As Independence Day approaches, a legal fight is brewing in Miami, Florida between the estate of "Untouchables" Prohibition agent Eliot Ness and a North Canton, Ohio company over some long-undiscovered stock that apparently belonged to Ness and may be worth more than $1 million.
Here's how decades passed before this came to light.
The 50-share certificate of bank services company Diebold Inc. languished for years in a box in the South Florida apartment of Ness' longtime secretary. When she died, her belongings, including the Diebold stock, passed to an acquaintance, according to an Associated Press article.
Attorney John F. Bradley, who represents Ness heirs, said it could now be worth more than $1.1 million because of stock splits and dividends. Bradley's federal lawsuit seeks to force Diebold to pay up.
Ness ran North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold from 1944 to 1951. Diebold says there is no record of stock ownership by Ness.
Why do we care?
Well, did you know of Ness' Cleveland connection? While many people remember Eliot Ness as the Treasury Agent who, with his nine-man group of "Untouchables," brought down Chicagoan Al Capone, did you know that he spent time in Cleveland?
He was the city's Director of Public Safety, chairman of Diebold Inc., and was even an unsuccessful candidate for mayor?
After the repeal of Prohibition, Ness was transferred to the Treasury Department's Alcohol Tax Unit, arriving in Cleveland in 1934 as the head of the Northeast Ohio unit.
His reputation for honesty impressed then-Cleveland Mayor, Harold Burton, who appointed him Director of Public Safety for the city in 1935.
Cleveland in the 1930s was full of police corruption. Ness formed a new "Untouchable" group of six to curb these activities.
Ness was responsible for reducing corruption and gambling, as well as forming the Cleveland Police Academy and significantly reducing Cleveland's number of auto fatalities. After a stint in Washington during WWII, Ness returned to Cleveland in 1947 to run for mayor.
He lost.
Ness died in 1957 of a heart attack at age 55, before his book "The Untouchables" was published. Ness' ashes were scattered by members of the Cleveland Police Department in one of the ponds in Cleveland's Lake View Cemetery. There is a monument there commemorating the former Safety Director.
He's in good company. Among the thousands buried at Lake View Cemetery are President James A. Garfield; John D. Rockefeller; Cleveland Clinic founder, Dr. George W. Crile; Sherwin-Williams founder, Henry Sherwin; and former Cleveland mayors Carl B. Stokes and Tom Johnson.
His book was made into a hit TV series, starring Robert Stack. Later, the same story was made into a movie with Kevin Costner playing Ness.Great Lakes Brewing Company makes a beer named after him called "Eliot Ness Amber Lager."
See, you learned something you maybe didn't know. And if you've never been to Lake View, take a day and walk the grounds. It's beautiful. One of my favorite places.
Follow WKYC's Kim Wendel on Twitter @KimWendel