Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-07-20
A RICH OLD WOMAN
Falls in Love With an Ex-COnfederaie
Soldier, Supports Him in Idleness
and, Dying, Leaves Him
A Very Large Fortune, Which He Ai''
Eventually Lose 1t by Law.

to the Times of this city tells the folloS'hs
very Interesting and romantic story; 10 -
the adopted heir of a millionaire maiden "
ihreescore and ten years is, on the lace o. -.
an enviable position, but the strange storl "
| Miss joys money illustrates the old sayipS
that much money brings much trouble, az
1t also illustrates very forcibly indeed lne
glorious uncertainty of the law. Miss 10y
above mentioned was for many years q
| miliar feature in everyday life as seen
Dublin streets. She was very wealthy ano
very eccentric. Her leading eccentriclty va W.
one becoming a woman OF great 1eAi.n-
When she went out for walk in the cry
she usually spent thousands of pounds ~
jewelry for her personal adornment, and u
was found that in one OF the characterize
"shoppings" she expended as much as LiV,-
600 in diamond rings, gold chains, braceie.s,
etc. Unlike most ladies OF stfiuenee, she
had no pet dogs or cats. She had but one
live pet, and that was an ex-csptaIn VINO
was supposed to have served in the Con
federate army IN the American civil war
Captain James F. Lalor, who, having re-
turned 10 HIS native land was knocking
about the town" in the underlined fashion Pc
culiar TO such retired soldiers OF fortune
Miss Joy much patronized the Confederate
captain, to whom she gave cdTte 6tdncae 20
travel on the continent at her expense, ana
when dying she left to him by will her en-
there was a long fight over this will; the
captain was no connection whatever OF MS
bountiful patroness who converted him from
being the pennlless protege OF a whImslcai
old woman into a man OF immense wealth.;
relatives of the testatrix turned up in great
number, and at length, her legal heir-at-iaw
having been ascertained among crowd oil
claimants whom the property had attracted
from the ends of the earth, the struggle lor
Mas Jov'a money commenced in the Court oil
Probate between this heir-at-law and the
captain as absolute devisee under the will, The
former alleging that the old woman was mad,
and, of course, sttributing ali manner oil
fraud and trickery 10 the latter.
substantial slice of Miss joys money
went in legal expenses in this suit, which
ended in the triumph of the captain. Soon
after this the heir-st-law took TO bed and
died; then the captain took TO bed and also
died before he had time 10 carry out his In
tention of celebrating his triumph by driving
a coach and six" through Dublin streets:
By his will he bequeathed his. splendid
estate which he received from Miss Joy TO
bis two nieces, married women, who in turn
jumped from next door to poverty into great
wealth. Their experience in connection with
Miss joys money has been distressing in the
highest degree. They and their respective
husbands and sons and daughters had en-
tered on their new life as estated persons
with great spirit; the inheritance seemed as
we'll and truly secured TO them as il they had
put all the money together themselves. Miss
joys will had passed the crucial test OF
three weeks trial in the Court of Probate,
and the captains will had been duly proved.
But there is no limit TO the ingenuity OF
lawyers when pot OF money" 10 the prize
that offers The deceased heir-at-law of
Miss Joy, who WAS defeated in the struggle
in the Probate Court with Captain Lalor,
left an heir-at-law, poor, penniless person,
who went about among the solicitors, and as
the result an enterprising member OF
the profession took up the case and
opened a legal attack on the old lady's will
upon new lines. He instituted an action OF
electment, In the name OF the heir-at-law oil
Miss Joy, against the devisees Of Captain
Lalor, to recover possession from them OF the
real estate which the captain took under
Miss joys will and which they took under
his will. This case in reality became a new
inquiry into the circumstances connected
with the making OF Miss joys will, which in
the Probate Court had been declared by the
verdict OF special Jury not to have been
frauduientiy obtained by the captain from
his old pstroness, but TO be her last true will
and testament. The plaintiff in this action,
which was tried this week in the Court of
Exchequer, PLAYED high game for a great
stake; he alleged in as plain English as the
document which The deceased captain pro-
duced as Miss joys will had never been
signed by her, and that the signature "Mary
Anne Joy" at the foot Of it was a
forgery. Experts in handwriting swore
both ways for two days, TO the pro-
found bewilderment of the jury, who listened
TO elaborate and conflicting theories and
opinions 10 how Miss Joy usually "put
the tails to her vs." whether certain -four
ish about the IN" was or was not a charac-
teristic OF her calligraphy and SO on. OF the
two attesting witnesses to the will, one is now
dead and the survivor wasn't able to help the
jury much. He saw an old woman sign
paper; he was told at the time that this old
woman was Miss Joy, but as he had never
seen Miss Joy previously, he, of course.
couldn't swear that it the whom he saw
sign the paper. The theory necessarily based
on this, In case where forgery was alleged,
was that the old woman whom the witness
saw sign the document was the instrument
for the preparation of an sudacious fraud
by the captain and his friends; that in tact,
she was dressed mp TO represent Miss Joy
Tor wiil,msklng purposes. The special jury
promptly found that the signature 10 the
alleged will is a forgery. The result,
30 far, is that the legal right to Miss Joys
real estate is declared to be not in the nieces
OF Captain Lalor, but in the heir.at-law OF
Miss Joy. The nieces, who had been needy
all their lives, were possessed of great wealth |
for about twelve months, and they are now
by this verdict flung back into poverty. Tho |
terrible Tantalus of the law ia here seen in |
all It's cruel uncertainty. As a matter of |
course, the case will not be allowed to rest as |
it now stands. There will be continuance
of the fight before every available tribunal |
in Ireland, and when all these are exhausted |
the parties will cross the English channel |
and have the final fight before the House of |
Lords. By the time this ultimate stage is |
reached Miss joys money will have been re- |
duced by the exhausting processes OF the |
law by at least one-half.