Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-02-13
The VIII Of Mr. GreeIey.

uro DIV the mdtl9naill anu SCtuualCuS
wrangling over the grave of their faith
er, yesterday gave peremptory in
structions to their counsel to make q |
full surrender of all their rights and |
interests IN the matter, and TO allow !
the executors Of & former will full dis |
cretion in the management Of the affair. |
The formal dcr;s;ol of the Surrogate |
will be given next eek. and what re-
mains of Mr.. Greeley's little property |
will then be subject to the disposition
of ATr. Storrs and Mr.. Manning.
The only excuse for this persistent
and apparently inexplicable opposition
to the final disposition which Mr.
Greeley made OF MS estate, wassthat.he
was insance at the time OF writing the
will, and for weeks previously. 70 /
| prove this number of easy-talking
witnesses have been placed upon the
stand, all holding decided opinions
against the perfectly simple and nat
ursl provisions of the will, who have
consumed several days in what may
have appeared to them agreeable gos-
sip about the last days of their old
/ friend, in which every eccentricity of
phrase, every utterance of melancholy
which fell from his lips, was carefully
remembered or ingeniously distorted,
in manner which furnished highly
| interesting manner for listless readers,
and inflicted the keenest anguish upon
all to whom he was dear. We know
not what impression all these trivial
"reminiscences produced upon the mind
Of the Surrogate Or of the public They
have certainly altered no jot Of the con-
victions entertained in regard to Mr..
Greeley's fatal illness by his nearest
friends and associates. His death was
the result of life Of continual over
work. The prodigious mental labor of
years prepared that critical state of
nervous exhaustion which rendered
him incapable of supporting the blow
inflicted by the death of his wife.
During the last summer especially the
strain upon his powers was too great
for endurance. Obeying the summons
Of his political friends, he made those
remarkable tours through New Eng
land and the West, delivering a series
of speeches which for variety, scope,
and effectiveness have no parallel in all
cur history; and when, wearied and
exhausted by these labors, and de-
pressed by the consciousness that the
cause he represented was doomed to
defeat, he was called to the bedside of
of his dying wife. He watched for
weeks ry her pillow with unselfish
and even imprudent devotion, and
when the end came the injury dono
to his high-wrought and sensitive Or
ganization was too great to be repaired.
Acute Inflammation of the membrane
of the brain set in, which ran its course
and ended in death. But before it was
developed, while his reason still held
its sway, he recognized the fact that
his fortune had been impaired by vari-
Gus unfortunate investments in South
ern railroads and the like, and espeoi-
ally by loans to persons who had pos
sessed an undue degree Of his conf
dence. Since his latest will was made
: his wife was also gone, and the circun-
stances being thus sadly and COM
: ( pIeteiy changed he concluded to cancel
all former wills, made in more pros
porous times, and leave his entire
property TO his daughters, to whose
, proper support unless more bad debts
/; could be collected than seemed then
(or seems now possible-it was barely
adequate.
Unfortunately he did not destroy a
I former will made in 1871, in which two
old friends, Messrs. Storrs and Man
ming, and business associate, Mr.. Sin
clair (Who is now bankrupt debtor to
the estate,) were named as executors.
For reasons satisfactory to these gen.
+. tlemen they concluded to contest the
will. Mr.. Sinclair subsequently with
, drew. We wish to be understood as
. making no charges against the perfect
integrity of Messrs. Storrs and Man
! ming. they were doubtless influenced
l by no worse feeling than that OF
wounded self-esteem, though they
3 finally persuaded themselves that
their consciences required them to
stand between Mr.. Greeley's daughters
and his property, and their attitude to
the orphans of their friend has been
that of frank and sincere hostility.
They have seemed convinced that the
very fact of Mr.. Greeley's making a
will in which their names were not
mentioned was prima facie evidence
of insanity. A neighbor of Mr.. Gree
ley, at Chappaqua, Mr.. Isaiah T. Will
liams, who seems from the papers in
the hands of the temporary admins.
traitor to be debtor to the estate,
threw himself with especially energetic
malice into the case, and has been
throughout the moving spring of all
the opposition to the last will. Even
3 on yesterday, after the surrender was
! complete, this man made speech full
i Of charges and insinuations so brutality
e malignant and recklessly untrue that i!
4 SCENE impossible that a person in his
senses should have uttered it.
! The facts in favor of this will were
plain and obvious. 1t was in itself q
!, better, more simple, more intelligible
!, will than than the other. 1t made 8
= perfectly reasonable and logical dis.
j position of the property. It was writ.
ten throughout in the peaceful retire.
: mcnt of Chappaqua, in his own hand.
writing, and signed with his own
name, while Mr.. Greeley was still the
: active editor of the Tribune, writing
2 daily articles irreproachable in thought
and in manner. 1t was executed ia
his last hours, when the delirium of fe.
yer was over and the peace of approach,
ing dissolution was upon him. To offset
:. these facts, the executors of the will o1
: 1871 had no resource but the accumula.
: ton Of gossip to prove the deep melan-
choly which clouded the last days Of
the great journalist. Nothing wa;
sacred from these mOusing investiga
tors: They witnesses they called posi-
), lively revelled in the sad details O
II those hours of fever and sorrow. As
It the scandalouS and distressing scene
>, went on the family and friends of Mr.
It Greeley exhausted every expedient o
compromise and persuasion. Miss
Greeley had already forestalled any un
generous insinuatiOns by conveying tC
her sister half of the estate and by of
l. fering to satisfy the claims of all lega
i, tees by the former will. Nothing
II could soften the infiexiDe hostility O
i the executors. A last effort was made
If by the editor of this paper, acting il
y behalf Of the Misses Greeley to arrive
= at some point of agreement which