National Republican., 1877-03-11
THE WILLS OFFICE.
A PEEr At THE DIsTRTCT REGISTER
AND HIS VluLTy

-, nd Large Vaults.
or, ~, ,boo ost Interesting hooks about tho OLD
cnv u.,, !, the Ills oitce, which is In tho vest
wing I'm A .ituatIop corresponding TO that OF tho
recorder of deeds ofe. In the other. II on tho
second story, by the way, Whieh Is bad for the
numerous suitors having b,'slRcss thoro, when
the inevitable spectre m de>'h 'nVaues their
households, and leaves the worldly goods OF tho
head Of tho family 20 bo administered upon and
wrsngled over by tho next Of kin. Old age and
infancy alike have to climb the tedious steps, as
we'll as eble widows, toddllng infants and tsS
venerable lawyers whose patriartnai air csusss
them to be intrused with most business OF this
KIND.
The oHco includes one large room, used ss
courtroom; two smaller rooms, used by tho
clerk and "scribes," ard two large vaults, cram.
med with the accumulated records Of seycnty.slH
years OF Orphans Court bnlness-wlll,, in7en.
tories, accounts bonds and inuumerable misceI.
iauies. The offcc began operations in
THB PrRsT YEAR OF THE CENTURY,
when the District came into separate existence,
and Washington county" (thc judicial de.ix.
nation OF the territory was carved out Of It's
sister counties in the State Of Maryland. The
Register Of Wllls In conjuction with an Orphans
Court, Is the old.ashioDed system OF that state,
and II was adopted hero without q change, so that
tho very probate Law here Is the antiqusted
Maryland act Of lTg2 without a single amend.
careful, oid.fashloned lawyers, and answers all
needs as we'll as could be expected.
The Orphans Court was abolished by Congress
1862, TO get rid OF an obnoxious Judge, In
which action THE REPUBLICAN, OF that day
was credited with an Influential part) and
its powers conferred on tho Supreme Court OF
the District Of Columbia. by a singular over.
sight In compiling the devised tatutes in relation
to the District Of Columbia n few unimportant
paragraphs OF this act were included, and the
main glst OF IT, conerring probate jurIsd elton on
wrs entirely omitted. some strict cons9nction.
ists have Therefore cOntended that in reality tho
supIepo Court ha. q" warrant Ia law for claim.
| dction." but none Of them have raised 'ho ppnt
In practice. since & might produce de plorablO
II is doubted by others whether the point Ia welI
| taken.
! ably presided over by Justice UlIn, whose
| ADNTsisTRATroN or THE DELICATE BusrTEss
| iutrustcd to him gives general ssti.factOu. Tho
| only regret is that tho demands made upon his
eiRe and clcSr.headei logic are needed, prevent
his giving hi- attention exclusively to probate
matters; Iho general in orcssiou Is hat ths Dc.
pendent tribunal, nnd have ajutgc offs Ow. some
KIND, discreet and learned magistrate, such as
the Fcgcr "G Of &HHsa & whS rsk.rS 1S nG hn.. M
charged with the duty Of keeping he urt up to
| t"t of Tuesday uhe regular court day. to d d
aIudge at liberty to come In and hear iGc appli.
cations Of the numerous suitOrs who appe lr
there, and Ia often compelled to nssum. O little
Authority for tho public good and traus lct indis-
present. trusting to hear II ratified ami armed
| aittrwntd, which, OF course, with such a trusted
ard long.experienced officer, is always promptly
| done.
! Tho records Of the ctiicc are the most interest.
Ing feature to an 0u slider, even he does not
| ptct legacy. The amount of them shows that
the probate business Of the District is not large
ns might be expected from the number Of inhab.
The reason Is that comparatively iow Of tho
large population Of Washington are domiciled
! here for life. and that most who are Of the
poorer class. There are no manufactures aud
li.;le commerce. A few leading retail merchants
who have amasscd moderate fortunes during o
AFEw LAEGE RIAL ESTATE OWNERS
comprise the rich citizens Of the District. Tho
o!lc, arc mere residents for pleasure aud poll.
tics, and tho bulk Of he population live on small
happens ,hst the business Of The FsegIstors reg Of. Il
hce, which in any other city Of the Same slrs
tive ia dispatched BY that oiiicer and two assist
ants or deputies, with one or two "scribes" during
AZ snottor instance. while the deeds Of real
estate MI hundreds Of volumes, the Wills
ihS 9FSs 'Hf, down to roR R.sl a'ossc HS
miral Goldsborough,s. in this year of ofgrace-do
vlded for them and spread .out, as are all tho
records OF the Office FOR inspection without charge.
II has been said there are Two vaults attached ts
the iile. and records Of the present register COL
Amos Webster. In this all Is neh mess anu pre-.
clsOn. The original Wills Of the past sIxty.six
years are arranged In regular order, so that any
Of tho personal estates roturncd by executors and
admihistiators have also been arranged, at the
present registers own expense, as tar back as
tors which ar" by tar the bulklest records, and
the miscellaneous papers Ofi he court prooeo eodings
are hero TO be tUund, arranged by year aud let
ter, from
THE DAY ON WHICH THE REGISTER TOOK on ARaI
OF the office and introduced strict order and sys
tom into its conduct. lie G. TOO. ure the bond.
gwen by adminisuators and guardians bound IN
large books AID suitably indeNed. In the othoI
vault, opening out OF the auditors oDlcc, Is a
IecLm%n OF re ,s T,G manner Of procGedng when
sOnnl yeTquisitr, the fees OF which were to bt
drawn with great regularity and the work al
lowed TO take caro- Of Itself 1t is not too much
to say that Ia condition of chaos. There are
bonds, accounts, vouchers, Inventories and miscel
lnnCous papers Of cyer' Ion, represeatng
the title TO millions ut property, all that in the
District, in fact, which has ever passed by In
heritance or administration. carclossly done up
in bundles with rubber bands and stacked away
like cnrd-wOod. All the orig nal Wills and n con
nom the wreck by the personal efforts Of thr
present register but to complete The rost OF the
work is beyond his individual resources, and call
for the Intervention of Confessional aid.
small appropriation to arrange and secure thes,
priceless records Is one Of tho things which Don
rubber bands are rottnR; the labels and wrap
pers mouldering, and every now aud then hun,
Tor some Indispensable, missing voucher or docu
meLt uDayoldahly Jars tho remaining mass int,
still more ine&trlcablr confusion.
1t not. however, tho Intention to say wha
ought to be done but what Is to no soen.
, THE BREEZY SUNNY ROOMS
IN the top story OF the old building hlvs liItlo Il
conn on with mortality which they remind o.
(unless IL be tho dust that fingers about them,
! and one has to examine the numerous record
which grow year by year (sinee the salutary rul
, othaylnE everything spread on the record ha
: been adopted) to be reminded how fast men ar
cropping iRto tire tomb. and leaving their hoart
ings TO the care OF others. Even the reporte
who writes these lines will have to quilt his cal
ing on THE REPUBLICAN one OF these days, an
. bequeath his assets OF one lie I'D pencil and q ss
) Of old clothes TO bother the Probate Court.
"Much obliged for your Information, Colonel,
raid the representative OF TIT REPURLiCAH
the courteous Re.ister MS he passed out. adding
with ghastly leyty, "Buslnoss Is Y of, hope" "
0 "NOt nj all; not at all" said the official wit
s a roguisb twinkle In his eye; "distresslngl
healthy, assure you"
a Tho Friend Of y PrInoe.