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North America

US states, Canada and Mexico: Aztec and Maya successions, land grants, frontier fortunes, Native land and objects, and the will contests of American cities.

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What do the north america estate cases show?

The 1670 charter outlived the company's business, and when the company failed the charter was sold to pay its creditors. A buyout ends an heir's claim on the family business but not the claims others hold against his estate.

Stories
20
Years
1718 to 2025
Main regions
North America, Europe, Latin America
Legal traditions
Common law, Civil law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in north america, 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.

AI illustration: The 1670 Hudson's Bay Company charter on parchment with its wax seal2025 · Toronto (Ontario Superior Court of Justice)The Hudson's Bay Company sold Rupert's Land for £300,000 in 1869, went insolvent in 2025, and sold its 1670 charter for $18 millionOn 2 May 1670 Charles II chartered the "Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay." Prince Rupert was its first governor, and Rupert's Land is named after him. The bay was named for Henry Hudson.manitobamuseum.ca and 7 moreMap of New York, marked on the globe1995 · New York, New York, USASeymour Durst passed over his eldest son, the family bought Robert out for about $65 million, and Robert died a convicted murdererRobert Durst, Seymour Durst's eldest son, was originally designated to manage the family's wealth, held in trusts that own extensive Manhattan real estate.pressdemocrat.com and 2 moreBrigham Young: Brigham Youngtitle QS:P1476,en:"Brigham Young"label QS:Len,"Brigham Young"1877 · Salt Lake City, Utah, USAThe church claimed $999,000 of Brigham Young's estate, his heirs sued, and the three apostles who were his executors went to the penitentiaryAs the church's trustee-in-trust, Brigham Young held church property in his own name. He died on 29 August 1877. His executors were three apostles: George Q. Cannon, his son Brigham Young Jr., and Albert Carrington.wilfordwoodruffpapers.org and 3 moreRobert Todd Lincoln: Lincoln, Robert (son of Abraham Lincoln) Crop1882 · Chicago, Illinois, USARobert Lincoln had his mother declared insane the day after detectives saw $56,000 in bonds sewn into her petticoatsRobert Todd Lincoln, 31, petitioned in Cook County to have his mother, Mary Lincoln, declared insane and to be named conservator of her estate. He cited her spending: $450 for three watches, $600 for lace curtains.encyclopedia.com and 2 moreCalumet farm 2012: View of stables at Calumet Farm, Lexington, KY1950 · Lexington, Kentucky, USACalumet Farm passed to a widow for life, then to a grandson-in-law who ran up $127 million in debt and went to prisonWarren Wright Sr. died in 1950.The Seattle Times and 3 moreEmiliano Zapata: Emiliano Zapata41919 · Anenecuilco, Morelos, MexicoAnenecuilco gave Zapata its colonial land titles in 1909; the man he left them to was killed in a land fight with Zapata's sonIn 1909 the elders of Anenecuilco elected Emiliano Zapata, then 30, president of the village council. The village kept colonial-era papers on its land to use against the sugar haciendas.inehrm.gob.mx and 2 moreMap of North Carolina, marked on the globe1970 · near Beaufort, Carteret County, North Carolina, USATwo brothers spent eight years in jail for refusing to leave their grandfather's heirs' property on Silver Dollar RoadIn 1911 the brothers' great-grandfather bought 65 acres on the water in Carteret County. The family shrimped, crabbed and fished there.abc11.com and 3 moreSarita Kenedy East: Sarita Kenedy East, rancher and philanthropist of South Texas1961 · Kenedy County, Texas, USA (died in New York City)Ranch heiress Sarita Kenedy East left her fortune to a foundation controlled by a Trappist monk, and more than 200 people claimed to be her heirsSarita Kenedy East, granddaughter of the rancher Mifflin Kenedy, was heir to part of the Kenedy Ranch and had no children.Internet Archive and 2 moreCyrus Teed: Cyrus Teed1908 · Estero, Lee County, Florida, USACyrus Teed's followers watched his body waiting for him to rise, until the county health officer ordered him buried; a hurricane later took the tombCyrus Teed, who called himself Koresh, moved his followers from Chicago to Estero, Florida, in 1894.wrldrels.org and 2 moreStephen Van Rensselaer: Stephen Van Rensselaer III1839 · Albany, New YorkStephen Van Rensselaer III's will ordered $400,000 in back rents collected, and his tenants answered with the Anti-Rent WarAt its peak the Van Rensselaer manor covered about 700,000 acres, and 60,000 to 100,000 people on it paid feudal rents. Stephen Van Rensselaer III died on 26 January 1839 owing about $400,000.American Heritage and 4 moreElizabeth Patterson Bonaparte: Triple portrait of Elizabeth Patterson (a.k.a. "Betsy Bonaparte")1860 · Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Paris, FranceNapoleon annulled his brother's Baltimore marriage, and Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte's son lost his claim to the Bonaparte inheritance in a Paris courtOn Christmas Eve 1803 Elizabeth Patterson, daughter of the Baltimore merchant William Patterson, married Jérôme Bonaparte, Napoleon's youngest brother, before Bishop John Carroll. Jérôme was a minor and lacked his mother's consent.h-france.net and 2 moreJoseph Emory Davis: Joseph Emory Davis1870 · Davis Bend (now Davis Island), Warren County, Mississippi, UJoseph Davis sold his plantations to the man he had enslaved, and his brother Jefferson Davis sued the family for Brierfield and wonBenjamin Montgomery was sold in 1836 to Joseph Davis, a lawyer and cotton planter at Davis Bend who reportedly enslaved more than 200 people. Montgomery kept the books, ran the plantation store and managed the property.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov and 3 moreWilliam Penn1718 · Ruscombe, BerkshireWilliam Penn went to debtors' prison while he owned Pennsylvania, and his heirs later traded 24 million acres for £130,000 and a £4,000 British annuityWilliam Penn received Pennsylvania from Charles II in 1681. His London steward, Philip Ford, claimed Penn owed him £10,000. Ford died in 1702. On 31 October 1705 his widow Bridget and his heirs sued Penn in Chancery.bedsarchivescat.bedford.gov.uk and 11 moreGreenway Court, Virginia, where the story took place1781 · Greenway Court, VirginiaVirginia confiscated Lord Fairfax's Northern Neck, and his heir's land claim reached the Supreme Court twiceThomas, 6th Lord Fairfax, held the Northern Neck Proprietary of Virginia, about 5,282,000 acres. Virginia's Act of 1779 confiscated title to the domain. Fairfax died in December 1781, two months after Yorktown.Cornell Law School, LII and 5 moreJames Addison Reavis in prison clothes: James Addison Reavis with imprisoned at Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory1874 · Phoenix, Arizona, USAJames Addison Reavis forged a Spanish barony covering 12 million acres of Arizona, presented a ranch girl as its heiress, and went to prisonGeorge M. Willing, a prospector, said he had bought a Spanish land grant from a man named Miguel Peralta. In 1874 Willing was found dead the morning after he went to Prescott to file it.arizonahighways.com and 2 moreJames Graham Fair - Brady-Handy: James Graham Fair. Library of Congress description: "Fair, Hon. Jas. G. of Nevada, Senator"1894 · San Francisco, California, USASenator James Fair locked his fortune in a trust, a school principal produced a pencil will and a marriage contract, and his children turned on herJames G. Fair was a former US senator from Nevada and an owner of the Comstock Lode. His wife Theresa divorced him in 1883 for habitual adultery. He died in San Francisco on 28 December 1894 with a fortune put at $45 million.cslfdn.org and 2 moreJohn McDonogh: Johnmcdonogh1850 · McDonoghville, Louisiana, USAJohn McDonogh left two cities a fortune for free schools, his heirs said Louisiana law voided the gift, and New Orleans pulled down his statue in 2020John McDonogh, born in Baltimore in 1779, built a fortune in New Orleans land and by his death owned over 600,000 acres in thirteen parishes. The people he enslaved rose from 16 in 1820 to 192 in 1840.law.resource.org and 2 moreRio Arriba CCH: Rio Arriba County Courthouse, Rapp and Rapp, architects, 1916-171832 · Tierra Amarilla, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, USAHeirs of a Mexican land grant raided the Tierra Amarilla courthouse in 1967 to arrest the district attorneyIn 1832 the Mexican government created the Tierra Amarilla grant, about 600,000 acres, for Manuel Martínez and settlers from Abiquiú.Deseret News and 3 moreA View of the Jesuits College and Church - Vue de l Eglise et du College des Jesuites , 1761: A View of the Jesuits College and Church1800 · Quebec City, Quebec, CanadaWhen the last Jesuit in Canada died in 1800 the Crown took the order's estates, and 88 years later the Pope divided the compensationUnder French rule the Jesuits received large estates and seigneuries to pay for schools and missions. After the conquest Britain held the estates, and the Pope suppressed the order in 1773.Dictionary of Canadian Biography and 2 moreAI illustration: Annapolis, Maryland, on the Severn River, about 17701771 · NaplesLord Baltimore was acquitted of rape in 1768, left Maryland to his illegitimate son in 1771, and the son lost it to the RevolutionFrederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore, owned the Province of Maryland. In 1758 his wife, Lady Diana Egerton, died after a fall from a carriage he was riding in with her. He was suspected of foul play and never charged.Maryland State Archives and 6 more