Nineteen letters from San Francisco lawyer, George W. Haight to A.W. Smith in Grand Junction, Colorado, dated 1887 - 1897. All on letterhead printed with "Law offices of Taylor & Haight, 207 Sansome St., E.R. Taylor, G.W. Haight". Fifteen are typed and four are holographs; all are signed by Haight. This correspondence documents Haight's legal efforts on behalf of A.W. Smith. Smith was acting as guardian of the Wynkoop sisters, Caroline and Bertha, after the death of their mother Ethel. Evidently the Wynkoop estate was related to the estate of George B. Reeve; it is likely that Ethel was Reeve's daughter. The Reeve estate had been handled by George Cadwalader whose wife was Reeve's sister. When George died his brother Charles served as his executor and was appointed as trustee for the Reeve estate in his stead. At the time of this appointment, the Court did not require that Charles Cadwalader post bond to ensure the value of the estate as was customary. During the ten-year span of these letters, Haight tried to get Cadwalader to provide such a bond. He felt this was necessary as he explained after an initial meeting with Cadwalader. "I had previously been favored with a call from Gen'l. Cadwalader, and he had explained to me his situation. I must say that I was exceedingly surprised; I have always regarded him as a man of substantial wealth and good business ability but it now appears that he has but a limited amount of property, and to judge from his appearance his health is much shattered, although I think that he will recover." Much discussion involved land in Glen County that Cadwalader owned which was mortgaged in part to the Reeve estate. By 1897, however, this land has been sold to the State for taxes due and Haight had not yet received payment from Smith for the work he had done over the years. He concluded in the final letter: "No progress has been made in the suit since writing to you last. I am ready to proceed whenever you are prepared to remit the funds requested in my former communications."
