The Amsterdam Fortune

From the late 1920s into the 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression, people of Scandinavian descent all across the United States thought they had found their way out of financial ruin. A supposed fortune had been sitting in an Amsterdam bank for over a hundred years, waiting for the great-great-great-great-great grandchildren of the estate to step forward and claim their fortune.

The Promise of Riches

In the early 18th century, the Sabo family farmed and kept cows on the Isle of Man and on small outlying islands. In 1729, James Sabo and his sisters, Elizabeth and Berte, set out to milk the cows on one of the smaller islands. Having finished the chores, the three tried to return to the mainland but found themselves swept out to sea by a sudden storm.

The trio had plenty of milk on board to survive a short time at sea, but without any way to navigate they hoped to drift back to shore. For 10 days the three drifted, eventually coming within sight of Skudenses, Norway. Coming ashore at Wickre, and unable to speak the language, the story goes that "the villagers were afraid to approach the emaciated castaways, some maintaining they were mermaids. Finally Elizabeth, the oldest girl, made the sign of the Cross to show they were Christians."

The girls chose to stay in Norway while James attempted to return to the Isle of Man. Unfortunately, he was shipwrecked and taken to Holland, where he gained the favor of a Dutch nobleman. James lived out his life, childless and amassing a large fortune from his business.

Lacking heirs of his own, James declared his estate would be left to his sisters' sixth-generation children, to be payable on December 31st, 1926. James died in 1765.

Of his sisters, only Elizabeth married and bore children. She and her husband, Torgels Skaanevig, raised two sons, whose children's children's children's...etc... would be heirs to James Sabo's fortune in 1927.

The Money

The estate of James Sabo was worth $65,000,000 guilders, or about $25,000,000, and on deposit in an Amsterdam bank gaining 2% compound interest from the 18th century until 1927. Basic calculations set the amount to the descendants as over $600 million dollars in 1927.

When the waiting period expired, someone claiming to be the Bank of Amsterdam placed ads in newspapers around the U.S. searching for descendants eligible to claim the funds.

The Descendants

In 1927, the first descendant was located: Miss Alvina Olson of Webster, S.D.. Her mother, Helen Wickle Olson, was in the 6th generation but was deceased, leaving Alvina to receive the money. Alvina said her claim had been certified by the bank of Amsterdam as one of over 200 estimated descendants, gaining her $3,000,000 in 1927 dollars.

Over the next ten years, numerous other claimants from Iowa, North Dakota, and Minnesota appeared in newspapers announcing their bountiful claim to the 160-year-old estate.

In 1926, the claimants each contributed $10 to hire a lawyer to go to Amsterdam and sort out their claims with the Bank of Amsterdam. One of the descendants, however, found himself in Europe shortly after the stories of the inheritance began, and he inquired at the Bank as to the status of the money.

"...one of the bank's top executives told him there wasn't any. Matt asked them why they had advertised for the heirs, then, and they told him there just wasn't any use talking about it; the money wasn't there." One descendant, Mrs. Myrtle Korupp of Bismarck, ND, believed the Dutch authorities had paid off the Minneapolis lawyer retained to find the money.

Analysis

There is only anecdotal evidence of the Bank of Amsterdam advertising a search for descendants -- it is likely that this was a Spanish Prisoner style con-game, which is still being done via emails from 'Nigerian Princes' today. Most likely, the person who received $10 from each of hundreds of believed descendants was only one in this story who walked away rich.

Family Trees

Various names in different lists do not seem to line up:

Elizabeth Sabo, born 1717, married Torgels Scaanevig.

They had two children, Ludvig Torgelson Skaanevig around 1760, and Peter Mannes.

Ludvig's Family

Ludvig had a daughter, Karen Ludvigsdatter Lemvig, born 1782, who married Thore Mikelsen Hageberget (born 1771)

Karen had a daughter, Anna Karina Thorsdatter around 1800

Anna had a son named Ludvig in 1830

Ludvig had a daughter Anna Karina in 1871

Anna had a daughter named Ruby Birch in 1896.

Peter's Family

Peter Mannes had a son named Knute Peterson Mannes.

Knute Peterson had a daughter, named Gurrena Knuteson.

Gurrena had two sons, Shure and Louie.

Shure had two sons named Andy and Matt Larson.

Louie had a daughter named Eva Larson.