My favorite part of family history is discovering fantastic stories. All the rumors, secrets, scandals and scalawags hanging about the tree.
For years, my mother-in-law would entertain us with tales of the "Springer Fortune". A story of hidden treasure passed down through generations. My husband's paternal grandmother, Emma Springer, supposedly shared this "legend" with her children and grandchildren.
When I started researching the family line, my husband constantly asked "have you found the fortune yet?" To appease his curiosity, I did a cursory search. Imagine my surprise when this bit of lore was true! Well, sort of.
I discovered many newspaper articles about the fortune on the Chronicling America newspaper website. It was fun to read about various members of the Springer family coming forward for their piece of the pie.
First up is "The Spirit of Democracy" from Woodsfield, Ohio, dated January 20, 1880. Here were learn about "heirs of the celebrated Charles Christopher Springer estate" making their bid for the fortune. Fun to find the genealogies of claimants listed.
So, maybe there is or at least was a vast fortune. Before linking my husband's line to Charles Christopher Springer, I did a little more newspaper research.
And then we find ...
Interesting to discover others being "told about it by their fathers and grandfathers". Same fashion the tale was shared in our Springer family.
No great bounty was unearthed. Just an interesting bit of family lore. Do you have a tale of fortune and treasure?
Wikipedia has the following entry about the subject:
"The Springer Hoax was a scam starting in the mid 19th century, often using a phony genealogy in various ways to collect money based on the supposed estate of prominent colonialist Carl Christopher/Christoffersson Springer and debts said to be owed to him by various government agencies of Wilmington, Delaware and Stockholm, Sweden. The alleged estate was said to include 1,900 acres of land, 228 acres of which ran though the center of Wilmington, worth up to $150,000,000. Other claims included $100,000,000 deposited in a Stockholm bank."
Further reading about the hoax:
Rootsweb: Springer Hoax
"The fabulous Springer fortune" of Wilmington Delaware from Widener Law Blog, Delaware Library
"Springer Estate" Papers (aka Springer Heir Hoax) from the Springer, Miller & Allied Families Website
"Springer Estate" Papers (aka Springer Heir Hoax) from the Springer, Miller & Allied Families Website
Another example of how great researching old newspapers is. Great story!
ReplyDeleteJenny, thanks for reading the post and leaving a comment. Yes, old newspapers are a treasure. Makes our ancestors come alive in a way research doesn't.
DeleteThat is interesting! You are lucky, I had no grandparents who could share their family stories with me, they passed early. Other family members do not know much about the family relations and affairs, or at least they say so. I do enjoy researching old newspapers, though.
ReplyDeleteAleksandra, thank you for reading the post and leaving a comment. Yes, we are lucky to have this story. Sadly, on my side of the family all the previous generation is gone. So wish I had taken the time to talk to them sooner about our history. And yes, thank goodness for old newspapers!
DeleteA conspiracy hoax! Very cool.
ReplyDeleteKira, thanks for reading the post and leaving a comment. Nothing better than a conspiracy hoax! :)
DeleteA hoax instead of a fortune! Well, at least your family now has quite a tale of family lore, with twists and turns, to pass down.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marian for reading the post and leaving a comment. Yes, even though it was a hoax, great story to pass down.
DeleteWhat a fun and interesting post! Hmmmmm, is it really a hoax, or made out to look like one so as not to lose out on what seems like quite a lot?
ReplyDelete;)
Diane, thanks for reading the post and leaving a comment. It was fun to write this one. I love our take on this possibly not being a hoax. How fun to ponder. :)
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