Henderson daily dispatch. (Henderson, N.C.) 1914-1995, 1937-08-16

the person solicited was not a Baker
or Becker descendant, then he was
sold share in the mythical estate.
Other groups solicited "enrollments"
at ten or twenty dollars each, in ad-
dltlon to memberships" with month
ly dues.
inspectors assigned to this work
thought it very unusual that an all
thentic will to such valuable property
should remain unprotected for almost
one hundred years. Through court
proceedings the alleged will was OBJ
tanned. Inspectors caused the paper
and the writing thereon to be analyz-
ed by a chemical engineer and hand
writing expert. 1t was discovered that
the paper on which the will was writ
ten was not manufactured until about
| 1890, over fifty years after it's date
The paper had been artifically aged.
The signatures of the witnesses to
the will. lhad been forged, it was dis
covered. The information thus OBJ
tanned by the inspectors proved be-
yond doubt that the promoters were
attempting to pass off a forged and
| spurious instrument to- the thousands
of persons, who believed and were led
to believe they were heirs to a vast
estate
| AS the will in question and repre-
sensations of the promoters called for
! property throughout Pennsylvania as
part of the alleged inheritance, it be-
came necessary for the inspectors to
trace in and out of the name of "Bak-
er" or Becker" and various compan-
les in which they were Interested every
piece OF real state in the sixty-Seven
counties of Pennsylvania from 1852 to
the present time. Over four hundred
days were consumed in this work. The
search disclosed that none of the pro-
perry called for in the alleged will was
owned by Jacob Baker or any other
Baker at the time it was purported to
have been executed. It was further
ascertained that there is no vast un-
settled and undistributed Baker or
Becker estate anywhere in the State of
Pennsylvania.
Another false claim of the promoters
of this swindle was that Jacob Baker
or some other Baker had executed a
S9-year lease to one Martin, Yalas on
property upon which most of the
buildings in Philadelphia now stand.
Another method by which money
was obtained from victims of the
swlndle was in the compilation and
sale to them of so-called genealogical
charts. Needless to say, these traced
the ancestors of the victims back to the
Baker or Becker of whom they were
supposed to be an heir. Charges for
these charts ranged from one to fifty
dollars or whatever the traffic would
bear.
Many of the swindlers organized in
to Associations" Leagues" etc.
Memberships were sold to victims in
every state Of the Union, ranging
from one to twenty dollars. This
amount, however, was not the limit of
gosss of ANY particular Individual.
When the promoters found one will
ing able and ready to pay, special at
tention was given him. Through false
and alluring promises he was fire.
quently enticed to part with his cash.
The investigation revealed several per-
sons whose contributions amounted
to from one thousand to seven thou
sand dollars apiece.
The inspectors found that the pro-
moters had represented that various
banks and trust companies in Phila-
delphia were holding millions of dol
lars for Baker heirs which sums
were supposed to represent rentals
and other collections resulting from
the alleged 99-year leases executed by
the Baker ancestors years ago. It
was discovered by the inspectors that
not a single penny was held by any
of the financial institutions mention