CODICILS FOUND ON A DOORMAT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 288, 29 August 1908, Page 10

CODICILS FOUND ON A DOORMAT.

STRANCE STORY OF THE "CHAMPION " r MISER'S" WILL. THE ROMANCE OF AN ADOPTED , ' . DAUGHTER..... ; The English country-town of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, and the American city of Boston, llassachussetts,. are both oxcitcd about a will which concerns tho disposition of a fortune of £200,000, amassed by a real estate dealer of Boston, who was known as " tho champion miser of the United States " (says the "Daily Mail"). At East Somerville, which adjoins tho city of Boston, thero died on December 16, 1007, a man named Benjamin Hadley. All tho city knew him as "Unelo Bon." In his youth ho bought land, at. prairie valuo, on tho outskirts of the city, and as tho town developed he sold it at his ..own price. Ho was proud qf his reputation for miserly habits. He trudged about the place in shabby old clothes and'a! wretched hat, arid with' an unkempt beard. Ho wpro 110 collar, to save laundry bills; he never: had his hair, cut, thereby saving barber's charges.:

.FORTUNE OJ? £200,000. Full of years—for ho was 91—ho died last December. : His . fortune -was computed at £200,000. His extraordinary life provoked cablegrams from newspaper correspondents in' Now York. All the world know that thero was a million dollars to bo divided, and that tho miser, who could nevor contemplate a marriage fefe without a shudder, had no sons or daughters to claim his estate. 1 A will was propounded by Judge Farrell, counsellor-at-law, which had been drawn up from tho testator's instructions in January, 1907. It divided tho property, 'though in very unequal proportions,, between three Boston nephews. Sis thousand pounds was to bo invested in trust for two brothers; the remainder of the- ostato was to- go to the third nephew, "Walter Hadley, who had acted as his imclo's manager for thirty years. The two unfortunate nephews instantly commenced an action against tho third on tho comprehensive grounds of undue influence, unsound mind, and improper execution.

RIVAL CLAIMANTS. Rival claimants sprang up like mushrooms. They emerged' from all tho States of the Union'and irom all the countries of Europe :Mr:"Farreirto'ok no notico until ho saw that appearances' had been entered by' two firms of Boston attorneys. Ho asked for particulars, and found that both claims woro advanced in the interests of tbo same English family, for whom an English solicitor was acting.

"Wills and codicils in favour of tho English claimants followed. Mr. 'C. J. Jones, solicitor, of Trowbridgo, took the first of them in person to Boston. It set out that " Benjamin Radloigh, or Hadleigh, or Radley, or Hadloy, and so on, but. whoso real liamo is Benjamin Radleigh, champion miser of America," begueathod £5000 stfirlirig to Mr. Charles J. Joi-'cs," solicitor, of Enjland, as executor: 5000-guinoas each to six of tho children of John .Fisher, of Trowbridge, "his next of kin"; and £110,000 to Mrs. Elizabeth Moore, widow,_ of Trowbridgo, England, described as his adopted daughter. Mrs, Elizabeth Moore is now the wife of Dr, Ruckley, tho local praotitioner of tho village of Hplt, threo miles from Trowbridgo. • : : MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENTS.. This ' was ■ not all. A will dated August 29, 1907, was sent to Boston, signed Ijy Benjamin Hadley,-his mark, arid attested by four witnesses. It varied the terms of tho bequests,-, but, .like tho first Will,' practically Confined tho bonefits .to tbo Trowbridgo party. To Mrs,. Ruckley, tlio adopted daughter, about £180,000 was to go ;■ tho six brothers and, sisters, and Mr. Jones, tho solicitor, were to receive £1000 each.

■; The most romarkablo feature of tho story is thp. manner in .which these documents woro received. Mr. .Jones, tho'-solicitor, relates that, the first;will, 'togother. with a'cutting from ' a London newspaper describing' tho habits. of. thp deceased millionaire, reached him by post at his office in Trowbridge on Decombor 24, 1907. No letter was enclosed. The postmark was Trowbridge. "At first," said'Mr, : Joneß, "I thought the thing was a hoax. I -had never heard of 'Uncle Bon.' But when I nscortained that ho really had existed, I saw Mr. Frank Fisher, 0110 of tho beneficiaries, and wo went to'soo his sister, Mrs. Ruckley, the chief beneficiary. Mrs. Rucklc-y told mo that her father had mentioned to her, in his declining years, that slio was tho adopted daughter of 'Dnclo Ben, of Boston,' and that money would como to hor somo dav.

CODICILS ON THE DOORMAT: "All the circumstances are remarkable. Soon after ray roturn from tho United Statcß I rcceivcd a codicil which had bocn found, with no covering letter. That codicil bore tho signatures of threo witnesses. I sent it to America." Dr. Ruckley, like Mr. Jones, freely admitted that tho documents had readied him in an unusual manner. "There .wore several,"'he said; "at least half a dozen. Theywera found on tho doormat, all during tho day-timo. They were not addressed as a rule; neither wore thoy in envelopes; some woro tied up with string and scaled. Thq postman direetod my attention to one, which was lying on tho mat at noon." Two or threo of tho important documents in tho case reached Mr. Jones or Dr. Ruckley by post, each bearing, the Trowbridge postmark. Ono purported to co'mo from a man who had arrived from tho United States, another from' a man-:who had arrived from Natal. - .