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Subject: [EDWARDS-L] Edwards Heirs III
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 20:26:12 EST

Here is the third article about the Edwards Heirs taken from the Edwards
Journal Vol.1 , No. 3 dated Jul-Sep 1983

The following article is reprinted from THE MOBILE (ALA.) PRESS
REGISTER, July 6, 1947, issue

Old Dispute Reborn as 'Heirs' Ask
Elusive Fortune in Gotham Property
by Cynthia Lowry

NEW YORK -- (AP)-- A mysterious will, whimsically popping up at two
places at once, has started a new wave of claims to a multi-million-dollar
share of New York City real estate which has been disputed in the courts for
200 years.

England's Queen Anne, back in 1704, made a land grant to Trinity Church
and the parish, this year celebrating the 250th anniversary of its charter,
has had its hands full ever since with a flood of legal pyrotechnics, dreams
and claims. Historic Trinity is located in the heart of the skyscraper-
crowded financial district.

Many of the newest claimants, apparently, do not know of the involved
background of their claims. They all revolve around a single figure: Robert
Edwards, born in the Dutch colony of Nieuw Amsterdam 285 years ago.

Recently reports were circulated that Roberat's will had bee found (a)
while demolishing a tomb in Brooklyn, N.Y., and f(2) while demolishing a tomb
in far-off Wales. Woolsey Shepard, attorney for Trinity, has received no
substantiation of either find. But he has received a postal deluge.

"Every time somethhing is reported about the Edwards case," he said, "the
letters start coming in again."

A check of court records and Trinity history shows that hundreds of
persons have tried to pick up a fortune which the claimants think is worth
between ten million and eighty million dollars. Thousands of dollars have
been spent on lawyers and legal papers--and utter failure has met all efforts
to date.

Amoug the newest claimants--they announced last month they would make a
try for the fortune--are eight Australians and 24 residents of Maine.

Old Robert Edwards, claimed as a common ancestor for them all, apparently
not only raised an enormous family, but spread far and wide his story of
owning a 40-acre tract of farm and pasture land at the foot of Manhattan
Island.

To many of the claimants, seeking the property seems as simple as rolling
off a log. Take Mrs. Eunice S. Ward of Sydney for example. She is one of the
Australian group which contemplates making a stab at collecting a few
millions.

"When we were children, our father, James Edward Edwards, ofton told us
wh had a large fortune in chancery," she said. "He said the family owned 40
acres in the heart of New York, but it would cost too much to establish the
claim. Now that the (Robert Edwards) will has been found, we should come into
our rights without much trouble."

This is the first part of this article. The second half will follow -
Carol

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