Another $4,000 goes a-begging with
the death in 1918 OF Harry Allen Hast
ings. He was born In Oneida county,
New York, In 1851, and 1t IL known
that his mothers maiden name was
Allen. Not much else is known. Hast
lngs was waiter In Cornwall on-the-
Hudson, and later served at the old
Delmonico's in Beaver street. He left
s28,O 900.
But for. romance and detective work,
the Bowery Savings bank case Of the
Cullmann account is hard to beat. In
1851 Frederick Collmann or Cullmann,
a turner, of 425 Fifth street, opened an
account with the bank which In 1853
was transferred to Eliza Cullmann. In
the passing Of years the account be.
came dormant and search for Gull
mann was fruitless until one day q
William Cullmann appeared on the
scene saying he had been struck by
the similarity Of names in the adver-
tisements. --.-. ".
His father, a prosperous pipemaker,
had died suddenly and the shock had
rendered his mother subject to fits
insanity. She kept the family together,
however, until one day after an attack
In the street she was attended to and
taken to an asylum. The three chill
dren, William, Charles and Franz,
were sent to city institutions, cared
for until proper age and indentured
to various parties. Thus the family
was scattered.
Names Found to Agree.
The names Of the children agreed
with the benefciaries named In Gull
mann's account, but unfortunately the
Cullmann who had come to light could
not remember the address Of the fam
lily during the year previous to 1873,
except that they lived in a house on
the East side, opposite a graveyard.
Examination Of city maps revealed
that one Of the addresses fitted this
description exactly. His mothers
name, also, was Eliza. An old wallet
belonging to his father, whose name
was written on the flap, bore distinct
resemblance to the signature on the
account opened by Cullmann. Sundry
other documents, marriage certificate,
etc. served to connect his mother with
the account.
Cullman was deeply moved when he
learned that the amount involved was
over $1,10O. IF only we had known
this, the family would never have been
broken up" he said. He was advised
how to proceed, take out letters Of d.
ministration. etc., but three years later,
in 1901, the bank still held the account
and wrote asking him about.it. He de-
clined to have anything further to do
with the case, saying that It only re-
vived memories for him which he
wished dead. But he was willing to
let Mr.. Liddle Of the bank clear up
matters.
Liddle discovered early In the case
that Eliza, with the cunning Of the
insane, had an account with the Met
ropolitan Savings bank for over ST.
co.,. The account read: Andrew
Miller or Eliza Cullmann, in trust for
William, Franz, Charles, Mary" Gull
mann had not previously mentioned
his sister, but at mention Of her name
he remembered her as being on Ran
dall's island with the brothers. After.
the children were indentured to differ
ent parties, Franz and William ran
away, returned to New York and
eventually found each other.
Mother Cured.
In the meantime the mother had
been discharged as cured, and she and
the two boys were reunited. But an
other attack Of insanity sent Eliza
Cullmann back to an asylum. 1t was
therefore up to Lddle to discover
Eliza, the mother, and Charles and
Mary, the other two children. From
police records he found that Elizabeth
Coleman Gan easy mistake in the
name) was admitted to the asylum at
Wards island In 1874, and that she
died at Harris island in 1885,
From Randall's island he was as
sured that the records did not show
any trace Of there ever having been
four such children on the island. But
William Cullmann stuck to his state
ment, and personal visit to Randall's
proved that he was right. The record
was brought to light showing that VII
liam, thirteen; Franz, eleven; Charles,
nine; Mary, seven, were committed to
the island June 9, 1859. The records
also showed to whom they had been
discharged, and this gave q starting
point, although 1t seemed hopeless to
find the other two after so many years.
Mary was discovered, married, liv-
ing at Yalesyille. Conn. Charles was
found by means Of photographs and
advertising throughout the whole coun-
try. -. s.e-
There are lighter sides to the game.
One woman found not long ago In New
York told the bank officials that she
had not applied for her dormant money
because she had lost her bank book
and thought the money went with II.
Another woman did not call at her
bank for % years, being afraid her