Still interested in purchasing the Bedford Hills train station, the Bedford Town Board voted unanimously at its June 4 meeting to hire a genealogist to trace the lineage of the site's previous owner.
The station's site was once owned by a member of a Griffin family. However, there is a "reverter clause" in old paperwork for the site, which was deeded by the family. It states that it has to be used for railroad purposes or else the site reverts back to either the owner or his heirs. The town would not be using the station for railroad purposes, Supervisor Lee Roberts said at the board meeting.
The town's interest in buying the station became public last year. Since expressing interest, Roberts explained, the town has used a title company to insure against the matter and research was attempted with the town historian, and, she said, “we've come up with dead ends.”
In a letter to the town, genealogist Ellen Shapiro offers to locate the Griffin heirs. Efforts include looking for Census records, cemetery and marriage records, and records in military, phone calls, birth records and death records. The town board voted to hire Shapiro for a retainer of $2,500 and an hourly rate of $100.
The objective, Councilman Chris Burdick explained at the meeting, would be to eliminate the reverter clause to avoid another claimant to the property.
The clause's elimination would be done by getting a release from an heir, who would be found through the genealogist, on a possible property interest.
To read more about our previous coverage of the Bedford Hills train station, click here.
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