The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1880-06-03
TIE GREENWOOD WILL AGAIN.


many inquiries in relation to the eircu-
lar known as "The Greenwood VIII
Case.D Being Informed by Mrs. Cline
that the large edition Of the circular is
exhausted, we have yielded TO what
seems a political necessity, and so use a
large portion Of our space in presenting
some Of the facts in these columns-facts
for which we are Indebted in part to oal
own knowledge, but chiefly for their
present compilation 10 the circular iu
question.
It is well known TO our readers that
Mrs. Elizabeth Greenwood, mother oi
Mrs. Mary C. Cline, Eliza Smith and
William Greenwood, made a will a
number of years before her death, be-
queathing TO Mrs. Cline a valuable es-
tate. when Mr.. G. died, the bulk ol
his estate was divided between his wife
William and Eliza, and Mrs. c., as an
act OF justice, left her third to Mary }
After the death Of the testatrix,
which occurred in August, 1876, VIM.
Greenwood and Eliza Smith instituted
proceedings to have the will declared
null and void, employing Hon. r. p.
Boise aud Messrs. Thayer & Williams
to prosecute the suit. When the case
reached the Circuit Court, Boise was on
the bench, and IL was transferred tC
Clackamas county, where Judge +. D.
Shattuek was presiding. All the evi.
dence being in before Judge Shattuck
and taken down in full, he promptly de-
cided that it was a good and valid will
which decision was made in 1878. The
plaintiffs Greenwood and SMITH then
appealed to the Supreme Court. VIII.
Jams, having TO so to Washington e;
Congressman, took c. B. Bellinger into
the case to assist Thayer, as BellingeI
was clerk Of the Supreme Court and
supposed TO have some influence. Then
Jas. X. Kelly, having returned to Port.
land to practice law, took up his office
with Bellinger, forming an equitable
arrangement" with him so as TO avoid
the statute which prohibits the Supreme
Court clerk from having Claw" part
ner. They divided their fees and ex-
penses. IL is supposed. but not certainly
known, that Belllnger took Kelly in
with him on his interest in the case. In
June, 1878, Thayer was elected Gov.
ernor. An unconstitutional act of the
Legislature was passed IN October, 1878
turning out the five Supreme Couri
Judges (three Of whom, Shattuck, Nc.
Arthur and Watson, have a very high
and just reputation for Integrity and
ability, and authorizing the Governor
10 appoint three separate Supreme
Judges in a distinct class, in lieu of the
former five. This act was procured to bt
passed, as is generally understood, by
Thayer, Bellinger, Kelly, Williams anC
others interested in the decision o
numerous large cases in which tn,
schemers had heavy contingent fees.
AS it is impossible to give the case
full hearing in the brief space at oul
command, we must necessarily Orni
much that We should be pleased to pre-
sent to the reader.
In the year 1s4s, Mrs. Greenwood set
tied with her husband upon the dona
tion claim, one-half OF which was Mrs
G.'s individual property. William anC
Eliza were in prosperous circumstance.
in 1872 when Mrs. Greenwood was
widow, and the will was made), anC
each Of them had had every opportunity
which Mrs. Cline had not, to "infiu,
ence'e their mother for years prior tC
that time. 1t is true there is some evi,
dence that Mrs. Greenwood in 1869 at.
tended a seance at Lawson's in Salem
going with Mr.. and Mrs. Cline of hel
own accord, purely out OF curiosity, and
coming away with her oft-expressed be,
lief that it was q humbug. Mr.. and
Mrs. Cline aud Mrs. Johns all testify tc
that effect; and Anderson, Chapel and
others likewise testify to her disbelief
and the Court itself declines to decide
that she became believer in Spiritual.
ism. Indeed, absolute proof of her dis.
belief is the fact lf true as testified by
William) that che refused to move to
Salem on the request Of her deceased
husband, alleged to have been made "a
Mrs. Cline on the stage. That was the
only time Mrs. Cline was ever with bel
at seance, and there is no tangible evi.
dence of any other occasion when she
visited one Of these circles. Certainly
Mrs. Cline's influence then in Is69-7C
could not have been controlling over
her, for she could not persuade her ia
move TO Salem, though Mrs. Cline ad.
mits she sought to have her do so, and
William and Eliza make her out 10
have been exceedingly anxious, and
falling even by an alleged artifice. Then
from what source, from what possible
opportunity, could have arisen this con-
trolling aud undue influence on which
the deliberate will Of Mrs. Greenwood il
to be set aside? Not from Spiritualism
the Court virtually comedies that by
saying that they are not satisfied she
became believer in that ism. It 1:
only where the clear, unmistakable op.
portunity existed-where the devisor /.
in the power Of the devisee-for the ex.
ercise Of the "undue influence" thai
even the widest courts ever raise a pre-.
sumption, on slight evidence, of its ae
tual exercise, requiring the devlsees tC
rebut it, and even then only when the
will is an unjust one. It is not to be
found on the daY Of the making of thf