Mathias Antz and Ella Wendel
Toronto Daily Star, March 20 1931
At the time of her death, Ella Wendel owned more land in New York City than anyone else. Her grandfather, John G. Wendel, had made a fortune in the fur trade along with John Jacob Astor, and the two used their money to buy up property in New York. She was one of seven siblings who lived together in a shuttered, barred four-story mansion without electricity at the corner of 5th Avenue and 39th Street.
Only one of the seven siblings, John G. Wendel II, was male, and he served as the patriarch of the family. He kept such a tight rein on his sisters that he forbade them to marry, since this would lead to properties being owned by someone not named Wendel. One sister, Georgiana, ran away at the age of 50 and registered at the Park Lane Hotel; her brother had her committed to Bellevue Hospital as insane before eventually allowing her to return to the Wendel family mansion. Another sister, Rebecca, finally escaped and married a friend of the vicar of Trinity Church in 1903 at the age of 61. After this, John II discouraged the other sisters from attending church.
The Wendels refused to rent their properties to theatres or saloons and forbade electric signs, and would sometimes keep a property vacant for decades if they didn't find a tenant they liked. When John II died in 1914, he left $80,000,000 in real estate and ten dollars worth of clothing.
When Ella Wendel passed away, a total of 2303 claimants to her fortune appeared, of which Mr. Antz, shown above, was presumably the first. Entire villages in Germany, supposed cousins from Czechoslovakia, and a Scottish house painter, among others, attempted to claim a share of the estate; almost all of them were exposed as frauds, and the vast majority of her fortune went to various charities. (Reports that she left all of her estate to her poodle, Tobey, are apparently an urban legend.)
I couldn't find any information on Mathias Antz, the first of the supposed Wendel heirs. A search turned up a German cardiologist named Matthias Antz, who presumably was unrelated.
The New York Times has an article from 2016 about the Wendel family. I also found a Time magazine article from 1930 about the family, written while Ella was still alive, and a magazine excerpt that detailed how future Supreme Court justice John Harlan successfully debunked the claim of one of the more persistent alleged heirs.
Created October 15, 2025.