Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-03-12
IMPORTANT WILL CASE.
Alleged Improper Influence BY q
Clergyman - The Will OF Aaron
Rurr,a Widow in Dispute.

Burr's Widow In Dispute.
Madame Jumel, the widow of Aaron
Burr, died in July at her residence in
Carmansville, near New York, leaving
property valued at over a million Of dol
lars. The old lady continued to occupy,
up to the time Of her death, the same
stately mansion oncc reckoned among the
most elegant in the aristocratic suburbs OF
New York, in which she lived before her
marriage with Burr. From her first hus-
band, Jumel (whose name she resumed
after her separation from BURR, she ac-
quired q great deal Of property /; and the
story runs that when she found that Burr
was interfering with the management Of it,
and collecting the rents in her name, she
gave him a sound beating and that was
the cause of their separation. She had no
legitimate children, but she had two
nephews and two nieccs, the offspring Of
her sister, the late Mrs. Maria Jones, to
whom it was generally supposed that the
bulk of her fortune would descend. For
several years before her death she had lit
tie intercourse with these members Of her
family. The only persons from whom she
sought advice were the Rev. J. Howard
Smith, Rector Of the Episcopal Church in
Carmansville, and Mr.. Nelson Chase, her
lawyer, who was also, report said, her
illcgitimate offspring. The Rev. Mr..
Smith was q frequent visitor at her house,
and at times-for she was always very
eccentric, and more so than ever during
her latter years-it is said that it was diff
cult to approach her except through him.
Her will was executed in April. 1868,
when she 81 years old. BY il she devised
to the Church of the lntercession, of which
Mr.. Smith is rector, the land upon which
her residence stands, comprising about 80
acres Of the most valuable ground on the
upper part of the island Of New York, and
the sum of $4,000 to be expended in
building a new church thereon. Mr..
Chase and his daughter, Eliza Jumel
Perry, were to have each the interest OF
$4,000 for life. She bequeathed to the
Rev. Mr.. Smith $4,000; to nine different
charitable associations S36.500 in the ng-
gregate; and to Felice Legardare, the
niece of her first husband, $4,000. The
rest Of her property, the value of which
must have been somewhere about 800, 900,
was to be divided between the aforesaid
Smith. Chase and his daughter, and the
nine charitable institutions, in shares pro-
p~ortionate to the specific requests made
them as above.
This will is To- contested by Mr..
Chase, and the four heirs at law, William
Jumel Jones, Stephen Jumel Jones, Elizs
Jumel F%ranchell, and Louisa Jumel Fran.
chell, these latter, the nephews and niece,
before mentioned, having apparently made
an amicnble arrangement with Mr.. Chase,
They allege that Madame Jumel was o.
unsound mind at the time the instrument
was executed, and that her signature wal
obtained by the Rev. Mr.. Smith through
" circumvcntion, fraud, undue influence
and coercion" The issues and question:
Of fact arising on the pleadings were sub
mitted to Judge Clerke of the Suprem'
Court Of New York, in chambers, on th'
7th instant, and the case will probably b
tried in April or May. A number Of tn
most eminent lawyers of New York arr
engaged as counsel, and the trial, owinl
70 the magnitude Of the interests involved
the peculiar character and the history o
the tes,atrix, and the delicate nature o
the questions IN dispute, promises to b.
one Of extraordinary interest.