South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1883-10-26
THE MIsER.s WILL.

John Howell, or Uncle Howell. as
he Was known by his neighbors, liv-
ed and died in the once fashionable
quarter of Boston known as the North
End, but which is now, in point Of in.
habitants, the humblest portion of the
metropolis OF New England. Uncle
Howell was confirmed old Miser.
& at the age Of eighty nine found him.
self very intirm and entirely alone ia
the world, SO far "a any blood rela-
tons were concerned, except couple
ofnephews.
lie had never been married, bat
had lived q lonely, cherries life, de-
voting all his energies to the accum.
ulaiion Of money. He had been pc.
cuniarily successful, and now, just on
the edge of the grave, he was a very
rich man, and he began to realize as
death approached, that he had been
heaping up Ghost of reasons to stand
in more awe of him. He had made
the usual blundor OF such men, for no
had mistaken gold for his good, where.
as 1t Is only the means whereby to Oh,
| tain il.
His. physician told Uncle Howell
that he could not last much longer.
putting the information in such lam
guagc Us to shock the old man as lit>
tie as possible, and also sugg csted to
him the propriety OF making at once
such business settlements 10 might
be necessary Lefore it was too late
All this sounded very serious to I'm.
Gle Howell, and for the irst time, per-
liaps, he began TO fully realize that he
and his gold Must soon separate. Still
he had been u business maa all his
life, and accustomed to act promptly
IN an emergency.
So the Old gentleman sent for his
lawyer to draw up his last will and
testament
1t was hard To give away tho wealth
which he had been life time in ac-
cumula,ing. the gold, to secure which
he denied himself SO much but there
was no other alternative. lie could
not take it with him out OF this
world, so set himselfto thinking bat
he should do with it.
As We have said, he had but two
blood relations living-Albert and
James Palmer. They were brothers,
the iorne: being the elder. lIis fa-
voyite nephew was dead, Lat had left
Young widow i'll Chicago where he
had made his home. Ii Martin Coo
Gdge, this favorito nephew, had lived
doubtless lie would have been the
principal heir to John Howell, but
now the old man bethougt.t himself
how he could best favor the young
widow who had been left by Lis ne.
pAow.
| After long talk with his legal al.
wiser, ana having arranged for few
public requests in the way Of charity.
and handsome legacyto his old and
faithful housekeeper, Lydia Green, he
divided the balance OF his property in
to two parts, making the sums OF one
hundred and two hundred thousand
dollars respectively. This money was
to DC given to his two nephews, Al
bert and James Palmer, on the fol.
lowing conditions, namely:
The one who would marry Martin
Coolidge's widow was to receive the
larger portion, and the other one was
to receive the hundred thousand as
his SHIRE. The young men were to
decide the matter by lot,or otherwise,
as to which should seek the widows
hand. If she declined to marry eth
or of them, then the nephcws were to
have each one hundred thousand dol
lars, and like sum was to be devoted
TO additional charities to those already
named in the Will.
This was the purport of the singu-
lar document which was yer. careful.
~ drawn, signed, properly witnessed,
and safely deposited in the Probate
Court. This was the last piece of
business consummatcd-by the old gen.
tleman, who, feeling that he was fad
ing fast, tried in n crude way to
make peace with his conscience, and
was soon after laid in Lis narrow
home.
The brothers Palmer lived in New
York. They had known little Of their
uncle, save that he was rich and mis-
erly. Their late cousin, Martin Coo.
lidge, or his widow, neither Of them
had ever seen. Albert was about %
years OF age, and young man Of
good character, engaged in bank as
assistant cashier; while his brother
James was just twenty-five years Of
age, and had established himself in Il
favorable location aud put out his sign
as civil engineer.
They were duly summoned to at
tend their unclo's funeral, aud, in duty
bound. responded. Never having
cultivated any intimacy with the de-
ceased, they had no idea Of the char.
acter Of his will, nor indeed expected
TO be anything more than perhaps 're.
membered' IN H. Uncle Howell had
always been 20 inaccessible that they
could never see him when they came
to Boston.
. L 4 L a