Evening star., 1942-01-11
Thousands Claim Huge Fortune
BY ]. H. Porterdeld,
Wids WoeId Nkvp.

PHILADELPHIA. Jan. 1o.-Eleven
years after Mrs. Henrietta schaefer Gar
rett's strange life quietly ended, thou
sands Of persons throughout the world
still are fighting for her unbequeathed
millions.
Tho mystery of the quaint uttls
Widows real identity remains % deep,
even yet, that Philadelphia's Bureau Of
vital Statistics can't adlrm that she
ever was born.
% far - the courts have bssn able
10 determine. no known heirs ware alive
when Mrs. Garrett Wa buried beside
her wealthy, snun- hus-
band in Laurel Hill Cemetery. leaving
tl7,54o, ,642bs, which she hadn't bothered
to mention IN will.
Childless, eccentric, clad always in
black, she lived and died 80 unobtrusively
that in the IS years preceding her death
In 1890 1t Is said that she left her brown
stone house only once.
Yet the fortune now totaling 0,0OO,-
600 and still growing 1T the rate OF $780,
900 q year, is claimed by no less than
$4,000 persons. They come from virtually
every walk Of life, from every State in
the Union except Maine and Vermont,
and from % foreign countries.
Even the Commonwealth OF Pennsyl-
vania is in the ring. claiming the estate
by escheat 0orfeit). Three Pennsyl-
vania Legislators have thought enough
Of the States claim to appropriate .
total Of $150,000 to support 1t.
Three Thousand Claims Heard.
For nearly six years = special master
has been shaking family trees in search
of the rightful heir. II any. He has heard
only $500 claims, but already testimony
fills al volumes of 800 pages each, and
record rooms bulge with 3,4OO exhibits.
Murder, tragedy, scandal and fraud
splotch many Of the records.
In . German town a man slew his
uncle and aunt in a quarrel over the vast
wealth, then killed himself.
Members Of a Pennsylvania family
forged Bible and birth certificates to
support q fraudulent claim. Witnesses
have disappeared mysteriously. Hun
dreds have committed perjury.
Friends knew Mrs. Garrett Is the for
mer Henrietta Edwardina Schaefer.
daughter Of . German-born cabinet
maker, Christopher Schaefer, who came
to American before 1888, and married
Henrietta Kretschmar, also German
born.
According to testimony, Walter Gar
rett, scion of Colonial snuff family and
its heir, saw the apple-cheeked Schaefer
girl scrubbing the porch of her home
one day in 1872, fell in love and married
her few months later.
Their life together apparently was
happy, but after he died in 1915, she
became almost recluse, living with two
servants in her red-brick home on then
fashionable Ninth street.
Woman of Mystery.
It all seemed simple enough until an
inventory disclosed her vast wealth a
year after her death. Everything about
''er became . mystery. Her birth, 1t was
discovered, never had been recorded.
Cencus records gave her father q variety
Of first names Even his arrival in the
United States couldn't be proved.
Up to that point administration Of her
estate had proceeded smoothly. Then
the inventory brought to light the ST.
540,6525S, and the scramble began.
Would-be heirs blossomed in clumps
In Southern Bavaria "Schaefer Verein
was organized under an agreement to
split the millions into 600 parts. A WAL
lace Syndicate" appeared in Virginia
more than 200 dues-paying members
poined . Harter-Karchner Clan Asso-
citation In Pennsylvania.
Relatives Ruled Out.
Among the first to Jump into the
battle were 500 relatives of Mrs. CARROTS
wealthy husband. They were quickly
ruled out by the Pennsylvania Supreme
Court, because Walter Garrett had willed
his millions to his wife.
He was the first to foreSee, so years
ago. the possibility Of fight over his
wealth. He wrote letter to his wife
at that time, telling her Of his fortune
and urging her to make q will at once
II would not like It," he said. III what
I have worked long and hard to accu-