Estate of Blythe

It is impossible to believe that the legitimate kindred of the decedent are not before the court; the presumption of their presence is irresistible; who they are and which of them is next of kin is the question.

The next “collateral” case, so called, is that of the “Blythe Company,” in behalf of the Liverpool claimants. This ease was presented with ability and ingenuity, but there is in it a fatal failure to connect the Thomas H. Blythe of this city with the “Thomas Blyth,” born of Alexander Blyth and Mary Weaver Blyth, and baptized in the Church of St. Nicholas, Liverpool, May 19, 1819; the testimony of the Liverpool witnesses shows that this “Tom Blyth,” brother of James Blyth, baker, left there in 1838 and was never heard of afterward; one of them testifies in his deposition that in 1838 Tom promised that he would be in California before deponent; some of them testify that the Blythe they knew had a dark complexion, yet it is well established that Thomas H. Blythe *318 of San Francisco had a very fair complexion; some pretend that although half a century has elapsed they identify this Blythe from the “Pioneer” photograph; there is a failure to account for his whereabouts from…