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Genes bloodhounds and supersleuths needed to solve a mystery (friend's family not mine)

Ada Emma Shelley was born in 1870 (reg'd in Croydon district), and worked as a draper's clerk then latterly in the accounts dept at Selfridges. She never married and, as far as we know, never went abroad.

At some point she decided to call herself Ada Evelyn Shelley. When she died (12/9/1938) she seemed to have rather a lot of money and some jewellery which she allocated to various people in her will. She was living in Golders Green at the time of her death.

She left 3 diamond rings to one "Judge Kleeberg, 300 Madison Avenue, New York". No one in the family knows who this man is, or why she would be leaving him 3 rings.

I have tried googling but nothing obvious appears. Since we believe Ada never left UK shores, she must have met him in London presumably. Looking at Kleebergs on the passenger lists into the UK, there is one possible candidate - a G S P Kleeberg (Gordon Kleeberg) who is described as a lawyer. That's the closest to 'judge' I can come up with!

We'd like to find out who this Judge Kleeberg is, and if possible, why Ada would leave him 3 rings!

Any ideas, suggestions, someone who knows of Judge Kleeberg?

Janice

Check this out ...

Typed Letter Signed on his personal letterhead, Warm Springs, Ga., February 1, 1933, to his friend and Columbia classmate, attorney Gordon Kleeberg


http://philadelphiainquirerstore.com/HISTORICAL-DOCUMENTS/Presidents-Vice-Presidents-Autographs/President-Franklin-Roosevelt-Signed-Letter-Presidential-Autographs

Wow! Thanks for that. Wonder if he went on to become a judge. That's really high up in the UK; is it the same in the US?

The formation of the Republican Party as a national political organization (1911)

Author: Kleeberg, Gordon S.P. (Gordon Saul Philip) 1883-
Subject: Republican Party (U.S.)
Publisher: New York : Moods, Publ. Co.

I kept getting pages of those when I googled but unfortunately it doesn't help with my question as I don't know if he's my man: he's just my number one suspect!
Thanks for your help.

What would 'class of 1907' mean age-wise?
The Gordon Kleeberg on the passenger list was born circa 1884 so would be 23 in 1907. I'm afraid I don't know anything about how the US education system works.

She left 3 diamond rings to one "Judge Kleeberg, 300 Madison Avenue, New York".

If you check out the address on the 1933 letter on the link I gave you, you'll see its

285 Madison Avenue, New York

Pretty damn close I would say !

Oops - so busy trying to read the letter, I didn't look at the address. That's fantastic. Thank you so much. Looking more like he's the right person then.

When he was in London, he resided at 46 Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park, so maybe he met Ada in Selfridges!!

Philip Kleeberg conveyed the property at No. 3 Riverside Drive to his wife, Maria, on May 26, 1898, approximately one month before construction of the residence was completed. After Maria's death in 1903 the property was transferred to her son, GORDON S.P. KLEEBERG, who sold the property in 1908. In 1915 the property was acquired by Dr. William Knipe who used the residence as a sanitarium. In 1916 ffery Tier Sutphen and Angie M. Booth, a neighbor living at No. 4 Riverside Drive, filed a suit in Supreme Court against Knipe's Twilight Sleep Sanitarium. Sutphen and Booth claimed that the use of the property as a sanitarium was prohibited by the so-called "nuisance covenant" of 1868, and they believed the sanitarium to be "a menace to the peace and quiet of the neighborhood,' and "obnoxious and offensive to the neighboring landowners." Ultimately, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court decided that Knipe's use of the structure as a sanitarium did not violate the covenant, and therefore did not disturb the quality of the neighborhood. The building was still used as a private dwelling in the late 1930s. Gordon Kleeberg regained the property in 1943 and held it until his death in 1947. By 1950 it had been converted to a multiple dwelling and currently has the status of a two-family dwelling.

Is there any way of finding out if he had a family or left a will?

U.S. Supreme Court
PEARCE v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, 315 U.S. 543 (1942)


PEARCE
v.
COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE.
No. 306.

Argued Feb. 5, 1942.
Decided March 9, 1942.


>>>>>>>>>>>Mr. Gordon S. P. Kleeberg, of New York City, for petitioner.

Mr. Gordon B. Tweedy, of Washington, D.C., for respondent

Found a photo of that property - very nice!!!!

His father Philp is listed as next of kin on his WW1registration card. Address is 46 Gloucester Terrace.

Rose

That would suggest he isn't married then, at least not by 1914.

Doesn't look like he was married on his WW2 registration card either.

His company is Kleeberg and Greenwald, still around now.

Rose

Wonder what happened to the rings then!

Is there an index of wills in the US similar to the probate registers in the UK?

Photo here. He died in WW2

http://www.warmemorial.columbia.edu/gordon-saul-philip-kleeberg


Rose

No idea about US wills.

Rose

300 Madison Ave was the business address for Kleeberg and Greenwald.

His partner, Jacob Greenwald, was listed as his contact of WW2.

Rose