The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-03-28

weeks there has been on triat IN court ol
Common Pleas o cayeat to the will OF the
late John Tolley Johns, OF this city, during
,he progress Of which the skeleton In the
close, of one Of the most prominent. fami.
lies in Maryland and Virginia has been ruth
irs.ly brought before the public. The story,
summarized from the sworn evidence in the
csse. "a ~ follows On the evening Of Au-
oo,.t 18th last John Tolley Johns, a wealthy
ia bachelor. whose wild escapades had
Rem the subject OF general comment among
,he bcsi-known families of the state,
"ammitsed suicide nj his country-scat,
..poyer." near ReistcrSown, Baltimore
county, by shooting himself through the
tcad with a pistol. His family had lived
:, aDover" for over a century. His
cr,ndfather. Colonel Richard Johns, set
,eI there before the Revolution. His
.rsndiaiher and the Hon. kcrsey Johns,
2; Del,ware. were brothers, having been
IN Al =. Sudley another family resi-
,sn.e--on West river, Anne Arundel
county. The latter had three sons-ilon.
r.,.cy 5ohns. OF Delaware; Bishop Johns.
., virginia. and Rev. III. V. ID. Johns. OF
T,l,imorc: all Of whom are well known in
tbcir respective States.
THE SUICIDES WILL.
,c,en the will OF John FOLEY Johns was
III II was found that he had left his
o Ip.'re nropertv. valued in all at nearly n
~ million dollars, 10 the children OF
~" Johns and the Rev. III. Y. ID. Johns,
n's"g III,,r, the latter executor. The only
spIa.,hrance Of his immediate family was
l' urnnc.t 81 an annuity Of 5000 for life to
spI IT tie wife Of Harris Hodges,
Va wcalthy and prominent merchant Of
-. civ The will was a complete
~. IN the immediate family OF
~, Hn decea.ed. aud they immediately
' notice Of an intention TO con-
90, ne relatives on both sides not inn
,.ei;a,eIy interested in the will endeavored
y, &C., a COMPROMISE, in order to avoid
-. 'na,dol which il was known would at
III 10 the family name, and particularly
=. ,ha, nj ibe tesiaior. were the latter's
,'uade. ventilated in q court Of justice.
IN, AL not succeed. and the case went
=, ccur, the contestants being represented
-, MI. / Neyih steele, Machen Il Git
80 Rro,n & Browne. II. q. Macintosh,
wa3o, lain G.. Cfeloti. Charles +. Garrittee,
"a slinrluif & Slingluff. There was an
en,,ally formidable array OF talent for the de
80 The counsel retained being Messrs. X.
u poarman. Charles Marshall, and Judge IL.
n Marshall. the latter OF Richmond, repre-
sen,inrtbc Virginia branch oithe family and
others The proceedings Of the case have
been listened 10 daily by hundreds Of the
,no.t nrominent society people in the city.
Tho crotnd taken for the contest was that
the decreased was Of unsound mind, while
tho defeis claim that the remarkable &C.
centricite. which he committed during life
originated from his extremely di>sipated
h,bit. Both sides have been unrelenting
In osssing The character OF their dead
kinsman-wiih different mOtiyes-and the
result has been that the escapadcs OF the
unfortunate suicide have been public pro-
per,y.
RICH MANS EscAPADEs.
II yas developcd in the evidence that
Johns. from early childhood, was given TO
terrible spell, OF dissipation. during which
he would spend thousands Of dollars and
become 80 crazy that he would have TO be
sent 70 an nebriate asylum. Or. William
f. Stuart, proprietor Of an asylum OF this
character near Mt De Sales. testified that
Johns had been frequent inmate OF his
establishment from 1876 until within a
month o. bis death. About 1877 Rich
ard, brother OF John FOLEY Johns,
NitQ NtIN NWlNtlllN III NAltauA, hHN
was generally believed to have COM
miited suicide. This theory, however,
John FOLEY Johns would never accept, and
once during q lit OF mania a pOtU he be-
came convinced that Richard had been
murdered by their cousin, Horace Love.
This belief never left him. and II IL upon
this point, among others, that the plea OF
insanity /, based. As showing the IRA
III. n
contestants produced "A witness named Ste
phcn Lloyd, who swore that Tolley came
10 his house one day and offered him 100
acres Of valuable land il he would Kill
Love. some % Johns sprceS resulted not
only IN prohisate expenditures, but GER
tainly rendered him crazy for the time be-
Ing. H. would hire valuable horses at liv-
cry stables and make enormous bets with
boon companions that he could drive them
10 death within i certain period. These
little pecuiaritics. added 10 other equally
wild and senselcSs freaks. sometimes caused
his expenditures while on a spree to reach
a. high rs $4,000 i'm three or four days.
On such occasions he would frequently
give away money to strangers, and the men,
ton Of the name of Horace Love would
cause him to fy into violent rage, during
which be was dangerous TO approach.
During his sprees Johns would take delight
IN assaulling or insulting poor people and
then presenting them with $500 or II .OOO
IN payment for his Gun"
AN OLD SLAVES STORY.
Heity Mack, an old family slave, testified
that one night, while Massa Tolley was
on spree, he came down to her quarters,
and, taking of his CATERS, threw them ont
10y one into the fire and watched them burn
up, laughing loudly meanwhile. He thef
lett the caoin, and, although the snow wa
on the ground, danced around in hi
slOcking-ieet for five or ten minutes
afterwards walking back TO his home
~ was Johns's custom after recovering IRON
bis sprees 10 become Unfortunately melan
choly, which would make him talk Wild.
OF committing suicide until some othe
escapade would divert his thoughts TEN
porarily. Only the magnificent constltu
lion and splendid intellect OF which d.
was originally possessed prevented John
from breaking down altogether under IN
strain Of the twenty-odd years OF terribl
dissipation which finally eliminated II
self-dcstruction. Being member OF on
Of the oldest and wealthiest families
this State and Virginia, handsome, ant
possessed Of splendid fortune, Johns
with his talents, could have attaine'
almost any social or public position: a
Il was, during his sober intervals, which
towards the last became very infrequent
he was much sought after by prominen
families who had manageable daughters
IIis own home, for obvious reasons, was a
sealed book TO the world, the only person
who ever saw the interior Of il during tn
last decade Of his life being his servants
The relatives OF Johns, who. as has bee
stated, were emincntly respectable, mad
ss.o..,.,... A.. A. ...l.;.,, him failiu