Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

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smcarberry
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Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by smcarberry » Thu Aug 06, 2009 2:39 pm

The stuff of legends -
Hays family of The Furnace (Co. Clare) inherits fortune of Edward Martin Burke of Sydney, Australia, 1923
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=at ... unty-clare
and
reported 6 Oct 1933 Mrs. Hays aged 58; Edward Burke was police officer and postal worker
http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1127234
and
reported 15 Sep 1934 - Edward Burke had died at Darlinghurst
http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/2371307


Other such stories, unfortunately now available only via pay-for-view --
MILLIONS LEFT BY RECLUSE GO TO KIN IN ERIN
Chicago Tribune Feb 9 Feb 1939
"They are Mrs. Mary Lynch McCarthy, So [sic] years old, of Limerick, Mrs. Bridget Lynch Woulfe, 82, of O'Brien's Bridge, County Clare, and James Lynch..."

Wills for Probate
New York Times 9 Oct 1938
"...John and Charles McDonnell of Kilkee, County Clare, Ireland, and James McDonnell, LisIanhan. Counts' Clare, Ireland, $500 each; nephew..."

O'Dea Heirs Renew Fight
Los Angeles Times 2 Oct 1941
"All having lived in and around County Clare, Eire, they maintain they are the children of the late John Lynch, a brother of Srs. Bridget Lynch O'Dea..."


posted by Sharon Carberry USA
not related

pwaldron
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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by pwaldron » Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:46 pm

My greatgrandfather John McNamara of Moveen, parish of Moyarta, co. Clare was one of the numerous heirs to the so-called Talty Millions, the estate (actually worth only in the low six figures) of his first cousin T J Talty (first name variously rendered Theodore/Thadeus/Thady/Timothy). T J was probably born in Knockanalban near Miltown Malbay in the early 1860s shortly before his parents emigrated to Massachusetts; he died intestate in Dade County, Florida on 1 Apr 1926.

I believe that John McNamara's daughter-in-law Pauline (Babs) McNamara nee Murphy was one of the heirs to the later so-called O'Dea Millions, possibly the case referred to above by Sharon. I have no details of the O'Dea case and would be interested to learn more.

I have done quite a bit of research on the Talty case and made some remarkable breakthroughs only this week. I have just discovered that T J Talty spent a number of years as manager of the Raleigh Hotel near the White House in Washington DC around the turn of the century. Among the incidents that he had to deal with in that job were an outbreak of smallpox in the hotel and the fatal shooting of an ex-U.S. Senator by his mistress in his room in the hotel!

Most remarkably, last year I found a descendant in Australia of a Mary Talty, around the same age as T J, from the same parish, and with parents of the same names as T J's, Timothy Talty and Margaret McNamara. This suggests that the Talty Millions may have gone to the wrong heirs, as a sister and her descendants would have had priority over all first cousins!

smcarberry
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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by smcarberry » Fri Aug 07, 2009 12:42 am

Paddy W.,

Very interesting on the Talty inheritance. I went to the Library of Congress newspaper database to see if some else would
appear there. The time span of available newspaper images does not go beyond 1922, thus useless for the O'Dea case.
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/pages/

There were two articles on the Bradley-Brown murder: Los Angeles Herald, page 1, 15 Nov 1907, and Times-Dispatch, p.3, 15 Nov 1907 - in both editions, the article is the third column from the left margin.

Below is a screen shot of an article (San Francisco Call newspaper, California) describing a prospective change of employment in 1904 by Talty, which apparently did not materialize, as he was still at his D.C. hotel in 1907.

Sharon Carberry
TJ Talty, 28 Nov 1904 San Fran.jpg
TJ Talty, 28 Nov 1904 San Fran.jpg (18.96 KiB) Viewed 63963 times

pwaldron
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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by pwaldron » Fri Aug 07, 2009 1:16 am

Thanks a million for that one, Sharon.

I wonder is this the Palmer Hotel in question: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_House ?
Or is there another one in New York?

There is an advertisement in the 1896 edition of The Standard Guide: St. Augustine, East Coast, Indian River and Lake Worth by Charles Bingham Reynolds reading:
`T. J. TALTY, Manager, late of the Auditorium Hotel, Chicago'

The Auditorium and Palmer seem to have been the main hotels in Chicago at the time.

I have so far failed to locate T J Talty in any U.S. census, but must try again with the additional information I have found in the last few days.

I'm sure there must be an obituary in a newspaper somewhere too if I knew where to look.

miriam scahill
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Joined: Thu May 07, 2009 7:18 pm

Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by miriam scahill » Sun Aug 09, 2009 5:40 pm

Hello Sharon and Paddy - the initials T.J. and P.J. mostly refer to Thomas Joseph and Patrick Joseph - so it would appear that T J Talty is Thomas Joseph Talty - and on pilot.familysearch.org - there is a Thomas Talty born in 1865 - Ennistimon Regist. Dist. (this would cover Milltown area) - Film 101042 vol 4 page 282 - Dig. G.S. 4187272 - image no.00400.
Where can you check these records ??
Miriam.

p.s. Paddy - my ancestors came from Moveen area - Mulluny/Mullany/Mullaney etc. - I am working on the 'TREE' !!
Miriam.

pwaldron
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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by pwaldron » Sun Aug 09, 2009 10:14 pm

Jan 16, 2010

I am replacing the story of T J Talty's life posted here on Aug 9, 2009 with the current version.

Many thanks to Sharon Carberry for the latest new leads.

=======================================================================

T J Talty gave his name to the so-called Talty Millions case of the 1920s and 1930s. He died intestate, leaving estate actually valued at only $239,000, excluding real estate estimated to be value for $50,000. This estate was distributed between first cousins and descendants of predeceased first cousins on both the Talty and McNamara sides (various lawyers also taking their cut of the action).

T J Talty's first name was probably originally Timothy or Thady after his father. He may have been among the many Irish emigrants to change his name to something less Irish-sounding. His first name later appears somewhere as Thadeus. Newspaper articles in 1906 and 1907 call him Theodore. His death certificate gives his FULL NAME as just `T. J. Talty'. The J probably stood for John, as the Chicago Daily Tribune of 28 Sep 1909 calls him John Talty.

BIRTH: On his death certificate, his age is estimated to be "about 65", with the date of birth marked `unknown'. The BIRTHPLACE is `Ireland'. Father's name is Timothy Talty, the cert only asks for maiden name of mother, McNamara. An obituary (see below) gives his age at death as 67.

MARRIAGE: T J Talty's death certificate lists him as single, but the `HUSBAND of' field is also completed, with the word `unknown'.

On his death certificate, T J's occupation is listed as `Hotel Keeper'. This confirms that he is the Theodore J Talty whose career as a hotel manager and proprietor is mentioned in numerous sources.

An 1890/91 Chattanooga TN directory [an Ancestry.com database] lists: T.J. Talty steward, Lookout Inn. This was around the time that his first cousin Peter Talty married Ida Mae Frawley in Chattanooga.

One document in the Talty Millions case refers to `the Estate of T.J.Talty, formerly of Chicago, Illinois, who died intestate in Dade County, Florida, April 1, 1926'. Other sources (see below) confirm that T J Talty was at various times, including before 1896, manager of the Auditorium Hotel in Chicago.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditorium_Building, the Auditorium Hotel was part of the Auditorium Building at the northwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Congress Parkway and is now part of Roosevelt University. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1975. When completed, it was the tallest building in the city and largest building in the United States. The 400-room hotel was an 1890 addition to the building.

T. J. Talty was also connected, according to the San Francisco Call of 28 Nov 1904, with the "Palmer House of New York." [sic] According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_House, the Palmer House is also one of the leading hotels in Chicago. It first opened in 1871.

T. J. Talty's sister Anna was married in Chicago in 1893. Whether her brother was still in Chicago at the time of her wedding is not yet certain.

As one writer notes `In 1890 [sic, recte 1895] the Raleigh Hotel opened its doors at the corner of 12th Street and Pennsylvania [in Washington, D.C.]. T. J. Talty, the former manager of enormous Chicago hotels, came to the capital to make an international reputation as an innkeeper. Talty's efficient direction helps to explain the decision to more than double the number of Raleigh bedrooms to 300 within two years of the hotel's opening.' (See `The Development of the Business Sector in Washington, D. C., 1800-1973' by Walter F. McArdle, published in the Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. 49, The 49th separately bound book (1973/1974), pp. 556-594; Published by: Historical Society of Washington, D.C.; Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40067757 ).

There is an advertisement in the 1896 edition of The Standard Guide: St. Augustine, East Coast, Indian River and Lake Worth by Charles Bingham Reynolds (1856-1940) reading:
THE RALEIGH
PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE AND TWELFTH STREET
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Opened January 1, 1895. European plan. For ladies and gentlemen. Most central location in the city.
Entire Construction Absolutely Fireproof.
Every floor lighted by electricity and heated by steam. Complete equipment of public and private baths. Elegant café, ladies' restaurant, private dining and banquet rooms. Handsomely finished and furnished throughout.

Rates for rooms $1 per day upwards.
T. J. TALTY, Manager, late of the Auditorium Hotel, Chicago

T J Talty's name appears also in similar advertisements which appeared in Rand, McNally & co.'s Handy guide to Washington and the District of Columbia (1899) and Rand, McNally & co.'s Pictorial guide to Washington and environs (1901). The items below suggest that T J Talty remained at the Raleigh until some time in late 1908 or 1909.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle regularly carried advertisements like the following between 1897 and 1903:
THE RALEIGH
PENNSYLVANIA AV. CORNER TWELFTH ST.
N. W., WASHINGTON, D.C.
EUROPEAN PLAN, ABSOLUTELY FIREPROOF
THE MODERN HOTEL OF THE CITY
T. J. TALTY Manager

For a full history of the Raleigh Hotel, see http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=2937: The Raleigh Hotel got its start in 1893 when the Shepherd Centennial Building on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street, NW, was converted from commercial use into the hotel by Washington architect Leon E. Dessez. The hotel expanded quickly. In 1897 three additional floors were added ...

The Washington Weekly Post of 20 Jun 1899 (p.4) reported: `Work on the Raleigh Hotel is being pushed steadily and Manager Talty hopes to have the new building ready for use by early autumn. Three floors of the stately structure on Twelfth street, which completely overshadows the old part of the Raleigh, are now being utilized. The completed building will give to the National Capital a modern hostelry in all that the term implies. The patronage of this house has been heavy from the day of its opening, and it has often been unable to accommodate all who intended to become guests, so that the erection of the new building became a necessity.'

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=2937 continues: By 1911, the original building was considered too dated and razed ... One of the factors that made the Raleigh such a success was its manager, [Talty's successor] Curt C. Schiffeler, who managed to create a warm and informal atmosphere that pleased the guests. Schiffeler remained at the Raleigh until he retired in 1954.

The year 1900 marked the centenary of the removal of the seat of government to Washington, D.C. In 1901, the Government Printing Office published a report on the centennial celebrations, entitled "1800-1900. Celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the seat of government in the District of Columbia." Pp.145-7 list the members of an enormous Committee on Parade and Decoration, which included `Talty, T.J.'.

The Sunday Globe of 2 Mar 1902 reported on its front page on an outbreak of smallpox at the Raleigh Hotel, under the subhead:
`The Qualified Denials of the Health Officer and Manager of the Hotel Do Not Satisfy the ``Globe,'' As Its Information Is Direct and Specific.'

The article noted:
`Early in the week the GLOBE, on the look out for the appearance of the contagion in unexpected places, was informed by a reliable person connected with the Raleigh Hotel that fifteen cases were removed from that hostelry, and that in every case the person removed had developed symptoms of smallpox ... That a panic in the hotel had not resulted was due to the masterful discipline of Manager Talty.
Thursday we sent a GLOBE representative to interview the manager and this is what Mr. Talty said:
``I deny in toto the statement that fifteen persons were removed from this hotel showing symptoms of smallpox. I admit that two persons who left here subsequently developed the disease and I had sent away all those who came in contact with them. I refer you to Dr. Woodward, the Health Officer, who investigated the matter. We have nobody in this house now under suspicion of being affected nor has any person developed the disease while a guest or employe [sic] of the hotel.''
In fairness to the hotel management, the GLOBE gives Manager Talty's statement and supplements the same with Dr. Woodward's corroboration, which is substantially that of Manager Talty's.

T J Talty got a brief mention in a 1940 novel called `In The Money' by William Carlos Williams, published by New Directions. One of the novel's characters, Joe, wrote to another, Gurlie, from the Raleigh Hotel. As Gurlie perused the envelope before opening it, she thought to herself: `European plan. Absolutely fireproof. That must mean it isn't really. T. J. Talty, Manager. What kind of name is that? Sounds French.'

`Washington, D.C., it read at the top of the letter, August 25, 1903, Joe had filled in the 3.'

On 28 Nov 1904, the following appeared in the San Francisco Call newspaper (see http://www.ourlibrary.ca/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=669):

ST. FRANCIS DIRECTORS SELECT NEW MANAGER
T. J. Talty of the Raleigh Hotel of
Washington Agrees to Accept
the Position.
The directors of the St. Francis
Hotel are said to have finally selected
a new manager in the person of T. J.
Talty of Washington. He will, unless
the present arrangements fall through,
assume charge of the new hostelry on
the first day of the coming year.
Talty has been managing the Hotel
Raleigh of Washington for several
years and was previously connected
with the Palmer House of New York.
He recently came to San Francisco,
registered at the St. Francis under the
assumed name of J. G. Wilson and
spent several days looking over the
hotel and conferring with the directors.
He left three days ago for Washington
with the understanding that he would
resign his position there in time to
enter on his new duties here on Jan-
uary 1.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis_Hotel, the St. Francis Hotel had opened on 21 Mar 1904. After the San Francisco Earthquake of 18 Apr 1906, the hotel manager, James Woods, wearing his bathrobe, tried to calm the guests. The earthquake did not cause major structural damage to the hotel, but the subsequent fire gutted the hotel.

So it appears that Talty's San Francisco appointment had fallen through, Woods was appointed in his place, and Talty certainly remained for several more years at the Raleigh.

The Alaska State Library Historical Collections (PO Box 110571, Juneau AK 99811-0571) have James A. Wickersham's diary, December 4, 1905 to June 22, 1906, in which T J Talty is mentioned several times. During this period, Wickersham was in Washington seeking confirmation in some judicial office. On 16 Mar 1906, Wickersham wrote:
`Talty, the
Raleigh Hotel Manager, also is
interested – he invited Mr. Micou
to lunch with me, and got us acquain
=ted. Micou is son in law, and
law partner with Ex. Sec. of Navy
Herbert, from Alabama, and I
am to meet him in the morning
- he is supposed to have great influ
=ence with Senator Pettus.'
On 21 Mar 1906:
`Pettus told Ex. Sec. of Navy
Herbert – that he was against
me – but that I would be confirm
=ed, and also told my friend
E. B. Smith, of the Post, the
same. Major Richardson
& Talty, Mgr. of the Raleigh Hotel
are now at work also.'
24 Mar 1906:
`Was invited to dinner with
Dr. Whitehead and the gentlemen
interested in his Alaska banks,
but on yesterday I invited Major
Richardson to dinner with me,
so declined. Talty dines with us.
Very quiet but enjoyable dinner with
Talty & Richardson – Talty was
drunk to start in on – so the Major
and I were so chagrined with his
antics that we refrained from getting
full.'
18 Apr 1906:
`Talty,
Mgr. Raleigh Hotel told me today
that Col. Boynton, Mgr. Assoc. Press,
had talk with President Tuesday & the
Pres. told him that he was anxious to
see me confirmed & spoke highly about
me, but said that he could not control
the situation in the Senate, &c.'

Many newspapers reported on the shooting of Arthur Brown, ex-U.S. Senator for Utah, by Mrs. Anna M. Bradley of Salt Lake City in a room at the Raleigh Hotel on the afternoon of Saturday, 8 Dec 1906, and on the subsequent events.

The New York Times of Sunday, 9 Dec 1906 reported that a `floor maid heard two shots in Mr. Brown's apartment. She immediately notified the office, and Theodore J. Talty, manager of the hotel, hurried to investigate.' The victim died from his wounds on 12 Dec (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Brown_(Utah) ).

The Ohio Plain-Dealer of 9 Dec 1906 reported that `Manager Theodore J. Talty of the Raleigh was notified of the shooting within two or three minutes after it occured. He hurried to Senator Brown's room to ascertain the facts. He found Senator Brown, fully dressed, lying on the floor in the center of the room. Mrs. Bradley was standing near the dresser. She was attired in street costume, including her hat. One of her hands was gloved, the glove having been removed from the other.
Senator Brown, as Mr. Talty stooped over him to enquire what the matter was, feebly indicated Mrs. Bradley and remarked, calmly, ``She shot me.'' '

The Duluth News-Tribune of 9 Dec 1906 reported that that `Manager Theodore J. Talty of the Raleigh was notified of the shooting within two or three minutes after it occured. He hurried to Senator Brown's room. He found Brown, fully dressed, lying on the floor. Mrs. Bradley was standing near the dresser. She was attired in street costume.
Senator Brown, as Mr. Talty stooped over him to enquire what the matter was, feebly indicated Mrs. Bradley and calmly remarked: ``She shot me.'' A hurried examination of the wounded man was made by Mr. Talty. On opening his coat and waistcoat he discovered that a bullet had penetrated his abdomen. He sent for some brandy and poured it down Senator Brown's throat. The wounded man was growing rapidly weaker and Mr. Talty directed a servant to summon the Emergency hospital ambulance.
Senator Brown retained consciousness and was perfectly calm and collected. He made no statement to Mr. Talty beyond the one indicated that he had been shot by Mrs. Bradley.
The woman continued in the room while Mr. Talty was attending Senator Brown, but offered no assistance. Finally Mr. Talty ordered her to leave the room. She declined.
``I will remain here,'' said she. ``I am the mother of his two children.'' Mr. Talty was too busy administering to Senator Brown to attempt to enforce his order, but in glancing about the room he discovered a revolver lying on the bureau. He put it into his pocket and later turned it over to the police.
The hospital ambulance presently arrived and the wounded man was hurried to the hospital. An officer then arrested Mrs. Bradley. She made no resistance and refused to admit having shot Senator Brown, referring all those who enquired to Senator Sutherland of Utah.
``Senator Brown has been a guest at the Raleigh since the fifth,'' said Manager Talty, ``having come here to argue a case before the United States supreme court. The case was expected to be called for hearing next Monday. Mrs Bradley arrived here today, just before noon. She came to the hotel direct from the train. She registered as `A.B.Brown' and was assigned a room in the usual way. So far as I am aware she made no inquiry about Senator Brown and no one about the hotel knew that they even were acquainted with each other. How she found his room, which merely happened to be on the same floor as her own, although the two apartments were some distance removed from each other, I do not know. Only Senator Brown and Mrs. Bradley know anything of their meeting and, to me, at least, neither of them vouchsafed the slightest explanation.'' '

The Philadelphia Inquirer of 9 Dec 1906 had a very similar account.

The Maryland Sun of 14 Dec 1906 reported on an inquest held over Senator Brown's body. At the inquest, ``Theodore J. Talty, manager of the Raleigh Hotel, was called and identified Mrs. Bradley as the woman he found in Senator Brown's room. Manager Talty said he was told that someone had committed suicide on the second floor. He immediately went up and entered the room. The first question he asked was:
``Who did the shooting?'' to which Brown replied:
``She did,'' pointing to Mrs. Bradley. He then turned to her and asked her if she was his wife, which she answered in the negative, adding after a slight pause:
``But I am the mother of his two children.''
When Mrs. Bradley said she was not his wife, Mr. Talty said he ordered her out of the room, but when she said she was the mother of his two children she appealed to him, and he said nothing further about her leaving. Mr. Talty remained in the room until the arrival of the surgeons.''

The Maryland Sun of 23 Jan 1907 reported that the case was taken up by the grand jury the previous day, and that witnesses summoned included Theodore J. Talty of the Raleigh Hotel.

T J Talty was also a witness at Mrs Bradley's trial. The New York Times of Friday 15 Nov 1907 reported that the previous day `Manager T. J. Talty of the hotel repeated his oft-told story of the killing of Mr. Brown. He said that when he entered the room Mrs. Bradley stood by the side of the prostrate form of the man.
``Who did this?'' he asked of Brown, and the latter replied: ``That woman over there,'' pointing to Mrs. Bradley.
``Is she your wife?'' asked Manager Talty, and Brown replied in the negative. He then directed Mrs. Bradley to leave the room, whereupon she protested, declaring that she was ``the mother of Brown's two children.'' ``Mr. Brown did not deny this charge,'' the witness continued, ``and I allowed her to remain.'' He had asked Mr. Brown if he had any message that he desired to have him send to any one, and the latter expressed a desire that his law partner, Mr. Gunn, be summoned.
``Who shall I say did the shooting?'' he had asked of Brown, and the latter replied: ``Just tell him that Mrs. Bradley did it, and he'll know; all the people out there know; she has given me trouble all my life.''

The Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922); Nov 15, 1907; pg. 7 also named T. J. Talty in its report of the Bradley trial (BRADLEY TRIAL UNDER WAY).

The New York Times of 4 Dec 1907 reported that at 1:20am the previous morning the jury had rendered a verdict of `not guilty' in the case of Mrs. Bradley after a three-week trial.

The Washington Times of 12 Dec 1908 reported the arrest of five employes [sic] of the Raleigh Hotel on charges of conspiracy to defraud the hotel: `For several months, it is said, Theodore J. Talty, the manager, has known that the full amount of money that should have been taken in for drinks every day had not been accounted for. On days when business was known to have been unusually heavy there was not a corresponding increase in the cash, it is said.

Hotel detectives, aa well as private detectives, were put to work on the case, but evidence that would warrant taking any action could not be obtained. Finally Mr Talty appealed to the police and Howlett and Pratt were assigned to the case.'

According to http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/PD ... roeder.pdf, John Christian Schroeder ``conducted the Raleigh Hotel orchestra during the years T.J. Talty was manager of the hotel.'' Schroeder died in 1927 aged 66 and had retired about 10 years earlier.

On 28 Sep 1909, the Chicago Daily Tribune reported that the Congress Hotel company's lease on the Auditorium hotel was due to expire at midnight the following Thursday. Among those under consideration for the position of manager was `John [sic] Talty, formerly manager of the Raleigh hotel of Washington.' So it appears that T. J. Talty had by this time left the Raleigh.

T. J. Talty did indeed return to his previous place of employment at the Auditorium Hotel in Chicago. Between 10 Nov 1909 and 30 Nov 1910, the Chicago Tribune carried advertisements for The Auditorium Hotel:

`THE AUDITORIUM HOTEL
MICHIGAN BLVD. AND CONGRESS STREET CHICAGO
For twenty years the leading hotel of the city,
will be carefully maintained in that Leading
Position by its
NEW MANAGEMENT
which went into effect Oct. 1, 1909. Upwards
of $[?]300,000 will be expended for improvements,
new plumbing, decorations and furniture, which
will be introduced in such a manner as to cause
NO INTERRUPTION TO BUSINESS
T. J. TALTY, Manager'

Thus, he should be found in Chicago for the 1910 census. The Auditorium Hotel appears to have been in District 141 of Ward 1 in Chicago for that census.

T. J. Talty did not remain long at the Auditorium, or in his next position. The Chicago Daily Tribune of 26 Feb 1911 (p.3) reported that `T. J. Talty, assistant manager and steward of the Congress hotel, has resigned.' He was replaced as first assistant manager by Paul Gores and as steward by Edward Benish of New York. The Congress Hotel and Auditorium Hotel appear to be just around the corner from each other.

The items below show that some time between 1911 and 1920 (see below), T. J. Talty left Chicago again, and became proprietor of the Alba Court Inn in New Smyrna Beach in Florida. Some time around 1918 to 1920 he came to live in the newly-constructed city of Coral Gables, Florida.

Coral Gables was developed by George Edgar Merrick during the Florida land boom of the 1920s (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Gables,_Florida). T J Talty may have been involved in that boom.

In December 1922, the Miami Herald Record in its Business and Hotel Directory of the East Coast of Florida carried regular advertisements for

`Alba Court Inn
BOTH PLANS
OPEN ALL THE YEAR
REFINED - COMFORTABLE
RATES REASONABLE
WASHINGTON ST. & FAULKNER ST.
T. J. TALTY, PROP.'

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Winter Resort Directory, 1923-24 gives a more detailed description. The Alba Court Inn was one of four establishments in New Smyrna Beach in this directory. It accomodated 75 guests, was half a mile from the local (railway?) depot, was near water, the proprietor was T J Talty and the season ran from November to March.

T J Talty's sister, Mrs Anna Teresa Webber, was living with him at the Alba Court Inn when she died in 1924.

At http://fulltextt10.fcla.edu/DLData/SN/S ... file24.pdf is a directory of New Smyrna (an incorporated city in Volusia county) from Polk's Florida Gazetteer and Business Directory 1925 in which the first entry is: `Alba Court Inn T J Talty prop hotel'

http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/rapid ... each/plann ewsmyrna.html says that the Alba Court Inn, a 26-room hotel, `was built in 1906 by James and Clyde Pennell. The three-story lobby provided cross-ventilation to the guest rooms. Steam heat and gas were supplemented by in-room plumbing added in 1917.'
The hotel address is 114 or 115 Washington Street.
`Maine cottages: Fred L. Savage and the architecture of Mount Desert' by John Morrill Bryan, Fred L. Savage, Richard Cheek (House & Home, 2005) says that by 1911 Herman Savage, brother of Fred, owned the Alba Court Hotel. Thus Talty must have acquired it after 1911 - possibly around the time of the 1917 improvements.

According to http://www.myhometownnews.net/index.php?id=32623, the Alba Court Inn, built in 1906, was demolished Abt 19 Oct 2007.

T J Talty owned Capital Stock in the Dade County Security Company, a Florida corporation, of the aggregate par value of $40,164.55. For the history of that company, see http://www.historicpreservationmiami.co ... 20bldg.pdf : "First organized in 1901, the Dade County Security Company was one of the most important financial institutions in the County by 1920, and was the largest building and loan society in Florida. The company moved to its NE 1st Avenue location in 1923, retrofitting an existing building to meet its needs. [Soon] finding its existing building too small, [it] embarked on the construction of a new building, which was completed in 1926."

By the time of his death in 1926, according to his death certificate, T J Talty was living at 1036 Obispo Avenue, Coral Gables, FL, USA, and had been living at that address for a number of years - possibly 6 or 8 years, although the numeral is difficult to read, and Coral Gables was only beginning to be developed at the time of T J's death. Thus Talty must have moved to Florida in 1920 or earlier.

DEATH: See Vol. 290, No. 6290. Date of death is 1 April 1926. The informant was his maternal first cousin `James McNamara, New York City.'

BURIAL: He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery. This was presumably the cemetery now known as Woodlawn Park North which opened in 1913 and is described on its website at http://www.caballeroriverowoodlawn.com/ ... ility.html as being located within the city of Miami, and just minutes away from Coral Gables. The cemetery is at 3260 South West 8 Street, Miami, FL 33135.

OBITUARY:
Hotel monthly, Volume 34 - Page 57 author/publisher: John Willy, 1926 [courtesy of Sharon Carberry]:
TJ Talty died last month at his home in Coral Gables. Florida, aged 67years. Mr. Talty was for 30 years a prominent hotel executive...He was manager for years of the Raleigh in Washington and the Auditorium in Chicago.

The Talty estate was administered by the afore-mentioned James McNamara, who employed as solicitor Mr Paul C Taylor, attorney-at-law, 506/9 Congress Building, Congress, FL.
The Irish next-of-kin (first cousins), through their solicitor in Ireland, empowered Mr John J Dwyer, 40 Wall St, NY, NY to represent them in the proceedings.
A distribution of portion of the assets took place in 1927, each of the Irish beneficiaries receiving thru Mr Dwyer approx $1000. At the same time the USA next-of-kin received a sum of $2107 from Mr Taylor as a first disbursement. Repeated attempts were made without success to get Mr Dwyer to complete the distribution and to furnish an account of the same.
In 1932, the Irish claimants communicated with the Irish Free State Consul General at NY, who replied on 27 Jul 1932 suggesting that Mr James Gilvarry, attorney, 261 Court St, Brooklyn, NY might help.
Mr Gilvarry was then given power-of-attorney to act for the Irish claimants, but although protracted correspondence then took place no further distribution was effected, nor could any information be obtained as to the details of the distribution made in 1927, or as to the present position of the estate.
On 13 Jan 1933, the Irish Free State Consul General wrote that distribution of the estate had still not been completed.
Nothing further was heard until Aug 1937, when a letter came from Mr Taylor, Ingraham Building, Miami, FL, intimating that further estate the property of the deceased had been located in TX in the form of land, and asking for power-of-attorney to him and Mr W F Johnston of Harris County, TX to deal with the matter. No indication is given as to the value of the TX land but the form of power-of-attorney which Mr Taylor enclosed provided for payment to him and Mr Johnston for their services in disposing of the property on a 50% basis.
The Irish claimants would have been glad to know what means there were of compelling Mr Dwyer to furnish an account of the distribution to date and to complete the distribution, and whether there was any practicable alternative to entrusting Mr Taylor with the disposal of the new assets.

The date of death is a month later at pilot.familysearch.org than in all other sources:

Name: T J Talty
Titles:
Titles & Terms - Prefix(standardized):
Death date: 01 May 1926
Death place: Coral Gables, Dade, Florida
Gender: Male
Race or color (on document): White
Race or color (expanded): White
Age at death: about 65y
Estimated birth year: 1861
Birth date:
Birthplace: Ireland
Marital status: Single
Spouse's name:
Spouse's titles:
Spouse's Titles & Terms - Prefix(standardized):
Father's name: Timothey Talty
Father's titles:
Father's Titles & Terms - Prefix(standardized):
Father's birthplace: Ireland
Mother's name: Mc Namara
Mother's titles:
Mother's Titles & Terms - Prefix(standardized):
Mother's birthplace: Ireland
Occupation: Hotel Keeper
Street address: 1036 Obispo Ave
Residence: Coral Gables, Dade, Florida
Cemetery name: Woodlawn
Burial place:
Burial date: 05 May 1926
Funeral home:
Informant's name:
Additional relatives: X
Film number: 2116644
Reference number: 6290
Collection: Florida Deaths, 1877-1939

pwaldron
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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by pwaldron » Sun Feb 21, 2010 12:56 am

Since last Tuesday, I have had on loan the very voluminous file on the Talty Millions case which built up in the office of Michael Killeen and Co., solicitors, in Kilrush. I have learned an awful lot of fascinating new information from a quick skim through this file, which is surely one of my greatest finds in about 34 years of researching family history.

---

Relations between the Irish heirs and their legal representatives Michael Killeen, solicitor, Kilrush; his successor Michael J. McMahon (who took over the practice when Killeen became County Registrar); and their New York agent John J. Dwyer attorney-at-law gradually deteriorated as years passed and little money was distributed. My greatgrandfather John McNamara was described as the senior heir on the McNamara side and also by far the best informed about the family history. His son-in-law, Gerald Burns, later a Fianna Fail county councillor, became the representative of the heirs and wrote a long series of letters asking for the legal file to be handed over by the lawyers to the family. That clearly eventually happened. The file has been in the attic of the present McNamara home since it was built in the early 1960s and had probably been in the attic of the previous McNamara home for many years before then.

---

The dissatisfaction of the Irish heirs arose after a visit to Ireland by one of the Texas heirs which made it clear that those in Texas had received around twice as large a proportion of their entitlements as their Irish counterparts.

---

One of the potential heirs, Michael McNamara (son of John McNamara and Bridget Downs) had been murdered on 29 Sep 1898. I was aware of this incident but had previously been unable to confirm the victim's pedigree as there are so many McNamaras in Craggaknock. The Clare Advertiser of September 1998 reported on a `faction fight at Cragnock' [sic] 100 years earlier:

`Craggaknock near Kilrush was the scene of what was described as "a desperate riot between the Egan and McNamara factions". The two groups of young farming men were returning from a race meeting when they encountered each other, fighting broke out and Michael McNamara received severe injuries from stones and rocks thrown at him. The following day Martin Egan, the alleged ringleader of the Egan `faction', was arrested following a constabulary investigation wihch showed a long standing dispute between the Egans and the McNamaras.'

The Clare Champion of 13 Nov 1998 reported on this faction fight in greater detail in its 100 Years Ago column. The fighting broke out at Craggaknock on a Tuesday evening among a group returning home from the Miltown Malbay races. `MacNamara, a married man of about thirty five, and the father of eight children, was so seriously injured by the blow of a stone on the side of the head, that he died next day [Wednesday].' An inquest returned a verdict that "the deceased died from injuries sustained by a blow of a stone inflicted by Martin Egan."

Under Florida law, the victim's children shared his portion of the Talty estate.

---

T J Talty's sister, Mrs Anna Webber, had returned to Ireland on one or more visits to her Talty and McNamara cousins. She appears in the Ellis Island records at http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipM ... 4537050029
In April 1910, Anna T. Webber, aged 60, was returning to `The Cairo, Washington'. Unfortunately, none of the other columns on the ship's manifest are filled in.
T J and Anna corresponded regularly with both their McNamara and Talty cousins.

---

News of T J Talty's death and of the absence of a will reached Ireland very quickly. Within a short time of his death, one of the heirs, Thomas J Talty, who had lived for some years in the U.S., was on the boat to America to attend to the estate. His tour of the U.S. also included a visit to his son in Chicago and a long stay in Chattanooga, TN.

An 1890/91 Chattanooga TN directory [an Ancestry.com database] lists: T.J. Talty steward, Lookout Inn. This was around the time that Peter Talty married Ida Mae Frawley in Chattanooga. I am now wondering whether T J Talty of the Lookout Inn was not more likely to be Peter's brother Thomas J (who returned to live in Ireland) than his first cousin Thaddeus J (who died in Florida).

---

Anyone in Clare related to T J Talty showed up looking for a share of the funds. Thus there are papers on the file relating to second cousins of the deceased who had no valid claim on the estate. These will enable me to go back a generation further than before on the Cunningham and possibly also the McNamara side.

---

T J spent some time in Cincinnati before his first period in Chicago (but I did not spot any mention that he had been in Chattanooga).

---

T J's parents had a business in Miltown Malbay as well as a farm about three miles out the country in Knockanalban before they emigrated. Some of their children were baptised in Miltown Malbay (Kilfarboy parish) and others in Mullagh (Kilmurry Ibrickane parish). This seems to confirm that the entries in Griffith's Valuation for Timothy Talty in Miltown and Knockanalban both refer to the same individual. It also seems to refute the `parallel family' theory - that there were two Timothy Taltys both married to different women named Margaret McNamara. Thus it seems to confirm that the wrong heirs got what money was not pocketed by the lawyers and that the estate should have gone to the descendants of the deceased's apparent sister Mary Talty mentioned in a query over at http://genforum.genealogy.com/ireland/c ... s/683.html
According to a marriage certificate sent to me by an Australian descendant, that Mary Talty (b. Miltown Malbay, Clare; dau. of Timothy Talty Storekeeper and Margaret McNamara, aged 22) married Donald McKaskill at Sandhurst, Bendigo, Victoria, on 16 Jan 1868.

---

T J Talty had been buying and selling properties in Florida. Many of the purchasers got mortgages not from a bank but from the vendor. Thus, much of the Talty estate was accounted for by these mortgages. The 1929 Crash caused Florida property prices to collapse, many of the purchasers were left in a position of negative equity and were unable to service their mortgages, and thus the estate foreclosed on the mortgages and the administrator was left holding many properties which he was unable or unwilling to sell at vastly reduced values. Eighty years later here in Ireland, the state of the property market is not very different! The rightful heirs in Australia may still be able to establish title to some abandoned Florida properties.

---

Michael J McMahon, the young solicitor who later took over the Killeen practice, was appointed to hold a Commission, lasting four days (for which he was paid 5 guineas a day), to enquire into the pedigree, take evidence from relatives and elderly neighbours, and establish the identities of all the heirs. The absence of civil and church records was a serious impediment to proving relationships and sworn evidence from people who knew the family had to be relied upon in many cases. I myself met Michael McMahon when he was still in practice in Kilrush in the 1970s.

---

There is much much more in the file and I am looking forward to more discoveries during the months of careful study now awaiting me, both in this file and in a backlog of other finds sent to me offline by Sharon Carberry!

\pw
Last edited by pwaldron on Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by pwaldron » Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:12 am

There is a legal notice listing the Talty heirs and properties in the Miami Daily News and Metropolis of Saturday, 23 Apr 1927, at
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5A ... 5%2C915341

Note that the wives of the married heirs are all named `Jane' if the court officials did not know their real names.

\pw

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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by smcarberry » Sun Feb 21, 2010 3:50 pm

Paddy,

Very nice to see your progress. Thanks for sharing. It is a wonder that T.J. appears in so many newspaper items but cannot be found in any census as yet. I have to think that is because he himself did not complete a census form nor did he authorize anyone else to do so or to provide details on him to a censustaker. Since he was single and in a position of authority over everyone else in the hotel (where he likely resided during each census year), that might work. But then the same lack of information applies to his sister Mrs. Webber. I will still keep my eyes open for any evidence of him in databases. For census searches, I have been using the misspellings of Tolty, Tafty, Falty, and Tally. The latter spelling is also that of a popular surname in Tennessee, so that tends to yield dozens of false positives. I have even found one instance of a very tired censustaker writing the surname (confirmed via other census records) as Latty.

Great find, that Ellis Island arrival of his sister Anna Webber. I wonder if locating the right cousin James McNamara in New York City would lead to something. From the look of the Miami legal notice on the estate, those cousins certainly relied on their relationship to T.J. I guess you know that in U.S. legal matters there is standard use made of "John Doe" and "Jane Doe" to refer to individuals for whom a full name is not known at the time that a lawsuit is filed. Often an actual name is later provided in a filed amendment of the initial pleading.

Just to round out your reference to your T.J.'s cousin Thomas J. Talty (for the sake of others who may be reading this), here he is in 1900 in Tennessee with an occupation not related to the hotel industry (but maybe T.J. used his contacts to secure a position for his cousin):

1900 TN Hamilton County, Chattanooga
Tally
Thomas J., 39 Ire immigrated 1884 dry goods salesman
Delia M., 35 Ire married 12 yrs, 5 children born
John M., 11 TN
Mary, 9 "
Katherine P., 7 "
Thomas V., 3 "
Hugh, 2 "

As you stated, Thomas returned to Clare and thus appears in the 1911 census:
Miltown Malbay, 54 Main St.
Talty
Thomas, 51, b. Clare, farmer and draper [in the census index, middle initials "P.J." are shown, not on the actual page]
Delia, 46, b. Galway
John, 22, b. America [his line is crossed, followed by the notation "in America"]
May, 31, b. Clare, single [mostly incorrect, per the 1900 census]
Kathleen, 19, b. America
Thomas, 14, b. America
Hugh, 11, b. America
Patrick, 7, b. Clare
Donald 3, b. Clare

In any case, as spring approaches, it is time for me to mosey up to the Chattanooga library and see what resources there may shed light on the T.J. Talty who served as a hotel steward there in 1890. I have never had a reason to stop in Chattanooga although I have passed by it on the interstate highway while traveling north to the great Fort Wayne (Indiana) library.

Sharon Carberry
Last edited by smcarberry on Sun Feb 21, 2010 9:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Austr

Post by pwaldron » Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:52 pm

Hi Sharon

Thanks for all the additional information.

I figured out the 'Jane Doe' convention.

You have probably figured out likewise that 'dry goods' in North America is more or less synonymous with 'drapery' in Europe.

Mrs Webber's absence from the 1910 U.S. census may be accounted for by the fact that she was on a visit to Europe, from where she returned to Ellis Island in April of that year.

I probably have enough material now to justify contacting the Irish descendants of Thomas J Talty. His daughter Kathleen Pauline Talty married Dan Ryan of Kilrush on 9 Oct 1911 in Miltown Malbay. After she died on 13 Apr 1919, leaving two young sons, Dan Ryan remarried to Nora/Norah/Noreen Kennedy. After Dan Ryan died on 5 Sep 1947 during a visit to California, his widow remarried to Timothy Sheehan, her second husband being no less than 39 years younger than her first husband! Timothy was my second cousin once removed (not on the McNamara/Talty side). The Ryans have been a very prominent family in Kilrush town for many years and should be easy to find.

\pw
Last edited by pwaldron on Fri Sep 05, 2014 3:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.

miriam scahill
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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by miriam scahill » Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:23 pm

Hello Sharon and Paddy - that is some research you have both done on the 'Talty Millions.' !!! A Ryan & Sons Ltd. - Flour Millers, were founded in Kilrush in 1869. (Part of the Mills is in apartments.) They were also wholesale grocers. Dan Ryan had two sons - Dan & Noel - (both R.I.P.) - Noel's daughter, Mary, died a few months ago - very said - she was only in her 40's. Dan's son and his family live at Cappa Lodge, Cappa, Kilrush. There are other family members.
On a lighter note - Mr. T J Talty must be smiling down from Heaven as his local parish of Killmurray-Ibrickane football team have reached the All Ireland Club Final after beating Port Laoise last Sunday - with a Talty on the team. I believe this is the first Clare football team to reach an All Ireland Final since 1953. !!
I have sent a submission to Census of 1911 - to change 'Falty' to 'Talty' !! (in Kilrush area).
Miriam.

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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by pwaldron » Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:42 pm

I gave a talk about the Talty Millions case at the seminar run by the Irish Family History Society. I've put an outline of what I said at
http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~pwaldron/ifhs/
The talk was recorded and if the quality proves good enough the recording may soon be available online.

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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Austr

Post by exkilkee » Thu Feb 03, 2011 1:09 pm

As someone born in Clare with the name Timothy I can give some comment on the variations of this name. Tim and Timmy are truncated English versions.
The Irish (Gaelic) version is Tadgh
The Latin is Thaddeus.
These give a truncated rendering of Thady.
This sounds very similar to Teddy as in short for Theodore and Edward.
As a result of all of this individuals with the name of Timothy are known by many different variants of the name. My Great Grandfather Timothy Carmody was called Thady. I am known as Tim, Timmy and Timothy.
I know others with the name of Timothy who are called Tadgh.
When officials are taking down names mistakes are frequent. Some people pronounce Tim as Tum and I end up getting letters addressed to Tom. My gas bill has been like that for years.

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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Austr

Post by pwaldron » Fri Sep 05, 2014 3:47 pm

I just stumbled across this report of the original O'Dea case mentioned by Sharon several years ago:

13 February 1939 - Evening Telegraph - Dundee, Angus, Scotland
Attachments
13February1939EveningTelegraphDundeeAngusScotland.jpg
13February1939EveningTelegraphDundeeAngusScotland.jpg (117.81 KiB) Viewed 54361 times

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Re: Inheritances, bequests by Clare emigrants to U.S., Australia

Post by smcarberry » Sat Oct 01, 2022 9:54 pm

We can now add an image to the singular story of T. J. Talty, a fellow who deliberately avoided providing anything on his personal story, as i learned in an article by a frustrated news reporter of his era. However, due to a new search feature of the U.S. Library of Congress, I havethe photo used for a 15 May 1907 story in a Washington, D.C. newspaper (The Washington Herald), available from the search engine at:
https://news-navigator.labs.loc.gov/search

Apparently I can't copy-and-paste a link to the Talty story, but it can be retrieved using the search engine link above. The image is labelled "T.J Talty of the Raleigh As They Knew Him." Also, I am unable to attach the photo here due to a "status" that my attachment quote has been reached. I don't know how to manage the attachment quota to get back to a status where I can do more attachments. Perhaps some other Forum member can receive the image from me (or from the Library of Congress newspaper database) and will be in a status allowing attachments, in order to display the photo in this thread. T.J. had a great handlebar mustache, well shown in the image.

I will do a second posting with a heading about the new search facility, to alert Forum readers about this new way to find images from a vast collection that otherwise doesn't show up in the usual Chronicling America search engine.

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