A BOX FROM THE PAST

One never knows what family treasure may still be hidden away waiting to be discovered.

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A BOX BACK IN TIME Using the Internet had opened all kinds of new sources of information for my genealogy hobby. One day on one of the national morning television shows there was a segment on locating forgotten refunds, deposits, bank saving accounts, etc. through individual state databases on the Internet. The site was NAUPA (National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators) in which you select the state where you believe there may be some forgotten funds (usually a former residence) then you type in an individual's name and search. Each state has its own database in which to investigate. In most cases the states list all names and addresses that matched your inquiry.
I began probing various names in Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania of relatives who had lived in those states over the last 10 years or so. I had even put in my name to search, thinking maybe I had forgotten about an old account somewhere. I did find some bank account monies due my brother and a couple rent refunds for a cousin. I continued my search a couple different times over a week's period. Then while in the Maryland site I thought I would put in my grandparents' name, only because I was running out of relatives. No way did I expect to see anything since my grandmother had died in 1940 and my grandfather in 1944. I was in total shock to see their names, David and Eva Everhart of Frederick, Maryland, appear on the monitor screen. Staring at the screen didn?t change what I was seeing, their names and hometown and the fact that the State of Maryland was presently holding something of value that once belonged to them.
DAVID GROFF EVERHART, SR.

        My grandparents had two children, a daughter (my mother) and a son, both of whom had passed away years earlier. I was the oldest grandchild (born after my grandparents' deaths in the 1940's) and had no knowledge of anything left behind by them. My mother and her brother had long ago taken care of all their parents' personal bank accounts, jewelry and property. My mother had given to me many of the photos, letters, papers and jewelry left to her by her father. So to think there was still something out there, being held by a state treasury was just unbelievable. The database did not give any indication of what was being held, only that I would need to telephone the Maryland State Treasury to put in a request for this unclaimed property.
        The very next morning I telephoned the Maryland Treasury and told them what I had found on their database. They solicited some information of me, how I was related and did I know what belonged to the Everharts. I told them I had no knowledge of what could be the unclaimed property. The woman I spoke to then told me it was contents of a safe deposit box that had been turned over to the State from Nations Bank (which had earlier been the Commercial Bank) of Frederick. Wow, was my mind racing, what could be in that box? So many questions and possibilities that I was on the edge of my seat. But the woman from the Maryland Treasury could not give me any more information on the contents, first I would have to prove my case of ownership as the next of kin before the contents of that safe deposit box could be turned over to me. She would send the claim form to be filled out by me and I had to include copies of various documents (Social Security, grandparent's death certificates, my mother's and uncle's death certificates and Letters of Administration for my grandparent's estate).
        Gathering all the documentation was easy since I had been previously been doing my family's history research. The one main item missing was Letters of Administration for my grandparent's estate. My mother did not have a copy and there was none under my name. My next step was to contact the Clerk of the Court for Wills of Frederick County and see if such documentation could be done up for me. Again copies of death certificates and birth certificates were sent to Frederick and a letter explaining the situation in hopes of acquiring the proper forms.
        While waiting I even tried contacting the Nations Bank which was now named Bank of America in Frederick to gain further insight about this safe deposit box and why it had been left untouched for decades. The various customer service representatives were very understanding but really had no answers for me. In fact, it was bank policy to turn over safe deposit box contents after just a few years when there has been no activity with the box or rent payment. This became a great mystery, first why was it left with no one having any knowledge about its whereabouts and second, what was in the box? I was just thrilled at the possibility that I might be getting something from my grandparents that had been concealed for so many years. No matter what it was, a paperclip, a letter, anything . . . it didn't matter to me. The rest of my family was just as excited as I was at this unknown box.
        Two months after first locating this unclaimed property on the Internet and contacting the State Treasury of Maryland, I now had my official Letters of Administration from the Register of Wills for Frederick County. All the proper documentation and claim forms were currently complete and in the hands of the State Treasury. Now I just needed to wait and hope that I was accepted as the true next of kin for my grandparents. Almost three months to the day after starting this quest a phone message was left on my answer machine from the Maryland State Treasury. It stated I was deemed the new rightful owner and that the full contents of the safe deposit box would be put into the mail as of Monday and that I should receive it by Friday of that week.
        I couldn't believe it! I had to replay that phone message a couple times to make sure of what I was hearing.   It was only later in the evening that it dawned on me that the date of that phone message was the 55th anniversary of my grandfather?s death, December 6, 1944. To top that, the date I started this research into unclaimed property on the Internet was September 8th, my grandfather's birth date. In my heart I knew I was destined to receive these safe deposit contents, that they had been waiting years in a dark, cool, metal box for me and that my grandfather's spirit had led the way.
        The end of the week could not get here fast enough and just as stated the package arrived on Friday.   The package was a 9" x 12" manila envelope and within the envelope was a plastic silver-colored bank bag. Inside that bag was an old, partial torn medium brown 5" x 11" envelope with the name Commercial Bank of Maryland, Mt. Airy, Maryland. Written in pencil and centered on the front was "D. G. Everhart, Box B - 31, 8/8/40", in what I believe was my grandfather's handwriting.

So already this may help explain why no one knew of this deposit box since it was in Mt. Airy rather than Frederick. I then slowly removed the various folded papers within the envelope. Some of the items included an empty envelope from the Commercial State Bank of Frederick, MD and a deed dated 1919 for a 10 acre tract of land outside of Frederick. There was a life insurance policy by Modern Woodmen of America first issued for my grandfather in 1909. Several of the folded papers were stock certificates for the Walter Decker Inc. of Maryland dated 1924 and the Co-Operative Drug Company of Delaware dated 1919 - 1921. None of the papers indicated that they were cancelled, expired or cashed in. I did not know if these items had any monetary value but I was just as excited about having these papers. These documents were important enough for a safe deposit box and ones personally handled by my grandfather.

Over the next couple months I did a little researching into the stocks but could not find that they were present day companies. The Modern Woodmen of America Insurance Company was still in business in Illinois. After several letters and phone calls I got them to research their files about the policy. They could not find anything about the policy or that any insurance money had been paid on the policy. As for the 10 acres of land outside of Frederick, I learned it was sold by my grandfather years later and the land now has homes and shopping centers. So now nearly a year after first investigating about the unclaimed property, I have no huge stacks of money, gold coins, or jewelry but I do have something even more precious to me. I know my grandfather helped me locate these papers and he wanted me to hold onto them. As the keeper of the family history, I intent to do that very thing.

I know my grandparents, David Groff Everhart, Sr. and Eva Bixler Everhart (their spirit-soul) played a part in the recovery of the contents of this safe deposit box.

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