Another View of the Astors
The following article was written by Richard S. King and published in the 1984 CFA Journal. It is an extremely intriguing article, and well worth publishing again here.
In Volume VIII (1983) of The Callaway Journal there appeared an article about John Jacob Astor entitled, "He Left a Lasting Imprint." There are, or were, some people named Emerick with a less favorable view of the Astors.
My paternal great-grandmother was Juliet Ann Callaway. (Richard, John, Richard, Joseph Callaway) Her paternal great-grandfather was Col. Richard Callaway of Virginia and Kentucky.
My maternal great-grandfather was George R. Emerick. His great-grandfather was Christopher Emerick.
Four Emerick brothers - Christopher, Valentine, Andrew and John Nicholas - left Germany for the New World in 1777. They settled initially in New York. Andrew died of wounds received in the Revolutionary War. He left no heirs. Christopher and Valentine married and had children.
John Nicholas Emerick entered the fur trade and later the shipping business. He took in as a one-third partner "a poor young boy, John Jacob Astor." The business thrived. John Emerick never married. In his later years, he was estrangled from his brothers, Christopher and Valentine. A document prepared by Emerick in 1815 purported to leave his estate in trust with his partner, John Jacob Astor, to be distributed among the descendants of Emerick's two brothers 75 years (or 90 years) after his death. Emerick died in 1816. His estate at that time was valued in excess of one million dollars.
From the 1890s until 1930, there was considerable activity directed toward recovering from the Astors a fortune variously described as $30 million, $35 million, $39 million, $176 million, $200 million, $2 billion, and $2.5 billion.
I have a copy of a circular letter dated Nov. 13, 1902, from Attorney A.F. Thompson of Centerville, Iowa, soliciting Emerick heirs with genealogical data tracing their relationship. Attorney Thompson died in 1910, but the work went forward.
From The San Francisco Examiner, Sept. 12, 1927, is an article entitled "57 Heirs Plan to Get $176 Million." The article says, - "The bent old figure of John T. Emerick, descendant of the partner of John Jacob Astor, in New York, today moved hopefully about in the simple dwelling where he was brought up in a family of working people, like himself. He awaits the outcome of the discovery that he and 56 other Emericks scattered about the country are heirs to $176 million estate.
"The estate represents real estate holdings purchased before 1815 in New York, Boston, and in Pennsylvania by John Nicholas Emerick when he was a partner of Astor. Emerick died a bachelor and his estate remained in the hands of Astor in a 90-year trust fund which matured 15 years ago."
From The Los Angeles Examiner Herald, October 19, 1927, there was a photograph of three children and the caption, "Rich? These three children may be heirs to a two billion dollar fortune if their grandfather, George Emerick establishes his claim that he is a direct descendant of a former partner of John Jacob Astor."
Articles appearing on Dec. 7, 1928, in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post and The New York Times state "Lose Suit To Share Astor $135,000,000." It reads, "The suit of the heirs of John Nicholas Emerick for two-thirds of the proceeds of the estate of John Jacob Astor, Sr., founder of the Astor family and fortune in this country, was dismissed yesterday by Federal Judge Thacker. The property sued for amounted to upward of $135 million. Mr. Astor died March 29, 1848.
"The action was based on allegations that Mr. Emerick, furrier, merchant and business associate of Stephen Girard, had befriended Mr. Astor when he was poor, taught him the business and, in 1787, made him a one-third partner and later a trustee of his estate for 90 years. Then it was to be divided among the descendants of Mr. Emerick's brothers, Christopher and Valentine. John Nicholas Emerick was a bachelor."
From The Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 9, 1930, comes "The United States Circuit Court of Appeals upheld without opinion, Jan. 2, the decision of Thomas B. Thacker, Federal Judge, dismissing the $39 million suit brought by certain heirs of John Nicholas Emerick against Vincent Astor and the trustees of John Jacob Astor, Sr."
From The Marysville (Ca.) Appeal-Democrat, March 10, 1933, a photograph carried the caption, "A document giving a $200 million share of the John Jacob Astor fortune to descendants of John Nicholas Emerick was taken from this suitcase lining."
It is interesting to note the inconsistencies in the press accounts. The amounts involved vary considerably. There is a confusion between "heirs" and "descendants."
It must have been heady "stuff" for the Emerick descendants of Christopher and Valentine. The need to trace and establish their ancestry spurred a great interest in genealogy. Among formal groups I have identified were the Mississippi Valley Association of Emerick Heirs, the Western Pennsylvania Group of Mississippi Valley Association of Emerick Heirs, and the California Emerick Association. All thrived in the late 20s. The California Descendants of the Emerick Family held their first reunion in Los Angeles on April 15, 1928. So far as can be determined none of the associations survived the death of the first suit against the heirs.
Among parcels of real estate purportedly a part of the Emerick estate is the land on which Trinity Church is situated in downtown Manhattan, as well as the site of The Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Fact or fiction? It may never be known. There are those who believed strongly enough to devote their energies and their very lives to the pursuit. Shouldn't they have realized that, the Astors, who had the money, could never be bested by the Emericks, who had none?
Colonel Richard Callaway was scalped by the Indians at Boonesborough. Was John Nicholas Emerick no less a victim at the hands of his junior partner?
________________________________________________
A book has recently been published (2004) about this story. The Story of the Little Brown Suitcase, written by Carol Lynn Caswell tells an historical fiction account of her family's involvement.
ABOUT THE BOOK -
Rich fur traders, an unscrupulous adventurer, a fateful fight on a New York pier, an old sea chest, a will lost for over one hundred years, a beautiful heiress, the sinking of the Titanic, stolen documents, arson, and possibly even murder are a part of the story found in Elsie Emerick Bryan's Little Brown Suitcase.
Elsie kept The Little Brown Suitcase under her bed most of her adult life. Papers and letters in the suitcase reveal how her relative, John Nicholas Emerick, partner to John Jacob Astor I, lost control of his vast fortune and how it ultimately all ended up in Astor's pockets.
The story recounts the struggle by Elsie and her family to reclaim their rightful inheritance. It tells of hopes placed on a passenger traveling home from Europe on the Titanic; a passenger who could right this great wrong.
Authentic letters from the seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen hundreds, located in The Little Brown Suitcase, were used in the development of this story. This story has not been told before. While being presented here as historical fiction, many of the events in this turbulent tale are true.
In Volume VIII (1983) of The Callaway Journal there appeared an article about John Jacob Astor entitled, "He Left a Lasting Imprint." There are, or were, some people named Emerick with a less favorable view of the Astors.
My paternal great-grandmother was Juliet Ann Callaway. (Richard, John, Richard, Joseph Callaway) Her paternal great-grandfather was Col. Richard Callaway of Virginia and Kentucky.
My maternal great-grandfather was George R. Emerick. His great-grandfather was Christopher Emerick.
Four Emerick brothers - Christopher, Valentine, Andrew and John Nicholas - left Germany for the New World in 1777. They settled initially in New York. Andrew died of wounds received in the Revolutionary War. He left no heirs. Christopher and Valentine married and had children.
John Nicholas Emerick entered the fur trade and later the shipping business. He took in as a one-third partner "a poor young boy, John Jacob Astor." The business thrived. John Emerick never married. In his later years, he was estrangled from his brothers, Christopher and Valentine. A document prepared by Emerick in 1815 purported to leave his estate in trust with his partner, John Jacob Astor, to be distributed among the descendants of Emerick's two brothers 75 years (or 90 years) after his death. Emerick died in 1816. His estate at that time was valued in excess of one million dollars.
From the 1890s until 1930, there was considerable activity directed toward recovering from the Astors a fortune variously described as $30 million, $35 million, $39 million, $176 million, $200 million, $2 billion, and $2.5 billion.
I have a copy of a circular letter dated Nov. 13, 1902, from Attorney A.F. Thompson of Centerville, Iowa, soliciting Emerick heirs with genealogical data tracing their relationship. Attorney Thompson died in 1910, but the work went forward.
From The San Francisco Examiner, Sept. 12, 1927, is an article entitled "57 Heirs Plan to Get $176 Million." The article says, - "The bent old figure of John T. Emerick, descendant of the partner of John Jacob Astor, in New York, today moved hopefully about in the simple dwelling where he was brought up in a family of working people, like himself. He awaits the outcome of the discovery that he and 56 other Emericks scattered about the country are heirs to $176 million estate.
"The estate represents real estate holdings purchased before 1815 in New York, Boston, and in Pennsylvania by John Nicholas Emerick when he was a partner of Astor. Emerick died a bachelor and his estate remained in the hands of Astor in a 90-year trust fund which matured 15 years ago."
From The Los Angeles Examiner Herald, October 19, 1927, there was a photograph of three children and the caption, "Rich? These three children may be heirs to a two billion dollar fortune if their grandfather, George Emerick establishes his claim that he is a direct descendant of a former partner of John Jacob Astor."
Articles appearing on Dec. 7, 1928, in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post and The New York Times state "Lose Suit To Share Astor $135,000,000." It reads, "The suit of the heirs of John Nicholas Emerick for two-thirds of the proceeds of the estate of John Jacob Astor, Sr., founder of the Astor family and fortune in this country, was dismissed yesterday by Federal Judge Thacker. The property sued for amounted to upward of $135 million. Mr. Astor died March 29, 1848.
"The action was based on allegations that Mr. Emerick, furrier, merchant and business associate of Stephen Girard, had befriended Mr. Astor when he was poor, taught him the business and, in 1787, made him a one-third partner and later a trustee of his estate for 90 years. Then it was to be divided among the descendants of Mr. Emerick's brothers, Christopher and Valentine. John Nicholas Emerick was a bachelor."
From The Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 9, 1930, comes "The United States Circuit Court of Appeals upheld without opinion, Jan. 2, the decision of Thomas B. Thacker, Federal Judge, dismissing the $39 million suit brought by certain heirs of John Nicholas Emerick against Vincent Astor and the trustees of John Jacob Astor, Sr."
From The Marysville (Ca.) Appeal-Democrat, March 10, 1933, a photograph carried the caption, "A document giving a $200 million share of the John Jacob Astor fortune to descendants of John Nicholas Emerick was taken from this suitcase lining."
It is interesting to note the inconsistencies in the press accounts. The amounts involved vary considerably. There is a confusion between "heirs" and "descendants."
It must have been heady "stuff" for the Emerick descendants of Christopher and Valentine. The need to trace and establish their ancestry spurred a great interest in genealogy. Among formal groups I have identified were the Mississippi Valley Association of Emerick Heirs, the Western Pennsylvania Group of Mississippi Valley Association of Emerick Heirs, and the California Emerick Association. All thrived in the late 20s. The California Descendants of the Emerick Family held their first reunion in Los Angeles on April 15, 1928. So far as can be determined none of the associations survived the death of the first suit against the heirs.
Among parcels of real estate purportedly a part of the Emerick estate is the land on which Trinity Church is situated in downtown Manhattan, as well as the site of The Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
Fact or fiction? It may never be known. There are those who believed strongly enough to devote their energies and their very lives to the pursuit. Shouldn't they have realized that, the Astors, who had the money, could never be bested by the Emericks, who had none?
Colonel Richard Callaway was scalped by the Indians at Boonesborough. Was John Nicholas Emerick no less a victim at the hands of his junior partner?
A book has recently been published (2004) about this story. The Story of the Little Brown Suitcase, written by Carol Lynn Caswell tells an historical fiction account of her family's involvement.ABOUT THE BOOK -
Rich fur traders, an unscrupulous adventurer, a fateful fight on a New York pier, an old sea chest, a will lost for over one hundred years, a beautiful heiress, the sinking of the Titanic, stolen documents, arson, and possibly even murder are a part of the story found in Elsie Emerick Bryan's Little Brown Suitcase.
Elsie kept The Little Brown Suitcase under her bed most of her adult life. Papers and letters in the suitcase reveal how her relative, John Nicholas Emerick, partner to John Jacob Astor I, lost control of his vast fortune and how it ultimately all ended up in Astor's pockets.
The story recounts the struggle by Elsie and her family to reclaim their rightful inheritance. It tells of hopes placed on a passenger traveling home from Europe on the Titanic; a passenger who could right this great wrong.
Authentic letters from the seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen hundreds, located in The Little Brown Suitcase, were used in the development of this story. This story has not been told before. While being presented here as historical fiction, many of the events in this turbulent tale are true.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - Copyright © 2004 Callaway Family Association
posted by DFM | 7/02/2004
3 Comments:
I have recently come into possession of some copied materials from the Missippi Valley Association of the John Nicholas Emerick Heirs. It is fasciniating reading to me, and is part of my heritage. I am learning much of my past ancestry. I thought I should head onto the internet to see what else I could find.
Mary E. Davis, daughter of
Arthur H. Davis, son of
Hampton Nichols Davis, son of
Mary P.Nichols Davis, daughter of
Sophia Steel Nichols, daughter of
Sarah Cable Steel, daughter of
Catherine Fredericka Cable, daughter of
Valentine Emerick
My Grandmother before she passed away told me she was related to Mr. Emerick. Her name was Gladys Ullom, unsure of maiden name but Callaway maybe it she was 98 when she passed in or about 1996, They lived in Yakima Washington for 50 + years She was married to Benjamin Franklin Ullom sr. He was my fathers - father (Ben F. Ullom Jr. ) He was born in Guymon Oklahoma, I believe John Ullom was my Great grandfather who had a homestead there and I believe my grandfathers brother John’s son John is still there. I was wondering if I am related to Mr. Emerick ?. Was she right? My name is Gerald Mitchell Ullom I am one of the sons of Benjamin Franklin Ullom Jr. and Merna Rae Ullom (Shore) I have 6 children that also believe there grandmothers story (Fact or Fiction) Does anyone know her or this story? contact me please if anyone knows mitchullom@yahoo.com
It seems like that must be an intresting book.
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