The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-03-28
WOMAN FIGHTS
FOR CRABTREE
FORTUNE
Mrs. Ida Manning BIanken-
berg Seeks SIS, 900, 900
Estate Of Actress

TULSA, Okla, March 2S.--''Its
my fortune and intend to get it. !"
1t was In this determined and
self-conffdent manner that Mrs. Ida
Manning Blankenberg, OF Tulsa.
who asserts that she is daughter
Of the late Lolita Crabtree. summed
up to an international News Serv-
ice correspondent the effort she is
making to obtain the $4,000. 900
estate left to charity by the inter
nationally known actress who died
in Boston, Mass, several months
ago.
The wife OF a drilling contractor
and mother Of four grown children.
Mrs. Blankenberg. at present il
engaged In the oil lease brokerage
business in what she describes as
an effort to recoup a fortune out
Of which she was swindled several
years ago. This lost fortune, she
asserts, was accumulated as q re-
suit of financial assistance given
by her mother. Lolita Crabtree.
Preparing for Battle.
With the chain OF legal talent
thrown across the United States
and even extended to England. be-
for the filing few days ago in
Boston Of her suit to set aside the
will, Mrs. Blankenberg Is actively
directing what promises to be one
Of the most sensational legal bat
ties in recent years. Dispositions
bearing on the claim are reported
being taken in California, Arizona,
Oklahoma and other States, as well
as in England, where Mrs. Blank
enberg asserts she was born on
November Is, 1873.
Entries in a family Bible, Mrs.
Blankenberg indicated, will form
an important link in her chain of
evidence. This will show, she said,
that Lolita Crabtree was married
at Lancashire, England, on Christ
mas Day, 1877, to George Manning,
who disappeared on March 13 OF
the following year. 1t was eight
months later, Mrs. Blankenberg al
leges, that she was born OF this
union. The marriage and birth
certificates, in Mrs. Blankenberg'
opinion, are among Lolita Crabtree's
effects in Boston. The Bible en-.
tention.
Her mother, Mrs. Blankenberg
declared, brought her to the United
States as an infant and she grew
to womanhood in Illinois under her
maiden name Of Ida Manning. 1t
was in Illinois that she married
Gustave Blankenberg. The family
has lived in Oklahoma four years,
spending a large part OF that time
in Tulsa.
Confident that every means pos
sible will be used to deprive her
Of the estate to which she claims
she is legally entitled, Mrs. Blank
enberg has been unwilling at any
one time to give more than frag-
mentary glimpses Of the links out
Of which she hopes 10 weld her
chain of evidence.
Not Notified of Death
Mrs. Blankenberg was not notified
OF her mothers death, she said,
and only learned Of it by reading
Of the controversy over her estate.
The Lolita Crabtree will, now in
court, Mrs. Blakenberg asserts,
could not possibly have been
drawn by her mother without I'M
due influence having been used
upon her when she was in a men
tai condition that woull have de-
prived her OF her testamentary ca
pacity.
Lorain G.. Arey of Boston, who
filed the Will contest in Mrs. Blank
enherg's behalf, is in Tulsa to con-
fer with his client and assist Tulsa
lawyers in taking OF depb,.tions.
Titian-haired. Of medium height,
plump and middle aged. Mrs. Blank
enberg has the appearance Of
a successful American business