Henrietta Garrett died in 1930 with $17 million and no will; more than 25,000 people claimed to be her kin, ten went to jail, and three cousins she never met inherited

Henrietta Garrett was a childless widow who lived almost as a hermit in Philadelphia. She died on 16 November 1930 with no will and a residuary estate of about $17 million. If no relative was proved, the money would go to the state. More than 25,000 claims were filed. The Orphans' Court held more than 2,000 hearings with more than 1,000 witnesses, and the transcript filled 390 volumes. In 1937 her body was exhumed at Laurel Hill Cemetery because of a rumour that a will was hidden in the coffin. None was found. The Saturday Evening Post reported in 1948 that claimants had altered church and civil records, forged documents and committed perjury. Ten people had gone to jail and about a dozen were fined. At least three people had been murdered in quarrels over shares, and two had killed themselves. The court found that her only surviving relatives were three first cousins she had never met: Herman Adolph Kretschmar, Howard Sigismund Kretschmar and Johann Peter Christian Schaefer. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected the last rival claim in 1952, and the US Supreme Court declined to hear it. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in 2012 that most of the fortune went in legal fees.