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Cities

Fortunes tied to a city: the land under Manhattan, New Orleans, Kolkata and Shanghai, the palaces of Rome and Venice, and the heirs who fought over them.

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What do the cities estate cases show?

Documents that appear only after a quarrel or a death invite a forgery trial; Sharon's executors kept the estate by keeping the case in federal court. A power of attorney signed in favour of a spouse put an heiress's fortune under the control of the in-laws who wanted it.

Stories
23
Years
1297 to 2004
Main regions
North America, Europe, East Asia
Legal traditions
Common law, Civil law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in cities, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

The Shooting of Judge Terry - National Police Gazette 1889-08-31: The Shooting of Judge Terry. Scenes in and about the Lathrop, Cal., depot where Marshal Nagle killed the famous hu1885 · San Francisco, California, USASarah Althea Hill produced a marriage contract and a will from San Francisco's richest man, federal judges ruled them forged, and her husband was shot dead attacking a Supreme Court justiceWilliam Sharon was a US senator and the richest man in San Francisco. He owned the Palace Hotel and the Grand Hotel. In 1880 he began an affair with Sarah Althea Hill, paid her $500 a month and gave her a room at the Grand.Cornell Law School, LII and 2 morePontalba Buildings-Jackson Square-New Orleans: Pontalba Building1834 · Mont-l'Évêque, France; New Orleans, Louisiana, USAThe heiress to the land around New Orleans's main square was shot four times by her father-in-law over her fortune, survived, and built the Pontalba BuildingsAndrés Almonester y Rojas, a notary on the Spanish governing council of New Orleans, acquired the land on both sides of the town square in 1777 and helped pay for the Cabildo, St. Louis Cathedral and the Presbytère.louisianastatemuseum.org and 3 moreCollyer Bros Park jeh: Looking northwest from 5th Avenue at en:Collyer brothers Park on a cloudy late afternoon.1947 · 2078 Fifth Avenue, Harlem, New York City, USAThe Collyer brothers died in their inherited Harlem house under more than 100 tons of hoarded goods, and 56 people claimed the estateHerman Collyer, a Manhattan gynecologist, and Susie Collyer, a former opera singer, were first cousins. In 1909 they moved with their sons, Homer and Langley, into a four-storey brownstone at Fifth Avenue and 128th Street.messynessychic.com and 2 moreGriffith J. Griffith: Griffith Jenkins Griffith1919 · Los Angeles, California, USAGriffith J. Griffith gave Los Angeles a 3,015-acre park, shot his wife and went to prison, and used his will to build the Griffith ObservatoryGriffith J. Griffith, a Welsh-born mining expert, bought about 4,000 acres of Rancho Los Feliz in 1882. In 1887 he married Tina Mesmer; her property was transferred to him before the wedding.cdcr.ca.gov and 3 moreMap of New York, marked on the globe1931 · 442 Fifth Avenue, New York City, USAJohn Wendel kept his sisters from marrying to hold the family's Manhattan land together, and more than 2,000 people claimed the last sister's estateJohn Gottlieb Wendel made a fortune in fur and Manhattan land and was an associate and in-law of John Jacob Astor. His son John D. Wendel built a brick house at Fifth Avenue and 39th Street in 1856.Time and 2 moreBerlin, Leipziger Platz mit Warenhaus Wertheim, 1910: Berlin, Leipziger Platz mit Warenhaus Wertheim1939 · Berlin, GermanyThe Wertheims lost Berlin's Leipziger Platz store under Nazi laws, Germany gave the land to Karstadt in 1991, and Karstadt paid €88 million in 2007Abraham and Ida Wertheim opened a shop in Stralsund in 1875, and their sons Georg and Hugo took it over in 1876.jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com and 3 moreCopacabana Palace en 1923: Copacabana Palace en 19232004 · Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilThe heir to the Santos docks fortune spent it all and died on a state pension in the Rio hotel his family built and soldIn the late 1800s Eduardo Guinle won a 90-year concession to build and operate the docks of Santos, which became Brazil's largest port.The Seattle Times and 2 moreSailors' Snug Harbor, Staten Island, New York, Valentine's Manual: Wood engraving of the Sailors' Snug Harbor on Staten Island, New York City1801 · Greenwich Village, Manhattan, and Staten Island, New York CiA sea captain's son willed his Manhattan farm to retired sailors, a Loyalist's son sued as heir to the Supreme Court, and the ground rents housed 1,000 sailorsCaptain Thomas Randall made a fortune seizing prizes at sea; some historians call him a privateer. His son Robert Richard Randall held a farm of about 21 acres in what is now Greenwich Village.Cornell Law School, LII and 3 moreGovernor Pio Pico at age 90: Governor Pio Pico at age 90.1894 · Whittier and Los Angeles, California, USACalifornia's last Mexican governor signed what he said was a mortgage, the courts called it a sale, and he lost his last ranch at 90Pío Pico was the last governor of Mexican Alta California and held ranchos across Southern California.homesteadmuseum.blog and 2 moreMyra Clark Gaines: Myra Clak Gaines1813 · New Orleans, Louisiana, USAMyra Clark Gaines sued for 51 years over her father's lost will and the New Orleans land sold from his estate, and her heirs collected after she diedDaniel Clark, a New Orleans merchant, was the first congressman from the Territory of Orleans. He had a daughter, Myra, with Zulime Carrière, who was married to another man when their affair began.hnoc.org and 3 moreAntilia, Mumbai: Antilia as seen from Dr. Gopalrao Keshav Marg in Mumbai2002 · Altamount Road, Mumbai, IndiaAn orphanage trust sold its Mumbai plot for Antilia in 2002, the waqf board called the sale illegal, and the Bombay High Court dismissed the last challenge in 2025The Currimbhoy Ebrahim Khoja orphanage trust was set up in 1892 to maintain and educate orphaned and poor boys of the Khoja community. It held a plot of about 4,532 square metres on Altamount Road.LiveLaw and 3 moreKam Tin Tree House - 2007-09-30 13h55m08s SN200780: Kam Tin Tree House (An old banyan tree grew bigger and bigger besides the stone house, and after centuries, there're only part o1994 · Yuen Long, New Territories, Hong KongA Yuen Long woman's brother drove her from their father's house, and village women made Hong Kong let daughters inherit New Territories land in 1994In the New Territories, land held by indigenous villagers passed under Chinese custom. When there was no will, only sons inherited family property. Villagers rarely wrote wills, which many saw as a bad omen.varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk and 2 moreNicolas Flamel: Nicolas Flamel Histoire critique1418 · Paris, FranceNicolas Flamel left his property to his Paris parish church, a 1612 book made him an alchemist, and treasure hunters ransacked his house for goldNicolas Flamel, born near Pontoise around 1330 to 1340, worked in Paris as a public scribe near the church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, drafting contracts and letters.universalis.fr and 3 moreSilas Aaron Hardoon: Silas Aaron Hardoon, 哈同 (1851 ~ 1931-06-19)1931 · Shanghai, ChinaShanghai's richest landlord left everything to his Eurasian Buddhist widow, his Iraqi relatives sued, and the People's Republic closed the case in 1957Silas Aaron Hardoon was born around 1851 to a poor Jewish family in Baghdad and attended a school in Bombay funded by David Sassoon. In 1868 he went to Shanghai as a rent collector and watchman for David Sassoon and Company.thechinaproject.com and 2 moreBukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20111210-04: A general view of tombs in Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore.1918 · Bukit Brown, SingaporeSingapore took the Ong clan's burial hill for a public cemetery, then dug up more than 4,000 of its graves for a highway, and unclaimed remains were to be scattered at seaThe British merchant George Henry Brown owned the hill in the 1840s. It passed to Hokkien clans, and from 1872 to 1921 it was a cemetery reserved for members of the Ong clan.wiki.sg and 2 moreMuseo dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore. Pope Boniface VIII: Museo dell'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore. Pope Boniface VIII1297 · Rome and Palestrina, ItalyA Colonna cardinal kept his brothers' lands, the pope razed Palestrina in the fight, and a Colonna seized the pope at AnagniOn 28 April 1292 four Colonna brothers handed control of Palestrina, Zagarolo, Colonna and other family lands to their brother, Cardinal Giacomo Colonna.Treccani and 2 moreMehmed IV: Mahomet IV. sonst Achmet genannt Türckischer Kaÿser1481 · Istanbul, TurkeyA Turkish court ruled in 2020 that Mehmed II's endowment deed still bound Hagia Sophia as a mosque, while an Armenian foundation could not recover its confiscated Istanbul innHagia Sophia was built as a church in the sixth century. After the Ottoman conquest in 1453 it became a mosque. A few years later Sultan Mehmed II made it part of his waqf, a perpetual religious endowment.harvardlawreview.org and 2 moreRichard Whittington: RichardWhittington 19thCEngraving After ReginaldElstrack 15901423 · City of London, EnglandRichard Whittington left no children and his fortune to London; his executors rebuilt Newgate prison and founded almshouses that still operateRichard Whittington, born about 1356, became a London mercer and was Lord Mayor in 1397 to 1398, 1406 to 1407 and 1419 to 1420. He lent money to Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V nearly 60 times.the-orb.arlima.net and 2 more51. Morte di Marino Faliero, 17 Aprile 1355: The Execution of Doge en:Marino Faliero1355 · Venice, ItalyVenice beheaded Doge Marino Faliero in 1355, seized his palace, painted a black shroud over his portrait, and later voided his widow's willMarino Faliero came from one of Venice's oldest patrician families. On 11 September 1354, aged about 80, he was elected doge while on a mission to the pope at Avignon.historywalksvenice.com and 3 moreBartolomeo Colleoni: BartholomaeusColleoni1566-691475 · Malpaga (Bergamo) and Venice, ItalyColleoni left Venice 100,000 ducats for a statue of himself in Piazza San Marco; Venice took the money and put the statue in front of the Scuola di San MarcoBartolomeo Colleoni was born around 1400 in Bergamo, which came under Venetian rule. He fought for Venice for more than 20 years and became very rich. He had no legitimate son and had eight daughters, legitimate and illegitimate.Treccani and 2 moreErfurter Schatz, jüdischer Hochzeitsring: Jüdischer Hochzeitsring aus dem sog. "Erfurter Schatz", aufbewahrt im Keller der Alten Synagoge in Erfurt1349 · Michaelisstraße 43, Erfurt, GermanyA Jewish moneylender's silver lay under his Erfurt cellar from the 1349 massacre until archaeologists found it in 1998Erfurt's medieval Jewish community was one of the most prominent of its time. On 21 March 1349, as the plague spread, a mob attacked the Jewish quarter on the false claim that Jews had poisoned the wells.juedisches-leben.erfurt.de and 3 moreMausoleum of Job Charnock (5375872517): Mausoleum of Job Charnock1693 · Kolkata, IndiaThe Sabarna Roy Choudhury family sold three villages to the East India Company in 1698, and their descendants won a 2003 ruling that Job Charnock did not found KolkataThe Sabarna Roy Choudhury family held the zamindari rights over the villages of Sutanuti, Govindapur and Kalikata under the Mughals. Job Charnock of the East India Company set up the Company's headquarters there on 24 August 1690.tribuneindia.com and 3 moreEgypt and Nubia: Volume III - No. 8, Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Cairo: Egypt and Nubia: Volume III - No. 8, Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Cairo1361 · Cairo, EgyptPlague estates paid for Sultan Hasan's Cairo mosque, a minaret fell and killed about 300, and the sultan was murdered and never buried in his tombAl-Nasir Hasan became Mamluk sultan of Egypt at 13 in 1347 or 1348. The plague of 1348 killed many of Cairo's rich. Emirs arrested Hasan in 1351 and held him for about three years before he returned to power.madainproject.com and 2 more