Diamonds in the rough: $1M in memorabilia found in recluse’s home
By David L. Harris/ Roslindale Transcript
Thursday, January 19, 2006 - Updated: 06:04 PM EST
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right> E-mail article</TD><TD width=10><SPACER width="10" type="block" height="20"></TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle> View text version</TD><TD width=10><SPACER width="10" type="block" height="20"></TD><TD vAlign=top align=left> View most popular</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>A mother lode of sports memorabilia, including vintage Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle baseball cards, turned up in a condemned home of a Roslindale recluse who died surrounded by his secret treasure.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Boston police called in to guard the house, say the overwhelming stacks of baseball, football and hockey cards dating back to the 1940s could fetch up to $1 million.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>But first cleaners had to tear through piles of trash 6 feet high to reach the cards.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>“This is like Fort Knox inside,” said Michael Wiseman of Aftermath Cleaning Co., hired to do the dirty work.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>John F. Hessian lived alone in his Roslindale home until a neighbor discovered him dead Jan. 2. He was 83 and had lived in his Granfield Avenue house all his life.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>But neighbors never knew what this hermit was hoarding.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Four truckloads — 400 to 500 boxes — of cards were just removed from the house this past week. Hessian also had the most valuable cards of his collection in a safe deposit box in an unknown location.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>As for the cards, the collection includes, for instance, Topps baseball cards from 1955 that would bring in $600 for a Ted Williams card and $2,000 for Roberto Clemente’s rookie card. A Transcript reporter touring the house found still more baseball cards from the 1950s and ’60s boxed in the basement and scattered in the living room.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Two surviving relatives, both cousins who declined to be identified, are left to hunt for a will or determine who inherits this gold mine from the golden age of baseball.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>“He was a collector. He was a packrat,” said one of the cousins. “That’s why it was such a project in trying to secure his affairs.”
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=121988
By David L. Harris/ Roslindale Transcript
Thursday, January 19, 2006 - Updated: 06:04 PM EST
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=right> E-mail article</TD><TD width=10><SPACER width="10" type="block" height="20"></TD><TD vAlign=top align=middle> View text version</TD><TD width=10><SPACER width="10" type="block" height="20"></TD><TD vAlign=top align=left> View most popular</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>A mother lode of sports memorabilia, including vintage Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle baseball cards, turned up in a condemned home of a Roslindale recluse who died surrounded by his secret treasure.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Boston police called in to guard the house, say the overwhelming stacks of baseball, football and hockey cards dating back to the 1940s could fetch up to $1 million.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>But first cleaners had to tear through piles of trash 6 feet high to reach the cards.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>“This is like Fort Knox inside,” said Michael Wiseman of Aftermath Cleaning Co., hired to do the dirty work.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>John F. Hessian lived alone in his Roslindale home until a neighbor discovered him dead Jan. 2. He was 83 and had lived in his Granfield Avenue house all his life.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>But neighbors never knew what this hermit was hoarding.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Four truckloads — 400 to 500 boxes — of cards were just removed from the house this past week. Hessian also had the most valuable cards of his collection in a safe deposit box in an unknown location.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>As for the cards, the collection includes, for instance, Topps baseball cards from 1955 that would bring in $600 for a Ted Williams card and $2,000 for Roberto Clemente’s rookie card. A Transcript reporter touring the house found still more baseball cards from the 1950s and ’60s boxed in the basement and scattered in the living room.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Two surviving relatives, both cousins who declined to be identified, are left to hunt for a will or determine who inherits this gold mine from the golden age of baseball.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=8><SPACER width="8" type="block" height="8"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>“He was a collector. He was a packrat,” said one of the cousins. “That’s why it was such a project in trying to secure his affairs.”
http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=121988