Description:

Roosevelt Franklin 1882 - 1945 Franklin Roosevelt TLS reeling over "Buchanan Estate Hoax".

Single page TLS, on State of New York, Executive Chamber, Albany stationery stock, 7.25" x 9.25". Dated "January 22, 1932", and signed Franklin Roosevelt as "Franklin D. Roosevelt". Faint handling marks, expected folds, else fine. Presented matted, framed and glazed, in a lovely gilt frame with a chip to the lower edge, frame size of 13.75" x 16".

An incredibly revealing letter boldly signed by Franklin Roosevelt, penned to Hon. John McCall, referring to the incredible frenzy going on nationwide. Roosevelt notes: "I have your letter of January 16th. Letters regarding the so-called "Buchanan Estate" have been so numerous it was necessary to issue a statement to the press concerning same. I am sending a copy to you ..."

The Franklin Roosevelt reference to the "Buchanan estate" must be placed within its bizarre context. His TLS refers to the frenzy which began just six months prior, when an estate, established by relatives of President James Buchanan and evaluated at $850,000,000.00 in 1932 dollars (to put this in perspective, today the same buying power of $850,000,000 in 1932 is worth $14,055,972,602.74 in 2017!!!) was due for disposition to all "Buchanan heirs". Later established as a hoax, the events unfolded as described in the newspapers below:

The Evening News / Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

06 Apr 1931:

1200 TO SHARE ESTATE WORTH $850,000,000

HOUSTON, Texas, April (1931)

The story of how an estate, established by relatives of President James Buchanan, has grown to be worth $850,000,000 and soon will divided among a number of heirs was told here today by L. I. Buchanan, great grandson of William Buchanan, cousin of the former President, Buchanan, who operates a small North Side grocery here, said that property leased ninety-nine years ago by his forebear had reverted this year to the Buchanan estate and that attorneys were preparing to see it and divide the proceeds. The property, much of it located in important towns in New York, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, has grown immensely valuable," he said. "These leases have expired and the properties revert to the Buchanan estate. As soon as some details can he cleaned tip, we are going to sell it and divine the proceeds. "It is not one of those lost estates found.'" he added. "We have known all along of its existence. However, the leases were let for one stipulated consideration, paid in cash at the time, and the estate has really been only a paper affair, producing no revenue, until now. "We have been working quietly eight years getting the rightful heirs together and making preparations to dispose of the estate." Approximately 1200 persons will share in the division, Buchanan said. The heirs are scattered all over the United States and Canada. A will made by William Buchanan more, than 100 years ago, and handed down through the family to the Houston man, is in the hands of attorneys and will be filed for probate ... two detectives helped him trace members of the family ..."

As crazy as this was, it launched "Great Heir Hoaxes" for years to come; some examples are shown below:

The Great Heir Hoax

The article begins: "To open your mail some morning and discover that you had just been left a fortune would certainly be a jumbo edition of a thrill. But when you reply, enclosing the small sum asked for 'litigation expenses.' You are probably joining the army of heir-chasers' victims, which now numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Somewhere in the U.S. mails at this moment are several bulging sacks of letters bearing the bogus 'good news' to prospective dupes."

"A preface warning from the general manager of the National Better Business Bureau in this 1935 article says: 'Millions of dollars contributed to 'heir chasers' by thousands of victims could have been saved by a letter to any Better Business Bureau. If you have any information about any scheme, tell us about it,'" says the BBB chief. 'If you want information, ask for it.' But, the Buchanans didn't need any advice, as they thought they were in line for a piece of the fortune of a long-dead wealthy Texan. Here's how it happened:"

"While heir schemes appear preposterous on first reading, they seem to have an irresistible allure when they actually strike home. The hubbub created by the Buchanan family and its branches illustrates the proportions of the thing can attain. It started with simple announcements in newspapers through the North, the East and Canada, that a Buchanan in Texas was preparing to probate the $850,000,000 estate of William Buchanan (died about 1930) and would like to hear from heirs."

"Buchanans all over the continent were electrified. The clans gathered to check their genealogy and mail in their claims-and contributions-Air Mail Special Delivery. Soon the Texan was receiving 2,000 letters daily, with the volume of mail constantly increasing."

"Buchanans in remote cities took up collections and sent delegates to Texas, and as many as 35 arrived in one day. When the total mail had reached 200,000 letters the Texan got a bit worried, and, as he told the press, 'decided to let the whole thing drop.' But have you ever heard of a Scotsman 'dropping' a trifle like $850,000,000? All Buchanania was up in arms: A Detroit lady was expecting a $500,000 check 'by Christmas. Some of her husbands relatives had mortgaged their homes and bought new cars on the strength of it. Seventy Spokane Buchanans sent a joint telegram, and an Indiana clan member wired the governor of Texas."

"Los Angeles, Cleveland and New York chimed in. To thousands the idea of inheriting part of this vast fortune became a mania. Finally the post office was instructed to return all mail to the senders. The postal inspector reported: 'My investigation showed no evidence of the existence of an estate.'

"But a Cincinnati lawyer, himself an 'heir,' still clung to the theory that there was an estate. So he received 7,000 letters from claimants. The money was now rumored to be, not in far-flung real estate as the first story had it, but in hard cash in the vaults of New York banks."

"This put the full brunt of Buchanan wrath and mail on New York State. Franklin D. Roosevelt, then governor of New York, was impelled to issue a public warning 'so that people who believe they have some claim to any part of any of these estates will not be persuaded by lawyers or other promoters to advance money in a hopeless cause."

Franklin Roosevelt, went on to make formal announcements in newspapers throughout the nation that there was NO Buchanan estate and it was a Hoax. An incredible TLS with a bold Franklin Roosevelt signature, which reveals a raging river of undercurrents!

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