OCR Text |
Show NO FRILLS FOR O'KEEFE. " Modest Plans of a Section Foreman Now a Millionaire. Thomas O'Keefe, former section foreman fore-man on the Long Island railroad and now living on his little six-acre farm near Woodlawn, L. I., hap received news that he is heir to $3,825,000 as his share of the estate of an almost forgotten forgot-ten relative, who settled in Texas a century cen-tury ago and who died years ago, leav'-. ing $u,non,ooo. The .wonderful news came to the little lit-tle O'Keefe cottage last Thursday in a letter from a. sister in Ireland, and hur-.rird hur-.rird investigation by lawyers has shown that the windfall is genuine. There are only three heirs to the estate, so that O'Keefe's income will mount from $438 a year to $150,000. The O'Keefes were celebrating the fortieth anniversary of their wedding when the golden newr came to them. The O'Keefe inheritance is indeed romantic. ro-mantic. In 1804 Dennis O'Keefe of Kil-kee, Kil-kee, County Clare, Ireland, left his home and shipped as a sailor. ' He wandered wan-dered over the world and finally settled in Texas. Nobody knows the line of business he pursued, but he finally ac-. quired many acres of land, and on nearly near-ly all of it oil has been found in immense im-mense quantities. The oil was found years after old Dennis O'Keefe died, and since scores of lawyers have been searching for his relatives. Finally a lawyer named Hildreth discovered one of the three heirs to the estate, Mrs. Maria 0!Keefe Fennell of Kilkee. Ireland. Ire-land. Mrs. Fennell notified her two brothers, Patrick, who lives in Ireland,: and O'Keefe of Long island. Thomas O'Keefe married Mary Leahy forty years ago and they came to America. Amer-ica. He got a job on the'Long Island, railroad as foreman Q.t a. section gang, and his wife took in washing. Seven children arrived. From h!s $1.20 a dav O'Keefe managed to save up enough money to buy his little six-acre farm, near Woodlawn, and there the thrifty couple raised up their children. Mr. O'Keefe gave up his railroad job 'two years ago and has managed to live comfortably com-fortably in the tiny cottage on his savings. sav-ings. - The old couple were amazed when the letter came last week telling them they were ' millionaires, but they, went- ahead in a-, practical", way to get the i money. Mr. O'Keefe .consulted Douglas Conklin, cashier of the Bank of Huntington, Hunt-ington, who undej took to sift the matter.- He has told his client that undoubtedly un-doubtedly the reported inheritance is true.1 Every day, has brought hundreds of letters to O'Keefe offering to take charge of his affairs. " "But I'll stick-to Conklin," said the old man when seen at his little cottage, which has a garden around it in whicn are chickens. and a goat. "If the fortune is there for me. he 11 get it all right? 'but; if I never get a cent of it, why,-all right, say I. I don't need it. "I havetenoug'h to live on for the balance of. my days, anyhow. But if it does come our way, we'll try to enjoy en-joy it without any frills. I don't want any automobiles, but I think I'll just have a good horse or two and a nice carry-all to take out the. missus in for an airin' once in awhile. I can put up a barn right near the house here and keep the horses there. No. sir. I won t have no coachman. I guess I can drive a horse myself. It would be a pity if this big. fortune wasi to rob us of our contentment." The O'Keefes children are all grown up; and fairly prosperous. |