The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-05-07
PETTIS HEIRS
FILE SUIT ON
REAL ESTATE
Thirteen Claim Nine Seven
teenthS of Million Dollar
Property.
81 ARE DEFENDANTS
Action Seeks to Quiet Title
on Part of East Wash
ingtOn Street Land.

Suit involving Pettis Dry Goods
Company real estate and leasehold,
roughly valued at more than a mil
lion dollars, was fled in circuit court
today.
The action is the forerunner of
expected extensive litigation grow
ing out of the dispute among the
heirs Of the late Alphonso Pettis,
who died in Nice. France, Feb. 49,
The suit which seeks to quiet title
TO nine-sevCnreenthS of the real
estate and leasehold interests of the
company on East Washington street,
was filed by thirteen heirs Of Mr..
Pettis. naming thirty-four heirs in
various parts Of the United States
as defendants.
Claim Nine Seventeenths
The plaintiffs allege they are
owners in fee simple of nine-seven-
teenths interest in the real estate
and ninety leasehold
turned over to them by Mr.. Pettis
April 8, 1920, the date when he dis
posed Of practically all of his hold
ingS in America
They allege that the remaining
eight-seventeenth of the holdings
were distributed among some of the
thirty-four defendant heirs at the
same time
The plaintiff heirs allege that the
defendant heirs are claiming the
undivided nine-seventeenths and the
leasehold now held by the plaintiffs.
The complaint infers that the de-
PENDANTS have some sort of convey
ance from Mr.. Pettis which clouds
the plaintiffs claim upon their al
legged nine-seventeenths and the
plaintiffs allege that Mr.. Pettis was
past 90 years old at the time the al
legged conveyarces were made and
was Of unSOund mind and continued
to be so until his death.
All From Out State
The plaintiffs are James w. Pet
tis. Edward E. PettiS, Fred A. Pet
lis. Alphonso P. Pettis and Mrs
Abigail Pettis Drummins. all of
Missouri; Parker P. Pettis. Leta l..
Labrie. Nina NJ James and Clark
Lawrence. all of South Dakota:
Mrs. Cora P Wilcox. Wanda J.
Gunderson. Marion E. Gunderson
and Wayne R Gunderson, all Of
Wisconsin.
Indianapolis defendants among
The thirty-four are: Mrs. Dorothy
Pettis Bokwalter and John H
BookWalter, her husband: Mrs.
Frances PettiS Hall and her hus-
band. William p. Hall Jr.: Mrs. Zula
B. Taylor and her husband Ar
thur B. Taylor and Betty Lou
Blancke and the Fletcher Savings
and Trust Company. trustee under
the will Of Mrs. Ada PettiS, wife of
the deceased Hr. Pettis.
All the other defendants are from
Massachusetts, Missouri New York.
Washington and New Jersey.
Heirs DENY Action
SEVERN g BuSchmann, attorney.
who represents the thirteen plain
tits. announced several days ago
that he would file a suit for seven
teen heirs seeking to recover for the
estate the 100000 which Mr.. Pet
rs gave to the indianapolis Foun-
dation in 1920 and some $4,000 in
interest upon the sum.
Mrs. Frances PettiS Hall and Mrs.
Dorothy PettiS BoO&walter of Indi-
annapolis today issued a formal dec
iaration that as heirs they neither
approve nor support such action.
AS a preliminary to this second
suit Buschmann has obtained for
Leo NJ Gardner. administrator of
the PettiS estate, permission from
Probate Judge Mahlon z. Bash to
file such an action.