THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408290204
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS AND LISE OLSEN, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
Bernice Stokes thought she owned her uncle's ancestral homestead. She didn't know a stranger could buy it without her permission.
The one-acre lot in Gracetown had passed through three generations. Henry Smith bought it in 1911. His son, John Smith, built a house there and lived in it for more than 50 years. The city tore it down in 1987, and Bernice Stokes got the land when Uncle John died last year.
So she thought.
But just before Uncle John's death, a stranger started shaking the family tree. He made deals with relatives. He offered them $100 each for their tiny shares of the property. He carefully traced the family lineage from public records and found every living relative. He claimed that Bernice Stokes and Uncle John didn't own the land at all. He claimed that many scattered heirs owned many tiny shares.
Some relatives took the stranger's money. Bernice Stokes refused. Stokes, a descendant of slaves, believed that land was power, that land was meant to be kept in the family.
No matter. The stranger - Edwin B. Lindsley Jr. - eventually bought 81 percent of the property from relatives who didn't even know they owned part of it.
Today, Ed Lindsley and Bernice Stokes are wrestling in court. Lindsley wants a judge to order the sale of the land and give him 81 percent of the proceeds.
Stokes is fighting back. She claims Lindsley took advantage of her dying, 90-year-old Uncle John when the old man was in a nursing home, tricking him into signing a document he didn't understand.
The fight in Gracetown is just one of many provoked by Lindsley over the years.
This case, and others like it, demonstrate how Lindsley - the land speculator who claims he owns the Oceanfront resort beach - has used his expertise in title searching to claim land belonging not only to the city and wealthy businessmen, but also ordinary homeowners. In many cases, landowners have had to pay Lindsley for the right to use land they believed was theirs all along.
For 30 years, Lindsley has used this savvy to enrich himself and enrage others. Along the way, he has become a kind of anti-establishment hero. In newspaper stories dating to 1964, he has been portrayed as an ingenious, somewhat eccentric underdog who relishes taking on powerful people in lengthy legal fights.
But court records and interviews reveal another side to Lindsley that most people never see: the Ed Lindsley who uses arcane real estate laws and long-forgotten documents to stake claims to people's back yards, driveways and streets.
Some homeowners give Lindsley thousands of dollars to go away. Others fight him in court.
Some win, some lose.
Over the years, Lindsley has sued many people over land claims - the city, a cable company, a city councilwoman, a mall developer, even his own sister-in-law in a dispute over cemetery plots.
Lindsley is an intensely private man, a 70-year-old bachelor who for most of his adult life cared for his sick mother, who died in 1992. He says he works seven days a week, taking time off only to attend church. He has not sat for a newspaper interview for years, and declined again for these stories.
In response to written questions, he issued a two-page statement but declined to discuss individual cases. ``It would be improper,'' Lindsley wrote. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Edwin B. Lindsley claims he owns the Oceanfront resort beach.
Graphic
A STATEMENT BY ED LINDSLEY
Here is the statement Edwin B. Lindsley Jr. issued to The
Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star in response to written
questions:
I was born in Norfolk. I grew up in a white farm house where I
still live. My family was from Princess Anne County, but my paternal
grandfather was an Indian fighter from Kansas, and was a cousin of
General George Patton. On my mother's side, I am related to Lemuel
Shepherd, former Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.
I grew up on a farm, and learned from an early age to work hard.
I remember as a young child picking corn and tomatoes and working on
the farm.
As a young man, I worked with my father in the ice business. I
did deliveries and would deliver several truckloads of ice daily,
hand-carrying the ice into the hotels at Virginia Beach.
I attended William and Mary and Virginia Tech where I played
college football. Although I attended law school at William and
Mary, I did not graduate because I dropped out of school to help
care for my mother, who had been injured in a hit-and-run car
accident. I cared for my mother at our home until her death in
February of 1992.
I worked with my father in the heating oil business until he sold
the business. Then I became a real estate investor.
I currently deal in all types of real estate transactions. I am a
licensed real estate broker. I list and sell houses for people for a
commission, buy and sell developed and undeveloped land, and
generally work with anything concerning real estate.
I work wherever I can make a profit. I work all over Virginia,
and even recently completed a transaction in New York.
Although it would be improper for me to comment regarding any of
my specific transactions or any individuals with which I have had
dealings, I will say that any success I have attained in my business
has been a direct result of the hard work and long hours I have been
willing to expend. I work 6 1/2 days a week from morning until late
at night. I do not take vacations, and have been fortunate not to
have many sick days. Hard work, determination, and a great deal of
help from God have been the secrets to my success.
The City of Virginia Beach has made my work much more difficult.
I am constantly forced to go to court to defend myself against their
attempts to interfere with my legitimate business interests and
violate my rights. I believe that average citizens are beginning to
see what I have known and experienced for some time. Incidents such
as the rock pile in Atlantic Park, the illegal filling of the
property near Mr. Baillio off of Oceana Boulevard and other stories
your paper has recently told show that the city uses a double
standard when judging its own actions and those of its citizens. I
hold no ill will against the City of Virginia Beach, but I would be
grateful if the City would respect my rights, and allow me to make a
living without being harassed by the city.
by CNB