EDWARDS-L Archives

Archiver > EDWARDS > 1998-10 > 0908336176


From: joycerhathaway <>
Subject: [EDWARDS-L] Cont. Heirs Newsl/1926
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 21:36:16 -0600


ITEM #78

Reproduced from the April Issue of
THE CHANCERY RECORD
-------------
The Edwards Estate

As announced in the February number of this journal one Samuel G. Litwin,
an attorney of this city, filed suit on January 26 last in the Federal
District Court against the Trinity Corporation, on behalf of Arthur J.
Edwards of Guilford County, N.C. and Wesley J. Edwards, of Los Angeles,
Cal., as plaintiffs.
On March 13 last Mr. Litwin appeared before Judge Knox in the same court
and requested that the suit be dismissed on the grounds that the plaintiffs
had failed to pay him any retainer, nor delivered to him original deeds and
records as promised, nor was his subpoena servers now able to locate either
of them. The case was immediately dismissed. Mr. Litwin, in our opinion,
may have had other reasons for such action, perhaps a fear of disbarment
proceedings, but why any reputable attorney should consent to file so
important a suit without having in his possession the documentary evidence
which would warrant such a proceeding, and this even without the payment of
a retainer as a guaranty of good faith, is beyond the conjecture of many
able attorneys in this city.
The sudden disappearance of the two plaintiffs after authorizing the
filing of the suit, and failure to provide their attorney with the required
evidence, has caused many interested in the outcome to write us suggesting
that perhaps a compromise had been effected and that the plaintiffs had
departed for home considerably richer than when they arrived here. We
think otherwise. There is no reason why the Trinity officials should
compromise when no evidence was produced that would warrant it, and Trinity
is not noted for being an easy mark; whether or not the plaintiffs were in
actual possession of original deeds, leases, etc., is merely a matter of
conjecture, but a good guess would be that they were not.
Joel F. Webb, an attorney with offices in the First National Bank
Building, Birmingham, Ala., has been retained by some 5,000 claimants to
press their claims and is expected to visit this city shortly for that
purpose as a result of a conference held in Birmingham on April 18th.
Those attending were John H. Edwards of St. Louise, Mo., W.I. Edwards and
Felix W. Carlisle of Greenville, S.C., Arthur Edwards of Point Pleasant,
VA., Mrs. Lucy K. Walrath of New Richmond, O., and T.C. McCain of Birmingham.
----------------------------------------------------------

ITEM #79

EDITORIAL

In February, 1925, I accompanied our Legal Advisor, who is now General
Counsel to New York where we spent an entire week working on a program for
the Edwards Heirs. I was also present at every conference with lawyers,
business men, and representative of the owner of the property.
At the beginning we met rebuffs and an absolute refusal to recognize or
discuss the claims of the Edwards Heirs. However, as the matter progressed
and conferences multiplied, an apparent change came and I may say that
substantial progress was made in our claim. It was a continuous drive,
drive, drive, every moment we were in New York. Not a moment was spent in
recreation or in pleasure seeking. Our entire time and attention were
given to the program of the Edwards Heirs.
If the same effort is continued and backed up by the Consolidation of
the Edwards Heirs, instead of the small group that backed us in New York,
beyond doubt this matter can be brought to a conclusion; and if it is
possible to get results I am confident results will be obtained. As a
result of the week's work in New York I returned to Birmingham, Ala.,
feeling more confident than I thought I could feel over this program, and I
do believe that the Edwards Heirs generally are fortunate in having in the
Legal Department a man who is an heir himself and who is thoroughly
determined to win this case if it can be won. Let me urge the
Consolidation to stand behind the Legal Department as loyally and as
sincerely as did the little group that stood behind us when we made our
trip to New York.
T.C. MCCAIN, Treas.,
EDWARDS ESTATE CORPORATION.
Birmingham, Ala.
----------------------------------------------------------

ITEM #80

THE PHOTOGRAPH

EDwards heirs throughout the land will feel a source of justifiable
pride when they behold the portrait of our General Counsel and fellow-heir
Joel F. Webb, and will appreciate fully the concessions made by him in
departing from his usual custom of seclusion and permit us the rare
privilege of publishing his photograph, coupled with the splendid biography
and genealogy gives us the life of the man who will represent us in this
great battle for our inheritance which is soon to be staged.
In throwing aside the cloak of modesty and giving us the opportunity to
know him better.

HIS TALK IN PART . . . . .
It is difficult to approach a colosal subject like the Edwards Estate,
but I want to thank you cordially for the opportunity to be here, and to
discuss this matter. It is my first visit to your city, but I find that
human nature is the same everywhere.
I shall endeavor to give you a brief outline of some of the things we
have done at Birmingham, Alabama, our background and program. Prior to
last summer, several meeting of the Edwards Heirs had been held in the City
of Birmingham. I did not attend any of these meetings for the reason that
I did not think it worth while, believing that it would be impracticable to
get our people properly united, and I declined to attend any of these
meeting, refusing to make a speech at one of them, because I knew
practically nothing about the estate. However, a meeting was held in
August, at Birmingham. Mr. P.M. Carlisle, a cousin of mine, was selected
as chairman of the committee to formulate a program to investigate and
press the claim of the Edwards heirs. At that time Mr. Carlisle and I
believed that practically all of the heirs interested in this estate, were
in, or near Birmingham, Ala. he asked me to permit the committeE selected
by him to hold a meeting at my office, which request I granted as a matter
of courtesy to him. The committee met and for the first time since I was a
boy listening to my mother tell about this estate, I heard a discussion of
the claim of the Edwards Heirs to property in New York City and elsehwere.
Being requested at this committee meeting to outline a program, and
prescribe a course to pursue, I agreed to do this and at the next meeting
held at my office, this committee accepted my suggestions. We agreed to
incorporate under the name of Edwards Estate Corporation of Alabama, with
the headquarters at Birmingham, Ala. It was understood and agreed that
P.M. Carlisle would acquire from his people a deed conveying to him all of
their interest in the estate, particularly describing what we thought to be
a portion, at least, of the property in New York City. We incorporated
October 14, 1924, with 200 members. This number subsequently increased to
300 members.
The deeds were executed to P.M. Carlisle, and in turn he made a deed to
the Edwards Estate Corporation, conveying to said corporation the interest
he had acquired in the estate and described the same property covering
approximately seventy-two blocks in the City of New York. This deed was
sent to New York for recording to a lawyer friend of mine. Changes in the
form of the deed were suggested by the New York authorities. These changes
were made, and a proper deed forwarded to New York, and placed with the
recorder for record. Later, the recorder underwent a change of mind, and
although the deed had been indexed for record, it was not actually
transcribed on the looks. It stands that way today because I preferred to
leave it in that condition until we get ready to make a further move.
Meanwhile, we had discovered there were other heirs, particularly South
Carolina. Then we learned of the Mid-West Organization, in Indiana and
Ohio. These three organization met together the later part of October in
South Carolina . . . . . . .HE GOES ON TO TALK ABOUT THE OTHER HEIRS, WHAT
AN INCREASE THERE HAS BEEN, ETC.
----------------------------------------------------------

This thread: