In 1849, Zalmon Fitch, a prominent Cleveland attorney representing a number of individuals who claimed they were owed money by Benjamin F. Tyler, sued Tyler and others in a Cleveland court of equity, claiming that Tyler had fraudulently transferred many of his real estate holdings out of his name in order to place them out of the reach of his creditors. Among the individuals named as having thusly unfairly received real estate from Tyler were Frederick Tyler, likely his younger brother, and his wife's uncle Philander Bennett.
