Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-27
THE GREAT WILL CONTEST
A Georgia MilliOnafre's Relatives Feed.
ing BIS Estate to LAWYERS.
NJ Aeansa s. SpeesGstO 0Onrier-JOurndl.

atlanta specialize CORrier-Jouraal
The Shorter VIII case was under arOu.
ment for new trial here TODAY haforo
Judge Stewart, who has reserved his da-
eision until Saturday. There is more
money involved in this case than in anv
Otner except the will of Mary Telfairr
0,, Mhlcn lawyers tried so hard to break mn
Inc shorter family is one of wide rela.
tionshlp, both in Georgia and Ala
s osina, Eli Shorter having been Governor
oi the latter State Alfred Shortay
whose viii is in dispute. was born,
IN Wilkes county in 1903. When
SIX years old his mother died and he went
70 i've with his grandfather. His father
married again and had several children
1y the second marriage. When Alfred
shorter began life for himself, he went to
monticello, where he was EMPLOYED by
hr. Baldwin, leading merchant, and
was taken into partnership. The firm
prospered, and in its profits was laid the
foundation of what afterward became
ine prlncely Shorter fortune. Baldwin
qled, and the business was continued nv
onorter as surviving partner, Baldwin's
widow retaining her husbands interest.
FINALLY Shorter married Mrs. Baldwin.
/ but they had no children. Two sisters III
Mrs. Shorter lived near her. They were
Mrs Harper and Mrs. Cooley, both blessed
/ with offspring. The families were quite
intimate, and Mr.. Shorter saw a great
deal Of his wife's nieces and nephews.
! Ihlrty-nye years ago, Harper, Shorter's
/ brOther-ln-iaw, moved to Rome. Cooley
followed. 1t was not long before Shorter
went 10 Floyd county also, He invested
largely in real estate and mines. and was
one OF the projectors of the Rome Railroad
and largely engaged in banking. Cooley
I and Harper died, and Shorter adj
mlnistered on their estates. Their
children lived near him, and for
many years some of the Harper children
We're part OF his family. Shorter rapidly
/ grew frUm prosperous into a wealthy
man. Eight years ago his wife died, and
about the same time he founded Shorter
/ College. His first gift was $4,000. but
/ ne furnished the institution with all its
buildings and appliances. which cost,
besides this donation, $3.50 In his
/ VIII, $4,000 more wasIgiven to the school.
I which rounded off the sum of $500 900
donated for the education of the women
I of Georgia.
Last July he died in his eightieth year.
[ He left will in his own Handwriting,
/ and the bulk of his property was left to
/ COOley's and Harper's children. his resi-
I dence gong to the Beeland children, the
| offspring of a sister of the deceased,
| and to Shorter College. When the will
was offered for probate it was cav
Gated by the children of the half
I brothers and sisters of Shorter. The Or
/ dinary of Floyd county prObated the will
over the caveat. An appeal was taken
and the case was called at the March
term and occupied eleven days in its hear
/ ing. The jury sustained the will and
counsel moved for new trial. This mo-
I tiOn was called before Judge Stewart yes
I terday afternoon at O'Clock.
The value Of the estate is hard to de-
I termine. as it is in stocks, railroad prop
/ erty and mining enterprises. There was
not work of internal improvement in
/ the State in which Shorter was not inter-
! ested. Good judges say the value is fully
/ $l,00O,O00. In its distribution the Cooley
| children received about $780, 900, the Har-
/ per children, except Mrs. Hamilton, about
/ SOC, 900; the Beeland heirs, $4,000; Shor-
/ ter College, $4,000, and Mrs. Hamilton,
/ S150.OO0
/ The caveatOrs are I. b. Burge, James
I Truitt, Nathan Truitt, Mrs. Priddy and
/ the heirs of Henry A. Shorter in Arkan-
sas. Some contest was made by the Bee
\ land children because of an alleged
/ change of their bequest from $4,000 to
] $4,000. The grounds of contest are that
! shorter was unduly influenced in making
/ his VIII by Mr.. and Mrs. Hamilton, and
also that in writing and putting the will
together some of the pages were so mis-
| numbered as to make the document in
I xraIfT