No. 516.
Mr. Birney
to Mr. Evarts.
The Hague, May 18, 1880.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your No. 138, bearing date April 26, ultimo, with annexed copies of letters, addressed to Hon. John Van Voorhis, member of Congress, and referred by him to the honorable Secretary of State, stating that they make inquiry whether any estate has been left in Holland to one Stephen Bove, of Wayne County, New York.
* * * * * * *
After reading the correspondence, I called at the bureau of the state commission, which, by a law of Parliament in 1852, was established as the successor of all the orphans courts of the kingdom, for the care of the estates of deceased persons over which the government might lawfully assume jurisdiction, and examined the list of all the names that appeared on the rolls of all the orphans’ courts that existed prior to 1852, but did not succeed in finding the name of Philip Bove, the great-grandfather, Stephen Bove, or of any other Bove.
Not relying upon my own examination, I then addressed the following note to the secretary of the commission, whose relation to the body is similar to that of a clerk in one of our own courts:
Legation of the United
States,
The Hague, May 12,
1880.
Sir: Will you be so kind as to inform me whether the records in your care show that at anytime either of the orphans’ courts that existed prior to 1852, or the state commission that superseded said courts, has had under its control any money or other property to which Philip Bove, or his descendant, Stephen Bove, now of the United States, might assert claim as legatee or as heir at law?
Hoping the question may not give you trouble, I am, my dear count, your obedient servant,
JAMES BIRNEY.
Count F. Raudwyck,
Secretary of commission for estates of deceased
persons.
The following is the reply sent me, as translated from the Dutch language, signed by the president of the commission as well as by the secretary:
The Hague, May 14, 1880.
Mr. Birney,
Minister of the United States of North
America:
In answer to your letter of the 12th May, we have the honor to report to you that any estate in the name of Bove is unknown to us.
We take this opportunity to inform you in relation to the numerous inquiries from people of the United States in regard to estates they suppose have been under our charge, that you may say to them that now all the estates ever taken in charge by us are either distributed to the rightful owners or have been turned over to the state treasury by direction of the law of 5th March, 1852 (State Paper No. 45). There is [Page 814] no longer any tiling to be claimed, either from the orphans’ chamber, the state commission, or any other state authority. Our commission will soon be dissolved.
For the general commission of liquidation, successor to courts for estates of orphans,
W. G. HOVY.
By order:
F. Raudwyck.
As to how far such an answer may be regarded as conclusive, it may be stated that the names of all claimants that ever appeared in the courts prior to the organization of the state commission have been transferred to it; that it has preserved all the advertisements and notices that were ever given by the state, and appeared in the Staats Courant under authority of the law of 1852, having complete bound volumes of all the dates of such paper.
The anxious claimant may, however, say there maybe estates that have never come under the care of the courts or of the commission. That this may be true I suppose possible. But very little property will be found here unless in possession either by undisputed title or by title that has been made good by statutes of limitation and lapse of time. To any of these, adverse claims might be set up in the courts. But success would be among the extremest of improbabilities. The chain of descent must be exhibited without a missing link. In the almost innumerable applications made to me from the United States, not even the first link has been exposed. The showing of Mr. Bove in this case Is a sample of all the rest. His letter to Mr. Mandeville, of Washington, in answer to one asking for some facts upon which to proceed, says: “Do not know where the estate was settled; cannot tell in what part of Holland. All we know is that there was money left, but at what point in Holland cannot tell. We cannot tell where the money is, but are sure there is money rightfully belonging to us. We are in earnest, and we know we have property lawfully belonging to us.”
This certainly indicates very positive faith; but it may take something more than his assertion of belief to create confidence in the minds of others. He gives about as much aid to inquiry as the well-digger has, who in search of a subterranean current has as his only guide a forked twig of the peach tree. If the census returns that could be found in the bureau of statistics or the enrollment on file in the office of the prefect of police were looked over for the past century and the name of Bove appeared, it would not be conclusive that the property came of that name. It might be from the maternal side. Even if property was found that was once in possession of that name, it mightrequire litigation, lasting through a quarter of a century, to establish aright superior to that of the present possessor. If the last will and testament of the decedent is to be found, it might require advertising extensive enough to reach the eye of every notary in the realm. All this demands money and the constant personal attention of some one. No legation could undertake it. So much may suffice as a direct answer to the inquiry now referred; but if I may be allowed to embrace the occasion to add a few suggestions that will have any influence in checking the delusion that prevails in the United States about fortunes in Holland, waiting for owners, they will not be without use.
Every now and then a mania of most extraordinary extent is seen to exist in many portions of the United States, excited by the expectation that in a short time a large amount of money will be distributed to heirs of a certain name if they will apply. It leads to a vast correspondence between expectants all over the Union. Sometimes conventions are held of those supposed to be interested. Funds are raised and agents appointed. Newspapers are filled with glowing accounts of large [Page 815] amounts that certain families are soon to receive. Then letters from America pour in upon this legation and upon the several consulates of the Netherlands. One wonders why this can be so. If he speaks to an intelligent citizen about it, he laughs at it as an absurdity; if he consults a respectable barrister, he ridicules the delusion and wants nothing to do with it. If he looks about him he sees evidence that money is as much coveted and sought for here as anywhere else; that all property is conserved with much care. He can hear of none “lying around loose,” wanting ownership. He sees that no man can live here without money, because it is entirely out of fashion to get into debt. If he inquires of the commission that acts for the government in the care of estates he is told that a law of limitation has closed its coffers, and that so far no American applicant has ever found his name upon its lists. What arouses the excitement? It will be found that some shrewd and irresponsible person in the United States has discovered that a large family connection traces its origin to the same ancestor in Holland. He procures insertion in some newspaper, of wide circulation, of a paragraph setting forth the brilliant prospects of certain families. When the excitement is at its height he introduces himself as a suitable agent to prosecute the claim. Funds are raised and he is sent to Europe. There he remains and occupies himself in writing letters that more money is yet wanted; that the case is in court and cannot progress until some special costs are aid, and he awaits remittances. Air this while he is doing nothing; knows he can do nothing; and intends to do nothing but live upon innocent contributors. As long as the gullible will send him money he seems to be safe. He has violated no law of Holland, and if he has violated any of the United States, there is no extradition treaty to reach him. He is taking money under false pretenses as palpably as any man can do.
As illustrative of the process I will cite the case now uppermost before the American public. On the 26th March last, the Cincinnati Inquirer contained the following telegram, with bold headings:
much money.
A $200,000,000 legacy in Holland awaiting the Kern heirs in America.
Kokomo, Ind., March 25.
Your correspondent has just been put in possession of the particulars of a fabulous estate in Holland belonging to the Kern heirs in America. It is claimed that nearly two hundred years ago the original Kern family loaned a fabulous sum of money to the Government of Holland for the term of ninety-nine years, which time has now expired, leaving the fortune swelled by accrued interest in valuation .about $200,000,000. This figure is so large as to evade the grasp and comprehension of the human understanding, but such it exists nevertheless.
The effect of this announcement during the succeeding month was to fill my table with letters from North Carolina, West Virginia, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, and Minnesota. The amount shows that the Kern family is numerous enough to make a full regiment or more. Now, it would be very remarkable, if the government borrowed such a sum of money, that it did not give its obligation in some shape, and still more remarkable that two hundred years should pass by without presentment of it for payment. I have had the government book examined, and there is not a trace of the name mentioned, nor of Gildner, the name of the female branch, through whom it is said the Kerns descended. The announcement is evidently the fabrication of some agent, who will make a speculation out of the credulity [Page 816] of those innocent people before they can be correctly informed. If he were to remain in the United States he would soon be complained of and severely punished, but he can reside here as an American citizen, and continue the perpetration of this foul wrong so long as he can find victims. One or two considerations ought to allay all such excitements. Suppose that the true heirs, who could make clear their descent beyond dispute, should find an estate that had been under the care of the government prior to 1852, and make demand, the financial officer would not respond without the order of the commission. But the law governing its action prevents it from hearing proof after the expiration of five years from the date of its organization. The only decision would be that the estate had been covered into the treasury of the government.
In 1878 I made a schedule of all the names of claimants mentioned in the very many letters received from the United States prior to that date, and submitted it to the secretary of the commission, with the request that he would, after thorough examination, report to me whether any of them appeared upon the records. On the 19th December of the year above mentioned he replied as follows:
I regret that the researches after the estates described in your note some days ago took more time than I expected. None of those estates have been in the possession of the commission for the orphans’ chamber. About several of them inquiries have heretofore been made, but in vain. In any case the commission has no more money belonging to whatever estate.
This ought to be conclusive so far as relates to property that has been under the control of the government. Other property must be in the hands of individuals. A stranger and an alien that would establish a superior right to its possession must conform its procedure to methods established by the laws of the land. In all such cases the sending of letters of inquiry unaccompanied by any facts is useless. An idle rumor is of less account in Holland than in America.
I make these suggestions with the hope that some measures may be devised to suppress the impositions of these so-called agents. The dispatches on this subject from this legation that have been published had very much checked such operations. The number of letters had diminished, but upon any such announcement as that in behalf of the Kern heirs a revival ensues. If the fabricators of such rumors could be restrained, the core of the plague would be reached. It will be impossible to allay the anxiety of the people so long as they can be duped.
I am, &c.,