Heirs sought to end dispute over park's use

Calling all Temples, Crockers, and Temple-Crockers. The town of Reading may be looking for you.

Reading wants to place the fate of its Memorial Park in the hands of people who claim ancestry to one of several families that donated the green space in 1917. Town officials hope the relatives can help resolve a dispute over who can use the park.

But even if attorney Anne Marie Roark can track them down, there's always the possibility they'll respond: ''Reading Memorial what?"

So far, Roark's paper chase, dogging death certificates and probate court records, has led her heir hunt through such disparate places as Danvers, North Carolina, and California.

The tussle over Memorial Park began in the winter of 2002, when Mark Ford moved into 38 Charles St., across the street from what he thought was a quiet park. The next spring, however, Ford discovered it was not so quiet, and has been used for many years for youth sports programs, mostly soccer and baseball.

He went before the Board of Selectmen and demanded that sports practices be stopped, claiming the activities were disturbing the neighborhood.

Ford cited language from the original deed drafted 88 years ago, which established the World War I Memorial Park and its intended use. The deed prohibited activities at Memorial Park that ''interfere with the quiet enjoyment of those whose homes are in the immediate neighborhood," as well as ''playgrounds for football, baseball, soccer and kindred games, or any games that are in their nature hazardous, or require fenced enclosures or tend to draw together crowds of people."

Ford even threatened to take the matter to the state attorney general if the selectmen did not act. A compromise was struck, with practice times, parking, and the number of children restricted. The policy cut use of the field nearly in half, from as many as 250 children taking to the field every weekday evening, to 132.

It caused an outcry from parents and other community members who worried about the children and their access to playing fields. They argued that the interests of the entire community and its children should be weighed against the interests of one resident and the deceased.

Ford and his wife moved to Colorado six months ago, and some speculate the tension over Memorial Park contributed to his leaving. Ford could not be reached to comment for this article.

But several town officials said Ford had raised a legitimate issue concerning the park and commended him for speaking up, even though it was an unpopular position.

''It used to be mayhem down there, absolute mayhem," said John Feudo, the town's recreation administrator, who supervises Reading's fields and their use. ''And it was creating a safety issue with people parking on both sides of the street." In the spring of 2004, the Ad Hoc Memorial Park Use Committee, which was led by Feudo and included neighborhood residents, was formed to assess the situation. The committee studied the deed and delved into the park's history, attempting to construe the true intent of the six people, Mary E. Temple, Harvey Crocker, Lucia Temple-Crocker, May Louise Temple, Clara Pierce, and Frances A. Batchelder, who entrusted the 12 acres to the town with provisions that have created differing interpretations.

''Real estate attorneys have become more sophisticated since then, and more preciseness would've been built into this kind of situation," said Roark. ''It was much more casual in 1917, they didn't practice law the same way we do now, and everything was done on typewriters, and they weren't going to type more than they had to."

Relying on annual town reports from as early as 1919, the ad hoc committee discovered that the park was used for many activities, including tennis, squash, basketball, archery, golf, track and field events, basketry, and ''flash ball" an outdoor game unrecognized today.

''Times have changed, and when the deed was written, it was a very different time," said Feudo. ''We think they wanted to limit people coming from out of town, and for instance, in the early 1900s soccer was considered a hooligan sport. Troublemakers played soccer."

The ad hoc committee and selectmen concluded that, one way or another, the issue needed to be settled.

''We want to put the issue to rest, and give neighbors a sense of closure as well, have a final, clear, black and white call on how the park will be used," said Feudo.

With help from Reading's legal counsel, Jone Langsan, the town devised a solution: Track down the heirs, apprise them of the situation, and alter the deed through probate court. As a possible solution, the town would like to see the heirs authorize the Recreation Commission to oversee and determine the park's use.

This begs some major questions: Can the proper heirs be found, and can the heirs alter the deed? Furthermore, should distant heirs, removed from the community and most likely unaware of Memorial Park, be empowered to make such a decision?

Andrew Bram, a real estate attorney from East Cambridge, is not sure how much authority the heirs would have in this instance. ''I can't say for sure, without reviewing the deed and doing some research, but from the sounds of it, I'm not sure how much say the heirs would have in this matter," said Bram.

Bram said the heirs would have influence before a judge in enforcing the provisions of a deed, as would any citizen, but not much in changing the deed.

Feudo said, ''We believe that seeking out the heirs is a respectful step. It shows respect to the original donors."

''The town could've changed the deed without the heirs cooperating, or trying to locate them," said Roark. ''This isn't the town's only avenue, but it's the correct, right thing to do."

Roark, an attorney and former private investigator, was hired by Langsan and granted $1,000 to see what she could find. She is confident she will eventually find heirs, but among her obstacles are California's privacy laws.

''I don't know why they hoard death certificates the way they do. Maybe they put other information on them that could allow identity theft," said Roark, comparing California's stringent privacy laws to the relatively lenient public information policies of Massachusetts.

Roark picked up the various family trees in 1953, when Reading found four ''presumed heirs," who allowed a swimming pool at the park, an idea that never came to fruition. One person who signed off on the pool was Ralph Babcock, a trustee of Clara C. Pierce.

Roark reviewed Middlesex Probate Court records and found a cousin of Pierce, Frank Eaton, residing in ''Vanmury," Calif. Problem is, there is no ''Vanmury."

''I believe it was a misspelling, a handwriting mistake, and I can see how it could be done with the letters," said Roark. ''I think it's Van Nuys, California."

Other evidence leads south to North Carolina, then back north to New Bedford, where Octavia Ashley, another cousin of Clara Pierce, died. Roark has reason to believe that a daughter of Frances Batchelder is living in the state and Walton Temple Crocker, a grandson of Lucia Crocker, was at one time living in Danvers, but might be deceased.

But Roark hasn't found any conclusive evidence that May Louise Temple is dead. Today, she'd be more than a 100 years old.

''It's all very preliminary; I might be chasing down a blind alley as we speak," said Roark. ''But I'll track all the families to some point, and hopefully [find] a living, breathing individual, and hopefully within the continental United States," said Roark. She believes she'll eventually find direct linear heirs, and the town won't need to rely on second cousins and more distant relatives.

But there is a chance the town's best intentions could backfire. The heirs could demand that the park be used for passive recreation only and not permit youth sports practices.

''I've never seen that happen, but who knows?" said Langsan.

''We've put a lot of time and effort into this issue, and it's been a very fascinating subject, but it will be nice to put it to rest and get on to bigger and better things," said Feudo.

Peter Martin can be reached a pmartin@globe.com.