Chapman vs. King
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Title |
Chapman vs. King |
Subject |
Chapman |
Transcript |
Chapman vs. King The Texas Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of King Ranch in a case that had its beginning 150 years ago when Richard King bought the Santa Gertrudis grant, the first parcel in what would become King Ranch. King put up the money, but he had a partner - "Legs" Lewis, a Texas Ranger. "Legs" would earn his share of the ranch by providing protection and supervising ranch business while King continued in the Rio Grande steamboat trade. Legs was killed by an irate husband in 1855. His half-share was put for auction. Army Maj. W.W. Chapman, a friend of King, bid $15,000 to buy Lewis's half share. Then Chapman was transferred to California. He left word to tell King that he had to bid a lavish amount at the auction because of the bidding by Capt. Fullerton. He signed a promissory note, which King paid . Chapman died soon afterwards. His widow Helen Chapman sued King, claiming she owned half the ranch. King lost the case in 1883 and paid Chapman's heirs $5,000. The recent suit alleged that Chapman's lawyer, Robert Kleberg, was secretly working for King. The Texas Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 28 that there was no evidence of fraud, that the Chapman claim was based on a conspiracy theory, that there's no way of knowing now what King's motives were then. The black-bearded King was rough, he loved a good fist fight, but all the writings by his contemporaries support the fact that King, like his friend Mifflin Kenedy and his other close friend Robert E. Lee, was [known as] a man of high moral character. He was a man of honesty and probity. Nothing we know today about the founder of King Ranch shows a man who would cheat the widow of his friend. That just doesn't fit the historical image of what we know about Richard King. Murphy Givens |
Author |
Murphy Givens |
Publisher |
KEDT Radio |
Date |
September 10, 2003 |
Type |
Sound Recording |
Format |
WMA; Length: 2 min. 28 sec. |
Language |
English |
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