House Heirs Association: Part III, Where Did They Get All That Land?

If you've been following along on this crazy journey to resurrect the collected facts, trivia, and stories about the House Heirs Association (HHA) you'll remember in Part I we checked out the basics of it all and in Part II we followed the money. In this post we'll try to figure out and untangle what's known about how the House men got possession of that land in the first place. But first the usual recap of the HHA.

Here's a recap of what the House Heirs Association is all about. In a nutshell, the descendants of one Andrew V. House (1700 - 1797) believed that he and his son, John Valentine House (1739 - 1843), had supposedly been swindled out of payment from the US Government for a 99 year land lease on an immense tract of land they owned, reported to be as large as 64,000 acres. At the end of the lease the government and people living on that land in about 1884 or 85, located roughly in Frederick County, Maryland, all forgot that the House family were the rightful owners.

So where the heck did they get all that land? I'm still curious even though lately I've been suspicious that we're actually related to this House line! In an old document in Mom's possession our connection through Samuel Albert House, my 2nd great grandfather, is outlined. It was about 1900 and times were hard and people must have seen this as an opportunity to enjoy wealth, because the estimate was that everyone would get $2 million. Now, you need to know that Samuel Albert lived in a small rural village in the back woods of West Virginia and scraped by, as best we can tell. It amuses me to think what he might have done with a $2M pay day:)

Back to the main question of the day: where did they get that land? It was a gigantic parcel, some 64,000 acres. Where would they get that?! There are mentions about the original land grant in HHA documents but the attorney who represented the HHA states in a letter (with no date but presumably after the 1901 Kokomo Indiana meeting) that "much time and effort has been spent in writing to parties who were said to have papers and records but none have been found to throw any light on the matter." He goes on to say, "we have found nothing, except, perhaps family history".

That said, the next posting by Mr. Granger to the RootsWeb message board listed as House Heirs Association meeting Williamstown, KY, Jan 9th, 1899, concerns a letter dated December 18, 1899, reportedly coming from "a London Law Office" and here's what it said, in a nutshell. (I've underlined the descendancy stuff for easier reference.)

1.  The House records and estate of Andrew House by metes and bounds was first ceded to Count Frederick Edward Van Hautzen by Pudshers from the English Government, in the 16th Century.
2. It was attached as part of the Commonwealth of Maryland to the Calvert Government, which with the Estate of Lord Baltimore, it reverted back to the Crown, being regranted in the 17th Century to Andrew House, who was the Great Grandson of Count Frederick, from the latter Frederick County was named.
3. This land was given to Andrew House as a birthday present, if he would enter this grant: he was also given the coat of arms: signatures and seals (a different House Mediveael Coat of Arms), cord and dagger.
4. From Andrew House it descended to John Valentine House, the eldest child and his heirs.
5. Neither patent or grant was ever recorded in Maryland, but a search of the British Colonies Offices in the 17th and 18th Century will reveal the Grant and old will of those records.

The writer of this letter, who sounds awfully certain of it all, states,"The search for you will cost about ten pounds, or fifty dollars. But before coming to England, it might be well to satisfy that there was no assignment or quit-claim from John Valentine House, who was son of Count Frederick Edward Van Hautzen, who was a son of Andrew Van Hautzen, in times the last of the Counts of the Barony."

Confused? Yeah, me too. Next time, Dastardly Deeds!

(Insert Cheezy Coat of Arms Here;)





Update, 6/25/2013: Here's a link to the page on Len Granger's web site where he talks about the House Heirs Association. Thanks, Len!!
http://www.tiptopwebsite.com/websites/index2.php?username=len1932&page=31


The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/05/house-heirs-association-part-iii-where.html

Wisdom Wednesday: The Error of my Ways

Hey, it's Wednesday! It's time for me to confess the error of my ways and use the GeneaBlogger's blogging prompt called Wisdom Wednesdays. I make a lot of mistakes, follow misques, and even go down blind alleys that have a big sign saying "blind alley ahead" and generally waste too much time stumbling around. Every error that I can see becomes a blessing in disguise as I eventually figure out a new way to proceed. Hopefully.

This week I have a couple of doozies! I got all enamored with a story about a family line and didn't first stop to double check our connection to it and make certain that it was solid. Yikes!

But to the good, I helped Cousin Rich and Mom as best I could (from 2,000 miles away) and saved him wasted time in a library archive. Throughout watching them (by email) I learned some stuff about research, sources, and what it means to do this work over the long-haul with a commitment and love that comes from doing your own family history research as you carefully vet each and every document and fact as you go along. So here we go: the error of my ways!

House Heirs Association story. OK, so I did get all excited because this is a really good story, but now I come to find out that we're probably not even related to that House line after all! I've done two posts about the story of how descendants of Andrew House and John V. House tried to negotiate a settlement from the US Government in payment for a large parcel of land they supposedly owned in Frederick County, Maryland, reportedly valued at $3 billion, and you can read them here and here. I tell ya', I really got into this whole mess, but good! Whatta story! But now it looks like they aren't even our people. But then again, maybe they are!
I'm going to keep on posting about it because it might be useful to someone and it is fascinating.
Plus Mom has some sort of report or notes from a meeting of the House Heir Association in the early 1900s in her files and I want to review and report on that next time I visit Mom.
Had to laugh at myself real hard on this one!! We might not even be related! Funny thing is that we don't yet know where our House ancestors actually came from before they got to Virginia/West Virginia, and maybe it was Frederick over in Maryland because that's all real close, geographically, but there's no proof.

Mom and Cousin Rich. I learned a lot watching Cousin Rich and Mom this week. I say "watching" but I was no where close enough to see what was going on. Here's the deal.
Cousin Rich's wife started corresponding with Mom over 10 years ago. Then Rich got into genealogy and had pretty much finished up his family so dove into his wife's ancestors. Mom and Rich compared notes on the Hartley - Farrell - House - Biggerstaff lines that all intersect in Hampshire County, West Virginia / Virginia from the later 1700s on to the mid-1800s. Take my word on this: it's real complicated.
Following Mom and Rich along on this adventure I learned a lot and here's what I saw.
1. Finding and maintaining contact with fellow travelers is magic. Mom and Rich's wife met on a surname message board over a decade ago. Once in contact, they exchanged what they knew and kept updating over the years. You can tell they were in it for the long haul. What one didn't find, maybe the other did or went to look for and then shared. They knew they were not alone in the pursuit of their family's history. I find it magic that they found each other using the internet and magic that we're all related and know it.
2. Sourcing records can be easy... and useful! Mom started her adventures with the ancestors back in the 1970s. She had a simple system using surname binders. When she found a document or record for someone it went in that surname binder. The only exception is the two big binders with BMD records, and of course the photo file. Her surname binders are a treasure trove! Each record or note has a handwritten inscription about where Mom got it.
Mom was able to pull out her Farrell binder and read to me notations she made many years ago when she was over in Morgantown, WV, in the West Virginia University Library, Regional History Collection and archive. I typed as Mom read from her notes and then I emailed that document to Rich. He was able to go there on his research trip/vacation and locate the information right away because he was already in contact with the librarian who pulled the boxes before he got there. Mom's notes were simple and accurate and Rich was able to find his way to that source. And that's the way that works!
The error of my ways notation here is that I need to get better at maintaining contact with those who contact me about a particular family line and think more in terms the long-term and it never being a "hit and run" thing. Am thinking about making a Quick Guide table of these contacts including surname of interest, their name, contact info, and notes. Then, at a glance, I'll be able to tell where I stand with each so that I don't lose them.
Another error of my ways notation is that it's more important for me right now to capture all of the source information for every thing I do and not be intimidated about the form of it. Get every last detail about the record down and worry about making it pretty later.

Grandpop Kelly on his trip to Florida in the 1950s.

John Lee Kelly 1892 - 1969.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/05/wisdom-wednesday-error-of-my-ways.html

House Heirs Association: Part II: Follow the Money

If you missed the first installment of this new series you can find it here. I promise, this is interesting to more people than just Mom and me!

Here's a recap of what the House Heirs Association is all about. In a nutshell, the descendants of one Andrew V. House (1700 - 1797) believed that he and his son, John Valentine House (1739 - 1843), had supposedly been swindled out of payment from the US Government for a 99 year land lease on an immense tract of land they owned, reported to be as large as 64,000 acres. At the end of the lease the government and people living on that land in about 1884 or 85, located roughly in Frederick County, Maryland, all forgot that the House family were the rightful owners.

In this installment we'll follow the money and watch the numbers in an attempt to uncover some of the tangled plot. So here it is, by the numbers.

1. The value of the land, if one can believe its size, is estimated at 64,000 acres, was claimed to be $6 billion in 1899 by the National Secretary of the House Heirs Association (HHA).

2. The US Government offered the House heirs a deal of $30 million sometime before the first large general meeting of the HHA in 1899. If accepted, this deal would have resulted in approximately $2 million for each of the House heirs, and ... a $2.5 million dollar pay day for the attorney. (Too bad they didn't take it!)

3. The attorneys. By the meeting of the HHA in1900 in Chicago, funds had been collected from the 300 members (or continued to be collected) for paying an attorney. It seems that Messrs. Marchant & Clay (perhaps the guys who had negotiated the deal mentioned in #2 above) were no longer involved. A Mr. Hutson, who was put forth as the man to do the job, stated through his representative at the meeting, that he "gained a great deal of valuable information through his recent investigating" and that he was "confident" that a "settlement could be reached in 18 months time".

4. Where is Mr. Huton? At the meeting of 1901 in Kokoma, Indiana, Mr. Huton was a no-show. He said that he "found it impossible to be present", but felt that a meeting with himself and the House heirs was still necessary. He also reported by letter that a settlement was possible "but it would take time and a considerable amount of patience." (He was no longer talking about that 18 month time table!)

5. Dissatisfaction with the representation? The HHA notes from the 1901 meeting indicate members discussed that Mr. Huton should be "investigated." A committee was formed to take a closer look at the contract with Mr. Huton.

6. Mo' money needed. A collection was taken at that 1901 meeting for "current expenses".

7. Circular letter, date unknown. Throughout this whole HHA saga, letters were circulated informing members of what was going on. The problem expressed in one letter is that Mr. Huton is slow in gathering supporting documentation. By the time of this particular letter it is reported that the attorney has found "no important records."

8. Time and trouble. In a letter dated 26 Sept, 1906 from the HHA Secretary, it's stated that there are now over 450 House heirs. The letter goes on to say that, "We have never been able to raise sufficient money to carry it through," referring to documentation that was already in hand and important documents that needed to be found. It's at the point, I think from reading this, that the attorney (not mentioned by name and likely not Mr. Huton) consulting with the HHA Secretary believes that an deal could still be reached.

Yikes! Looks like no one got anything out of this House Heirs Association, except the lawyers! I'd guess that Messrs. Marchant & Clay worked on contingency. When they saw the House heirs not jumping at the $30 million settlement, they bailed. Looks to me like Mr. Huton milked them for what he could doing as little work as possible himself and letting members bring him documentation. I surmise this because it was about that time that the House heirs started submitting whatever they had about the matter of the land as well as their ancestral history tracing back to John V. House. Just my guess.

I feel especially bad for the writer of that 1906 letter who had worked tirelessly on this for four years investigating what she could. By that time people might have gotten weary of contributing to a case that went no where. By 1923 the HHA is disbanded when someone absconds with whatever funds are left... but I'm getting ahead of myself!

Next time, more about how the property came to Andrew V. House. That's really interesting!

Marriage record for Samuel Albert House (1832 - 1917) and Mary Elizabeth Farrell (1835 - 1919), dated 20 Aug 1855.

 

 

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/04/house-heirs-association-part-ii-follow.html