Malcom McNeill

Narrative:

     Malcom McNeill was born on 18 Feb 1796 in Person Co., North Carolina.^7,8,9
     He was probably the male under age 10 listed in the household of his father, Henry McNeill, in the 1800 Federal Census of Hillsborough, Person Co., North Carolina.²⁸ He was probably the male age 10 to 16 listed in the household of his father in the 1810 Federal Census of Person Co., North Carolina.²⁹
     Malcom attended from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1813, studying law, but never practiced.^30,31
     Malcom married first Mary Branch.^10,11,12 She died on 11 May 1816.³²

Moving to Kentucky --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     He moved to Christian Co., Kentucky, one mile south of the Sinking Fork bridge on the road from Hopkinsville to Princeton, in about the same time as his parents, in 1817. He took the oath of citizenship there on 28 Feb 1817.^33,34
     Malcom married second Anna Branch, sister of his first wife, on 29 Jul 1817.^13,14
     He initially purchased land in the Sinking Fork area, northwest of Hopkinsville, the area where his parents and his brother Pryor settled. His first purchase of land there was two parcels, one of 82 acres and a second of 92 acres, purchased 14 Sep 1818 from Henry Hopson Jr. and his wife Sally, for $1,218.³⁵ Malcom purchased with his brother Pryor 277 acres from John C. Underwood and his wife Rebecca on 15 Jan 1819, for $3,324. On 23 Jan 1819 they bought 233 acres from William Hopson for $650. On 17 Feb 1819 Malcom purchased 200 acres from William Fowler for $625.³⁶
     He may have been the male age 26 to 45 listed in the household of his mother, Dorothy McNeill, in the 1820 Federal Census of Hopkinsville, Christian Co., Kentucky, though he was only 24. If so, the female age 16 to 26 could have been his wife, Anna. Malcom was not listed with his brother Pryor, nor is he found in his own household, but several names on several pages are unreadable because of damage so he may have been one of those entries.³⁷
     Anna died before Oct 1820.³⁸
     Malcom married third Martha Rivers, daughter of Capt. Thomas Rivers and Elizabeth Edmunds Jones, on 12 Oct 1820.^15,16,17
     On 7 Jan 1822 Malcom sold to his brother Pryor for $500 his interest in the 233 acres they had purchased together 23 Jan 1819. The same day he sold to Pryor for $1,040 the 82-acre and the 92-acre parcels he had purchased from Henry Hoson Jr. on 14 Sep 1818.³⁹
     On 24 May 1823 Malcom purchased a parcel adjacent to his at sheriff's sale, for $3.31¼. The deed does not specify its size, but the metes and bounds compute to 556 acres.⁴⁰ He purchased a lot in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, at another sheriff's sale on 23 Apr 1824, paying $502.50.⁴¹
     Malcom purchased 92 acres from his brother Pryor on 26 Dec 1824, for $1,218, one of the two parcels Malcom had purchased from Henry Hopson Jr. 14 Sep 1818 then sold to Pryor on 7 Jan 1822. The same day Malcom bought for $650 from his brother the 233 acres they had purchased from William Hopson 23 Jan 1819, which he has also sold to Pryor on 7 Jan 1822.⁴²

Dealing with His Brother's and Father's Estates --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Malcom's older brother John Pryor McNeill left a will dated 9 Sep 1825, in which he left Malcom three-eighths of his estate, and named him one of three executors. His will was proved at the Nov 1825 term in Adams Co., Mississippi. The three executors sold properties in several counties, including the 845-acre Springfield Plantation on the Mississippi River in Adams Co., which they sold to James P. Caldewell on 16 Jan 1826 for $14,010. Malcom purchased that property back from him 5 Dec 1827, for $15,000. He then sold it to his nephew Henry C. McNeill, together with 46 slaves, for $45,000, taking a mortgage to secure payment of $35,000 over a period of seven years. That mortgage was paid off a year early, on 5 Mar 1837. No details have been found about how Malcom's three-eighths share of the estate was paid to him.^43,44
     A 1918 family history, often quoted, says he "purchased property within the city of Natchez, which greatly increased in value." An examination of Adams Co. deed records finds no deeds in his name other than those for his brother's plantation, outside the city.⁴⁵
     Malcom's father died intestate (without a will). His property included a number of slaves and 198 acres of land. Under the law his heirs included five living children, Margaret Burke, Catherine Wormack, Malcom, and John; Joshua Grant, widower of daughter Henrietta; and the children of deceased sons Angus and Alexander. Two of these grandchildren were adults, and three were "infants." Apparently the heirs decided the best way to split their inheritance was to sell the property, but the minors could not legally agree to a sale. An order was obtained from the Circuit Court on 20 Apr 1826 ordering the sale. At the sale at the courthouse 5 Jun 1826 Malcom purchased the land, for $281. He sold that land 11 Feb 1830 to Benjamin Armstrong, for $500.^46,47
     Malcom purchased a 537-acre parcel north west of Hopkinsville on 3 Nov 1827, where he had been living for several years, from Joshua Cates and his wife Eustatia, for $1,500.⁴⁸

Establishing His Homestead Tobacco Plantation --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     In the meantime he purchased two parcels in southern Christian Co., also from Joshua and his wife. There he would establish the plantation where he would live the rest of his life, which he called "Hemphill." The first was a 500-acre parcel purchased on 1 Jun 1827, for $1,500. He purchased the second, 1,071 acres, on 14 Jul 1827, paying $3,120. Most of the rest of his purchases in the county were adjacent to these properties.^49,50,51
     Martha died on 5 Aug 1827.⁵²
     Malcom purchased 200 acres from William Brewin and his wife Christian on 2 Dec 1828 for $500. The parcel laid across the state line, with 141 acres in Christian Co., and 59 acres in Montgomery Co., Tennessee.⁵³ He purchased 152 acres from Philip Ford and his wife Sally in Christian Co. on 5 Mar 1829, for $456.⁵⁴
     By this time his known holdings in Christian Co. totaled over 3,700 acres, for which he had paid just over $13,500, net of his sales.
     Malcom married fourth Elizabeth D. Lynch, daughter of Capt. John Lynch and Anne Terrell, on 29 Nov 1829.^18,19,20
     Malcom appeared on the 1830 Federal Census of Christian Co., Kentucky, with a household consisting of one male age 5 to 10 (son Thomas), one age 10 to 15 (unknown), and two age 30 to 40 (himself and another), two females under age 5 (daughters Elizabeth and Martha), one age 20 to 30 (wife Elizabeth), and one age 40 to 50 (unknown). There were also twenty-six male slaves, ten of them under age 10, and twenty-three female slaves, nine of them under age 10.⁵⁵

Establishing Cotton Plantations in Mississippi --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, signed 27 Sep 1830, sent the Choctaw Indian tribe to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, and opened the northwestern part of Mississippi to settlement by Europeans. Coahoma Co. was established in part of the former Choctaw territory 9 Feb 1836. Malcom and his nephew Hector McNeill were acquiring land in that county as early as 1834, before it was officially formed. It appears their focus was in the western edge of the county, on the Mississippi River, but details are unknown because the deed books have been lost.⁵⁶
     Malcom established the Lake Charles Plantation, in the western part of Coahoma Co., Mississippi, and extending into northwestern Bolivar Co., which was then on the Mississippi River. The river has since changed course. The property, somewhat reduced by changes in the river's course, now fronts on a cutoff section called Desoto Lake.
     The plantation was in operation by 1835, earlier than any deeds that have been found. Deeds have been found for only two purchases by Malcom, obviously later additions to the property. Malcom purchased 489 acres in Coahoma Co. and 320 acres in Bolivar Co. in 1846 for $1,018.28. In 1860 he purchased 160 acres in Bolivar Co., for $1,000. How he acquired the rest is unknown. It may have been part of the early purchases with his nephew Hector, or by other deeds not found.^57,58,59 Malcom gave his son Thomas a parcel of 698 acres from that plantation 22 Dec 1857, leaving over 3,000 acres.⁶⁰
     He also assembled two large blocks of land inland, away from the river. The larger extended for seven miles just west of the present city of Clarksdale, Mississippi, and a smaller one was centered about six miles south of that city. No evidence has been found that he operated plantations on this property. He may have purchased it for speculation, or rented it to others.⁶¹ The number of deeds in which he purchased land that have been found fall far short of the property he is known to have owned. It appears that most of his purchases in Coahoma Co. were directly from the U.S. Government, under the Public Lands Act of 1820, which allowed individuals to purchase public land for $1.25 per acre. Records for the area of his purchases are not readily available, and details of these purchases have not been found.
     A number of deeds have been found in which he purchased land in various locations in Coahoma Co., and a few in Bolivar Co. He sold or gave away parcels not near his other holdings. For example, he disposed of four parcels in the 1850s. He gave his nephew, Prior M. Grant, about 800 acres on 6 Jun 1851. He sold three other parcels, totaling about 2,800 acres, in 1854 through 1857, for a total of $9,075.⁶²
     Malcom apparently sold the Lake Charles Plantation on 17 Jan 1870 to Charles S. Severson of Memphis, in what was called "an exchange of properties" between them. Details of the exchange cannot be learned because it appears the deeds were never recorded in either Mississippi county, nor in Tennessee. Malcom took a mortgage on the Lake Charles Plantation to secure notes totaling $20,000 he was owed, and the trust deed for that was recorded.^63,64 The buyer defaulted on the loans, and the trustee offered the Plantation at public auction on 13 Feb 1875 in Memphis. Malcom purchased the property for $21,602, the outstanding balance, interest, and cost of executing the deed of trust, regaining title to it a week before his death. Since he had not owned it when he wrote his will, title to it passed to his 17 grandchildren under the clause dealing with estate not "willed away."^65,66
     He held, in addition to the Lake Charles Plantation, over 20 square miles, about 13,000 acres, in Coahoma Co. until shortly before his death.^67,68

Consolidating his Kentucky Holdings --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     After a pause of several years, he began again to buy and sell real estate in Christian Co. He sold off his original purchases northwest of Hopkinsville, and made some adjustments to his holding in the southern part of the county.
     Malcom purchased a 30-acre tract, in Christian Co., about three miles west of Hopkinsville and half a mile south of the Saline Road (now Kentucky route 91), on 3 May 1834, from James C. Anderson and his wife Ann, for $510. Linah Mims, a justice of the peace, was then living on the property. The purchase also included the rights of Jewit Miller to his father's estate, which was an adjacent property.⁶⁹ On 6 Oct 1834 Malcom sold the 30 acres, and Jewit Miller's rights to his father's estate, to John Bryan, for $480.⁷⁰
     On 10 Jun 1835 he donated a one-acre parcel at the corner of his Christian Co. plantation for a Methodist Church. He vested title in a trust, with himself as one of the five initial trustees. It seems the gift was something of a formality as the church building had already been built on the property.⁷¹ On 21 Oct 1835 he sold 150 acres to Samuel Hester, for $604. The same day he sold another 150 acres to Samuel White, also for $604.⁷²
     Malcom sold 633 acres in Christian Co., Kentucky, to Dr. Davis Green Tuck on 15 Nov 1835, which Davis where already "in possession and cultivating," for $3,165.⁷³ The same day Malcom sold 200 acres, including 59 acres in Montgomery Co., Tennessee, to George W. Farrar, for $1,500 in Montgomery Co., Tennessee.⁷⁴ On 24 Dec 1835 Malcom sold 135 acres to John I. Harrison, for $540 in Christian Co.⁷⁵
     On 3 May 1837 Malcom sold three parcels totaling 407 acres in Christian Co. to George Henry Duiguid, for $2,442. These were the parcels he and his late brother Pryor had purchased from Henry and William Hopson in 1919.⁷⁶
     Elizabeth died on 18 Dec 1837.^77,78,79
     On 17 Oct 1840 Malcom and Dr. Davis Green Tuck exchanged two parcels in separate transactions. Davis bought a parcel of 44 acres, for $309, while Malcom bought a parcel of 94 acres for $660.⁸⁰
     In his transactions in the 1830's Malcom reduced his Christian Co. acreage by about 1,600 acres, to about 2,200. He received net proceeds of nearly $8,200, which may have been used to finance his purchases in Mississippi and Chicago. No further transactions in the county have been found until 1853.
     Malcom appeared on the 1840 Federal Census of Christian Co., Kentucky, with a household consisting of one male age 20 to 30 (unknown), and two age 40 to 50 (himself and another), one female under age 5 (unknown), and one age 20 to 30 (unknown). There were also twenty male slaves, nine of them under age 10, and twenty-five female slaves, ten of them under age 10.⁸¹
     Malcom married fifth Catherine Boddie, daughter of George Boddie and Lucy Williams, on 4 May 1846.^21,22,23,24
     Malcom and Catherine appeared on the 1850 Federal Census of Christian Co., Kentucky, enumerated 7 Aug 1850, reporting real estate valued at $60,500 and 57 slaves. His son Malcolm, by his fourth wife, was listed as living with them, as was two-year-old Malcolm Caruthers, his grandson, son of his late daughter Elizabeth. He reported an additional 72 slaves on his plantation in Coahoma Co. Alabama.^1,82,83
     Malcom sold 111 acres, known as the "Gibson Tract," in Christian Co., near Lafayette to his neighbor Alexander J. Farrar on 4 Oct 1853, for $1,668.⁸⁴

Investing in Chicago Real Estate --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     A biographical work published in 1896 reported that Malcom made his first investments in Chicago in 1843, at a time when travel there was by buggy or on horseback. This account no doubt came from his living grandson who also appeared in that book. A 1918 family history places the date as 1842, repeating the means of conveyance and adding "at great discomfiture, which make his foresight and determination to invest in Chicago at that early date all the more remarkable." This account was also from family sources, and both discount the fact that river steamers had long before offered travel, if not all the way to that city, at least for the better part of the journey.^85,86
     Malcom's letters to his wife clearly show that his first trip to Chicago to purchase real estate was actually in Oct 1853. He did not travel by horseback though the trip as he described it in letters to his wife does not seem any more pleasant. He had a servant drive him to Hopkinsville, where he got two checks totaling $11,100, presumably for the expected purchases in Chicago. He left at 10:00pm on "the smallest stage crowded and quite disagreeable," arriving in Smithland, Kentucky the next night. The next day there were no boats because of low water in the river, so he took a mail skiff to Paducah, a trip he described as "a leaky skift as we did & sit cramped up for 4 to 6 hours after near sinking and in the water all the time." After taking dinner he boarded the packet steamer Arabia. He spent two nights on a "Small boat with upwards we think of three hundred passengers." He said he "slept on the flour both nights what little I did sleep." He left St. Louis on 18 Oct by steam packet for the 20-mile trip to Alton, Illinois. He then traveled 40 miles by rail to Carlinville, where he visited friends. The next day he took the train to Bloomington, where he "stopped at a very bad house of entertainment, slept very little, eat less." The following day he traveled by train to Chicago.^87,88
     He spent well over a week in Chicago looking at property, and had a hard time deciding what to buy. He mentioned looking at 80 acres a mile from the city limits, but what he actually purchased is unknown. We know he did purchase some property then, as returning two years later he was told it had doubled in value, and he was looking for more.^89,90
     Details of his early investments were lost when all property records were burned in the Great Fire of 1871. What we do know is at his death he owned ten lots in what is today "the Loop," the center of downtown Chicago, all but one of them now occupied by high-rise buildings.⁹¹ He had previously given "certain lot and houses" in Chicago to the children of his daughter Martha. They were presumably in the same area of the city, but no details of those properties have been found.⁹²
     He had become a man of great wealth, described in an 1884 history of Christian and Trigg counties as "perhaps the richest man in the county, with a large estate and many negroes both there and in Mississippi."^93,94

Life Continues in Christian Co. --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Malcom and Catherine appeared on the 1860 Federal Census of Hopkinsville, Christian Co., Kentucky, enumerated 9 Apr 1860, reporting real estate valued at $240,000, and personal estate of $36,000, including 46 slaves in 10 slave houses. His grandson Malcolm Caruthers was listed as living with them.^95,96
     After the death of his son Thomas in 1866, his younger children, Benjamin, William and Rivers came to live with Malcom and Catherine.⁹⁷
     Malcom and Catherine appeared on the 1870 Federal Census of Hopkinsville, Christian Co., Kentucky, enumerated 30 Aug 1870, reporting real estate valued at $29,700 and personal estate of $5,000. His widowed daughter Martha, by his third wife, and her children Elizabeth, Lucie, George, Malcolm, John, Willie and Nicholas were listed as living with them. Also listed were Benjamin, Rivers and William, three of the younger sons of his late son Thomas, and Lula Musgrove, age 20, a school teacher.⁹⁸
     In early 1871 Malcom and Catherine anxiously absorbed the news of the Chicago fire as it trickled in. Before long it became clear that all his properties in the city had burned. This was a financial disaster because by then rents from these properties were their principal source of income. The disruption of the Civil War and loss of slave labor had made it impossible to profitably operate the plantations in Mississippi and Kentucky. Catherine wrote her daughter on 11 Oct 1871 that her husband said "we will have to be as economical as can be as he has no money by, not even enough to get you home." She also reported that he was paying $7,000 in taxes every year on the Mississippi land that was bringing nothing in, in hopes of some day selling it.⁹⁹
     Despite the bleak outlook, Malcom was determined to rebuild his Chicago properties. In mid-May 1872 his agent applied for building permits for nine four-story and basement stone front buildings. The building at 128 and 130 Clark St. was typical. It was described as 40 feet 8 inches front and 80 feet deep, of Italian Renaissance style. The basement and first story was to be arranged for two stores or one large one. There was to be a main entrance in the center of the building for the offices above. A shaft was to provide light to the interior. The facade was to be "enriched with panelled and sunk work, pilasters with neat caps and bases, and heavy belting courses between each story" and a galvanized iron cornice. The others were similar, except some had brownstone or Athens marble fronts.¹⁰⁰

Beginning to Dispose of His Real Estate --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     On 11 Jan 1872 Malcom sold 589 acres on the Mississippi River in Coahoma Co., Mississippi, to Ralph S. Jones, for $9,000.¹⁰¹
     Malcom purchased 35 aces in Christian Co. on 5 Feb 1873, adjacent to his plantation and part of the "old Thacker tract," from William D. Moss, for $717.¹⁰²
     On 1 Oct 1873 Malcom gave two parcels each to seven grandsons, Alexander, Rivers, and William McNeill, and John, Willie, Malcolm, and Nicholas Van Boddie. Each was given one section (about 640 acres) from his main plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi.¹⁰³

A Fourteen-Page Will --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Malcom left a will dated 8 Nov 1873 stating he was of Christian Co., Kentucky, in which he directed that his debts be paid from the rents of his property in Chicago. He directed that his homestead in Christian Co. be divided where an existing east-west fence was, and that 200 acres of the western part of this southern part was to go to his daughter Martha, including the land where her home was. He left the remainder of the southern part to his wife Catherine for her lifetime, then to go Martha and her children. He also left his wife all the household furniture and equipment, half the livestock and farm equipment, and the buggy, and a $1,000 per year annuity for her lifetime from the rents of his Chicago properties. The other half of the livestock and farm equipment was left to Martha so that she and her stepmother could support each other.¹⁰⁴
     He also left Martha, for her lifetime, the rents from five and one half lots in Chicago, after payment of his debts, and a share of the annuity for his widow and the cost of rebuilding houses on his lots which had burned in the great fire of 1871. Four lots had houses, one had a house before the great fire, which are to be rebuilt by him or his executor, and the lot she was given a half interest in was vacant. After her death the rents were to go to her children until the youngest reached the age of 21 when they were to be given title to those properties. But if any of those children have sold their interests the sale will be void and his or her share would go to the others. Martha was also to receive a cotton ware house in Memphis, an 11½ acre lot two miles outside that city, and for her lifetime the dividends that may be paid on his $10,000 investment in the building of the Pacific Hotel in Chicago, which was to go to her children afterwards.¹⁰⁴
     He left to the children of his late son Thomas the northern part of his plantation in Christian Co., and a second 11½ acre lot in Memphis, which the executors could sell, rent or divide as they though proper. He also left them the rents from five and a half lots in Chicago, less a share of the annuity for his widow, payment of his debts, and the cost of rebuilding the houses burned in the great fire of 1871. One lot had a four story house, three had houses before the great fire, which are to be rebuilt by him or his executor, and one and the other half of the lot left to his daughter Martha were vacant. Title to these lots was to be given to the then living children when the youngest, Alexander, reached the age of 21, to sell or divide. But if any child sold his interest before then the sale would be void and his or her share would go to the others. In order to provide his married granddaughter Flora "full and perfect protection" from this clause her interest was to be held in trust by her brother Malcom, apparently in response to her husband's drinking problem and his loss to creditors of an earlier advance of $15,000.^105,104 He also left them 6½ square miles (about 4,160 acres) of land in Coahoma Co., Mississippi. His executors were to sell, rent, or do what they thought best with it in the interests of the children, with any proceeds to be divided equally between them.¹⁰⁴
     He left to Malcolm Caruthers, son of his late daughter Elizabeth, the rents of two adjacent lots in Chicago, less a share of the annuity for his widow, payment of his debts, and the cost of rebuilding of his houses burned in the great 1871 fire. The lots contained a three-story and five story house, rebuilt since the great fire. These lots would be given to him when he reached age 30.¹⁰⁶
     He left personal items, such as his gold watch, gold headed cane, and silver spurs to various grandsons, and specified his books were to be equally divided among his grandchildren, except those purchased from the estate sale of his son Thomas Henry, which were to go to his children.¹⁰⁴
     He appointed as executors John Boddie Crudup, husband of his granddaughter Ellen Meshew McNeill, and his grandsons Malcom M. McNeill and Malcolm Caruthers. He directed them to use the rents of all the Chicago properties to rebuild "houses" on those that had burned in the fire of 1871. His directions were quite specific as to the order in which the properties were to be rebuilt, the size (four or five stories), quality and style of the buildings, to be in keeping with adjacent buildings and designed to be profitably rented. He requested that they keep the Chicago propertied insured by good offices at the rates they find in place when they take charge.¹⁰⁴

Four Codicils to His Will --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     Malcom amended his previous will with a codicil dated 20 Nov 1873, in which he clarified that his debts were to be paid from monies due him or falling due, and if that was not enough to be paid from rents, but that no property need be sold.¹⁰⁷ He made a second codicil, which is undated, in which he left his niece Elizabeth Quait, daughter of his sister Margaret Burke, $100 per year for five years, and if she didn't live that long, the remainder to her daughter Susan Fuqua.¹⁰⁸ He made a third codicil 13 Nov 1874, in which he stated that his niece Elizabeth Quait had died, and cancelled totally the second codicil.¹⁰⁹ He made a fourth codicil 4 Feb 1875, in which he stated again that everything being left to his granddaughter Flora Rivers McNeill or her children was for her separate use free from control or debt of any husband she may have at any time, and again appointing her brother Malcom as trustee of all properties due her or at her death to her children.¹¹⁰
     Malcom died on 21 Feb 1875 in "Hemphill", Kentucky, at age 79.^25,26 He was buried in the Boddie Family Cemetery, Lafayette, Christian Co., Kentucky.²⁷
     His will and codicils were proved in Mar 1875 term of the Christian Co., Kentucky, court.¹¹¹ Newspaper articles later reported that the estate was valued at about one million dollars, mostly in real estate, and the greater part of that in Chicago.¹¹²

Execution of Will Proves Difficult --- Text Stolen from ReigelRidge.com !! ---

     It appears that the executors struggled to rent the Chicago properties, no doubt impacted by the Depression of 1873-1879. They ran "for rent" ads regularly, offering "cheap to a good tenant" in later ads. Some of the same properties were offered for several years.
     No doubt this caused the difficulty they had in rebuilding the burned lots as they had been directed to do by the will. By 1878 they had completed the reconstruction of 122 Lake St. which had been begun by Malcom before his death, and had rebuilt 311, 313, and 315 South Clark St. and made improvements at 201 and 203 South Clark. But 250 and 252 South Clark, 324 South Clark, and the Market St. properties remained vacant.¹¹³
     The provision in his will that the rents from all the Chicago properties, after paying an annuity to his widow, be used to rebuild the buildings on those lots that had burned came into conflict with provisions that granted title to certain lots to grandchildren as they reached specified ages. Grandson Malcolm Caruthers was to receive title to two lots at 224, 226, and 226½ South Clark St. when he reached age 30. When he reached that age in May 1878 he asked the executors to deed him the property, but the other executors said they still needed the rents on it to rebuild other properties as directed in the will. On 23 Sep 1878 he brought suit in Circuit Court to compel them to deed the property to him, claiming it was worth $100,000, and brought annual rents of $2,500.¹¹⁴ On 22 Feb 1879 the judge ruled that the provision granting title took presence.¹¹² The decision was appealed, and the Appellate Court reversed the decree of the Circuit Court. Malcolm Caruthers appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court, which on 3 Feb 1881 reversed the Appellate Court decision, thus affirming the lower court's finding.¹¹³
     On 18 Apr 1881 Malcolm Caruthers again filed suit against the other executors. He stated that he had taken little or no part in administering the estate, and since his first suit in Sep 1878 John Boddie Crudup and Malcom M. McNeill had acted alone as executors. He complained that no accounting had been made of the estate, and questions were likely arise about the education of the children, the erection of buildings, etc., and therefore he asked to be relieved of his position as trustee. No record has been found of the outcome of the suit.¹¹⁵