The Red Cloud chief., 1877-06-28

A Re0arkab1e SeG9y.
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A decision h expected from Justice
Barnard In . few days in the matter Of
the motion made In Kings county. Last
week. on behalf Of John r Hay. 10 81
aside the will Of James Hay, deceased
The story connected with the will b
one which Is possessed Of singular and
interesting features. About the year
1908, James G. LeAke. q bachelor. died
in this city. leaving an estate worth
between 100000 and $4,000. A. be
left no will the estate fell into the pos
session Of the State. no heirs being
found. The present value Of the prop
erty Ii believed to be about tl0O.OOo.IoO.
James Hay, IN 1925. having heard Of
the estate in question, from some rels-
tives in Glasgow. who claimed to be the
legitimate heirs Of James G. Leake.
came to this country with power Of At
torney to present the claims Of the Hay
family to the Legislature. He left
behind him a wife, and frequently WIS.,
tied Scotland on business connected
with the claim, which latter was refer
red to a committee of the State Assem-
bly, in 1885. The committee, in their
report on the claim, stated that they
had traced the ancestry Of James G.
Leake up to n named Robert Lake. o.
Leake, a General in the British army.
who was killed at the battle Of Det-
tingen. As to the heirship from Robert
downward the committee was unable
to determine whether the Hays or an
English family named Lake we're the
legitimate heirs. The report was ad-
verse to either claimant.
II QUESTION OF LEGITIMACY.
James Hay continued to press his
claim before each session of the Legis-
lature up to 1870. The estate is now
united with the Watts estate, which
latter also lapsed to the State under
similar circumstances, and endOws two
asylums for orphans, at Bloomingdale
and at Hastings. The plaintiff in the
present case is John Radcliffe Hay, a
clergyman, late Of Canada, a Vol of
James Hay by his Scotch wife. His
legitimacy was, however. denied by his
! father, who had lived with a woman
named Harriet Wight, in Williams
burg, for many years, and by whom he
had n child, a daughter. About ten
years ago an advertisement appeared
in the papers for one Harriet Wight, or
any of her descendants, and subse-
quently, in response to it, a Canadian,
known as Col. Cuff, appeared in Eng
land in company with a girl and James
Hay, the claimant for the Leake estate.
The girl, Hay alleged, was the legiti-
mate child of Harriet Wight and him.
self. The property to which Harriet
Wight or her descendants were left
heirs amounted in value to several mil
lion dollars. A commission came from
London to investigate the legitimacy
of the girl. and found that Harriet
Wight died in 1850, and they also found
a certificate of marriage of James Hay
to her and an entry of the christening
of the girl. They found, however, that
the latter was born five months after
the arrival of her mother in this
country, and as the seas had divided
the father and mother for four or five
years before that event q serious Obsta-
Gle in the matter of establishing her
legitimacy was encountered.
When James Hay was questioned
before the English Chancery Court as
to his Scotch wife, the mother of James
Radcliffe Hay, he denied all knowledge
of her. 1t vas shown, however, that
he had two children by her, and he ulti.
mately admitted that he knew such a
woman. 1t was ascertained by the
Commissioners that in 1885 Mrs. Hay
arrived in New York, and by adver.
Using in the Herald in 1868 information
was obtained of her.
A REVELATION.
The matrOD of Blackwelrs Island re.
vealed the fact that the Scotch wife had
been On the island for thirty-thres
years, and vas then an inmate Of the
Lunatic Asylum. She was taken to
England, and testified before the Chan.
terry Court that she was the lawful wife
of James Hay at the time the latter
claimed to have married Harriet Wight
The aunts of the daughter of Harriet,
however, settled on the girla handsome
income. John Hay, q nephew of James
Hay, contributed to the support of the
old gentleman in his declining years,
and, in consideration of q settlement
made on his uncle, the latter conveyed
to him all his supposed claim to the
Leake property. and also made q will in
his favor. After the death of James,
in 1870, the will was presented for pro-
bate in the Kings County Surrogate's
Court. and John Radcliffe Hay opposed
it. A compromise was finally agreed
upon between the son and the nephew,
by which each wa to divide equally
81! 900 in United States bonds and the
Leake claim. A claim for the $1,000
was subsequently presented by q law.
yer whe held from deceased the power
of attorney to demand it. On petition
of John Hay the Supreme Court ad.
;nAro6 tho old mon q 1upof;~ ou6 rohu