"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." - Thomas Jefferson

JOAN CROSBY TIBBETTS, ADMINISTRATRIX

The death of my father, after his mysterious disappearance for years, was a shock. Little did I know when I was appointed by the New York Surrogate Court as his administratrix in March, 1965 that he was a political prisoner of the powerful Corn Products Corporation ("CPC"), which had stolen his Skippy business, destroyed his reputation and career, and looted his estate of valuable assets. I was then age 32, with four infant children, unaware that I was now "under surveillance", and that it was the intent of CPC and its allies (including my father's and Skippy, Inc. former counsel, Lord, Day & Lord) to steal our inheritance, and to subject Skippy, Inc. and me to years of prolonged, vexatious lawsuits.

Years later, I learned that CPC was the infamous "Glucose Trust" the government had broken up for antitrust violations. Judge Learned Hand, a distinguished member of my family wrote the decision that became "hornbook antitrust law" (United States v. Corn Products Refining Co. et al., 234 Fed. 964, D. Ct., S.D. NY, 1916). In that case, which became the Rosetta Stone for the lawful Skippy heirs, the government gave incriminating evidence of internal memos re CPC's illegal schemes, including the president's boast, "We have built a Chinese Wall around our competitors and have them in chains." My father was held hostage by this evil combination, and died in virtual poverty, while CPC made hundreds and millions of dollars from the Skippy criminal enterprise. Ironically, my father died on the date that CPC, aided and abetted by Percy Crosby's court-appointed committee, intended to buy the priceless Skippy assets for a mere $4,000, without court approval, using a Chicago syndicate as a front. His death aborted the illegal scheme and the assets of Skippy, Inc. became a major portion of the Crosby estate, which attorney Rose Lehman Stein, then Skippy's president, claimed to own over ninety percent.

Stein, an accomplice of Rosefield and CPC,lied to my attorney that Percy Crosby "gave permission" for the brand name Skippy in 1935, and that she investigated, telling him the estate had no legal claims. An investigation of the court record revealed that Stein also lied re her majority control of Skippy stock, as she never received court approval. I demanded return of these assets, and she refused, telling my attorney I would have to sue, or either pay her $10,000 for her Skippy stock certificates.