No, It's not a lost family fortune. My Mother RUTH KALTEICH had the deed for many years. It was given to her when she and her sister left an orphanage in Chicago Ill.  When I was 14 I saw the deed and remember some of what it said. It is true the Governor of Michigan gave the piece of land to my GGrandfather OTTO KALTEICH & MARIA for helping with the epidemic in Michigan. I remember reading the dimensions of a lot, smaller than an acre. It was described as being lake frontage on Presque Isle, MI. I remember reading that it was tax free forever and ever (perpetuity) never to be sold. At the time I didn't know what that word meant, so I asked my Mom and she explained. Many years later my Aunt DORTHEY KALTEICH-COLE kept the deed and when she died in Napa, California the deed was lost. I can't tell you why my Mother did nothing about it other than the fact that she had bad memories of being in the North east and it was very cold.   Since the property passed down to my Aunts children as well as me and my 2 sisters we thought that was too many heads to get to agree as to what to do with it. No one had any money to pursue it so I was just happy knowing that I had ancestors that contributed to a good cause.   Hard to believe? Yes, but I did say it was a strange story. Had I not seen the deed I may have wondered? But it is real. I'M 60 years old now and still I keep saying I should dig deeper to find out more history about those times in Michigan. I can't really pin point a date, except that a marriage record was found for OTTO KALTEICH and ANNA MARIE MUELLER m. St. Louis, MO. May 1, 1869.  Then 17 years later they raised a boy named OSCAR KALTEICH (my Grandfather). We've never been able to find a birth record. On his death record MARIE's name as maiden is: PULTE. That info. has just come to me a few days ago from my cousin in Germany. I had never heard of that name before then. I don't know how long they stayed in Mo. or when they went to Mi. but I know they practiced medicine in the Chicago, Ill. area for many years. I thought OTTO was buried in the HESS or HESSVILLE CEMETERY that I understand use to be a part of Chicago, but no longer. I think it's now HESSVILLE, IN. However I can't find it. Or where ANNA MARIE MUELLER or PULTE (whichever it really was) is buried either. I keep thinking Michigan has more to tell me about my ancestors in those early times so I'll keep searching and maybe before I die, I'll learn the mystery of the elusive land on Presque Isle. Thank you for your interest and reply. Any information will be gratefully appreciated. If I do find out more I'll let you know. Patricia Patforshort@aol.com