Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-02-22

Yesterday morning it was stated in the
GLOBE, that Mrs. Washburn. the widow of
the late Cadwallader G. Washburn, had
made application in the probate court of
Hennepin county, to have that portion of
the real estate left by her husband in Min
nesota set off to her; that the executors
had obtained from the supreme court
writ of prohibition against the probate
Judge acting in the matter for
want of jurisdiction, and that motion
had been made in the supreme court to
quash the writ of prohib ition, and that
motion was to be argued at 1'elock yester-
day morning.
HISTORY OF THR C4sE.
The case is full of in crest and the fol-
lowing is as brief and IS comprehensive a
statement of it as can well be given. On
the 31st of December, 1881, Mr. Washburn
made his Will, and on the 14th day of May,
1882, he died, being then a citizen and
resident of Wisconsin. In his will he pro-
vided as follows:
Second-I direct my executors to bear
constantly in mind the wants of my wife,
and to set aside, use and eXpend what
ever monies may be necessary, consistent
~ with her condition, to provide for her
comfort and physical health, and L place
no limit upon the sums which they may
spend FOR the purpose indicated.
The deceased then declares his intention
to put all his flour mills III Minneapolis into
a corporation, but if his executors think
it undesirable for while to do so they
need not If they do not put the mills into
a corporation during the first five
years after his death, then he directs that
they dispose of two of them to the Fidelity
Insurance and Safe Deposit company of
Philadelphia. He also makes provisions
for the disposal of his property to his
daughter and to others.
On the 18th day of May, 1882, Gysbert
Van Steenwyk. Charles Payson and
Charles j. Martin, who apply for this writ,
the executors named in the will, caused
the same to be presented for probate in
the county court of Lafayette county, Wis,
and on or about the 9Th day of July, 1882,
the will was duly probated by such court,
the parties above named appointed execu-
tors, and qualified and entered upon their
duties. The will was also probated Aug.
%, 1882, in the probate court in and for
the county of Hennopin, state of Minneso-
ia, and the same persons were appointed
executors in that state, and entered upon
the discharge of their duties.
Mr.. Washburn, at the time of his death,
owned real and personal prop
erty in Wisconsin and Minnesota
of the value of several hundred thousand
dollars in each of said states. The real
property in Minnesota was acquitted long
prior to the year 1870, and consisted in
great part of Touring mills in the city of
Minneapolis of the capacity to manufac-
ture about 5000 barrels of -four per day,
and with the land on which the mills stand
is the identical property described as the
Touring mills in Minneapolis.
At the time of his death he had
been married moro than thirty
years and left surviving his widow,
Jeanette Washburn, and two married
daughters, Jeanette Kelsey. and Fannie
Payson. The widow is sixty-two years of
age, and has been insane without a lucid
interval for more than twenty-five years,
and is incurable. After the death of Mr..
Washburn and on the 1st day of August,
1882, George K. Chase, of the city of New
York, was appointed by the county court
of La Crosse county, Wisconsin, and after
wards by the probate court of Hepnepin
county, Minnesota, the guardian of the
widow and duly qualified.
The laws of Wisconsin provide that in
case any provision is made for woman
in the will of her husband she shall elect
whether she will take this provision so
made or claim instead the provision made
for her by law; and that unless within one
year after the death of her husband she
elect to take the provision made by law,
she shall be deemed to have elected to
take the provision made by will
George K. Chase, as such guardian,
claims the right to elect for her, and to re-
nouncs all provisions made for her in said
will, and to take for her instead the pro-
vision made by law, and has demanded
one third of the personal property of the
deceased and her dover interests in the
LAM. situate in Wisconsin, and in addition
thereto an undivided one third of all the
testator's real estate situate IN the state
of Minnesota, and the possession thereof.
The executors insist that Chase, as such
guardian, has no right to so elect for the
widow; that the election is a personal
right, not transferable; and that if, for any
reason, it cannot be exercised by her, the
provisions of the will must
prevail. They also insist that
the widow cannot take under the will
and also take under the law of Minnesota
one-third of the lands in fee, and that
neither she nor her guardians, so long as
she remains insane, can file notice in the
probate court that she elects to take under
the provisions of law rather than under the
will.
The affidavit states that Chase, as guar
dian, further claims that, if he has not the
right to elect the election can and will be
made by the court by virtue of its equity
jurisdiction, and that the court will decide
that the widow shall take against the will
rather than. under the provisions of the
will.
The executors deny that the court has
any such power, and allege that whereas,
in this case, the widow is insane, and am
pie provision is made by the will for her
support and maintenance, and that the
testator has selected his personal friends
to execute the will, and placing no limit
upon the amount they may spend in pro-
viding for her support, the court will not
interpose to defeat the intention of the
testator.
Mr.. Chase, as guardian, sometimes
claims that the widow is entitled to one