The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-09-23

United States court at indianapolis
The suit. which has been brought
by twenty heirs, concerns specifically
the property and building of the
Pettis store, valued at $31 ,600 900.
The defendants are two nepheWS,
two grandnephews and six grand
nieces of Pettis, who were given the
property in the division the million
aire made of his fortune nine years
before his death. Both plaintiffs
and defendants are residents of
various towns and cities in Indiana
and North Dakota.
Upon the outcome of the suit
hangs a half dozen others involv-
ing personal property which Pettis
gave away at the same time. The
Indiana Securities, has been inter
ested as a possible defendant in
later suits to the extent of sending
its attorney, Henry H. Hornbrook,
to be present at the hearings, which
have recently taken place in Nice.
Most Evidence In
The proceedings in Indianapolis
will be brisk and Of short duration.
Daley pointed out rs per cent Of
the evidence had already been taken
and officially recorded.
This was possible, Daley ex-
planned, because most of the wit
nesses who could testify to the
soundness or unsoundness of the
late millionaire lived in Nice, Paris
and Italy.
The chief witness was Marie
Pailhe, the woman who was Pettis'
housekeeper, and who became his
adopted daughter when he had
reached the age of 95. She testified
to having received Approximately
SIS 900 in gifts from the millionaire
during his lifetime, She said she
had been introduced to him in 1907
in Paris by the pastor of the Amer
ican Church of Paris shortly after
his wife had died. He was then II
years old.
Daley stated that, out of more
than thirty witnesses examined,
none had expressed the opinion
Pettis was of unsound mentality,
nor had any held the belief he had
been unduly influenced in making
the division of his property. Many,
according to Daley, expressed
themselves positively as to sharp
ness of his mental powers,
Will Thompson, attorney for the
plaintiffs. refused to comment on
the case. He said it was going nicely
and that he is confident of success.
Movements Are Traced
From Commissioner of Deeds
Antoinette Auerbach and Marie
Friquart, the United Press learned
testimony given disclosed that Al
phone PettiS came to France for the
first time in 1890. After the war he
induced his nephew, Charles Wesley
Bressler Pettis, to read to him and
take his dictation.
In 1920, evidence showed, he de-
cided to make a distribution Of his
property that would enable him 20
live out the remainder of his days
in tranquility. He remembered his
most distant relatives, giving most
of them railroad bonds and shares.
At the time of his retirement in
1890. his fortune was estimated at
from S4,500,0O0 to $5,000,000. When
he made the distribution it had
grown by natural accretion 70 close
to 100000.
The number of recipients was al
most a hundred and we're scattered
over the United States. His native
Massachusetts, notably the towns of
Norwich, Northampton and Spring
field, received grants for charity
Other states where recipients re-
sided were Indiana, North Dakota,
Washington. California and Ohio.
Foundation Largest Recipient
In Indiana, the largest recipient
was the Indianapolis Foundation,
with the provision he receive an in
come Of $4,000 annually, to the day
of his death, from the Foundation.
This was the only income. with the
exception of that from some French
securities, he allowed himself.