The Portland daily press., 1886-01-04
Ex-cov. comuRN's WILL.
Proceedings of the Hearing at skow-
hegan Saturday.
Opening Arguments for the Petition
ers.
[Special to the Press.

Especial to the Press.l
SKoWHEGAN, Jan. g. The contest over
the Coburn will was resumed today. Mi.
Stewart occupied the entire forenoon and
portion of the afternoon in completing MS
opening argument for the petitioners. he
charged the executors of the will with obtain
ing journal order of notice from the pro-
bate court Jan. 6, 1885, and then keeping the
will concealed so that no person could obtain
access to it for eight days. when, by law ana
usage, the will Should have remained on the
files of the probate court for theinspeetlon OF
all parties interested in its contents, ana
kept open for that purpose. Mr. Putnam,
one of the counsel for the executors, inter-
rupted Mr.. Stewart by stating that the VIII
was read to the family on the night OF GOV.
Coburn's death, which led Mr.. Stewart to
reply that, if that was so, the heirs were not
all notified to be present, as the petitioners
who lived in California, knew nothing about
the will until more than three weeks after
Gov. Coburn's decease. Among the reasons
urged by Mr.. Stewart why the will should be
set aside was on account of the want OF busl-
ness and testamentary capacity OF Gov CO.
burn for several years previous to his death.
Gov. Coburn, he said, on account of declining
faculties, had mismanaged his immense
property and that also of his brother Philan-
der, which he held in trust; and had he lived
and continued to manage it as he had for 10
years before his death, there would not have
been a dollar left for a legatee or an heir.
Mr.. Stewart insisted that the manner IN
which Gov Coburn had paid away, If not
squandered, the money belonging to the
estate of Philander could only be the result
of want of business capacity or OF dis
honesty Nobody charged him with the
latter He suffered immense losses in wild
cat securities. The nominal value of his in
vestments in stocks and securities amounted
to $2,416,S74 which, in the inventory, are on
ly appraised at $220,972.3S. Mr.. Stewart
stated that he had been credibly informed
that there were some 100000 or 100000 In
notes of hand that Gov. Coburn held not
enumerated in the inventory, which have be-
come outlawed and perfectly worthless.
Several witnesses were called by the peti-
titioners and examined.
Judge Buswell, probate judge, testified that
Mr.. Dascomb, one of the executors OF the
will, brought iIfto the probate office Jan. s,
1885, four days after the demise of Gov. Co.
burn, a sealed package containing, as he
stated, the will of Gov. Coburn, on the out
side of which was the following superscrip-
ton in the handwriting of Mr.. Dascomb:
''Within is the will of Abner Coburn, not to
be opened until Jan. a. Mr.. DaScOmb OBJ
tanned a formal order of notice that the will
would be presented for probate Feb
ruary g. The package was then
left in charge of the register of pro-
bate, with instructions to let no person
see it until Jan. IA. Judge Buswell request
ed Mr.. Dascomb to send an abstract OF the
will to the Associated Press, but that gentle
man did not say that he would or would not,
but as he made no dissent he supposed that
he would but he did not. Judge Buswel
testified that Eleanor L. Turner, a legatee in
the will for $4,000, was his aunt by marriage.
S. II. Goodwin, register of probate, testified
that he was present when Mr.. Dascomb came
to the probate office with the sealed package
containing the will. He did not recollect
just what Mr.. Dascomb said, but he did
recollect that the judge of probate told him
in Mr.. Dascomb's presence that the will was
not to be opened until Jan. IA, and he put
the will into the vault, and it was not taken
out until that date.
George Cushing, one of the witnesses to
the will, testified that his signature to that
instrument was his. He has always been
taxpayer and citizen of Skowhegan, and was
an original stockholder in the Skowhegan
Hall Association
Calvin Cleveland testified that he was one
of the witnesses to the will. That he had
always been citizen Of Skowhegan and had
paid taxes on real and personal property
Mr. Cleveland was asked by Mr.. Stewart:
''When did you first observe any falling off
or decay in the mind of Philander Coburn?"
To this question Mr.. Putnam objected Mr..
Stewart replied that he offered this testi-
mony for the purpose of showing that for
several years before Philander Coburn's
death his mind gradually broke down, and
he became insane. He proposed to show
that three other brothers and two sisters
broke down mentally in the same way and
became insane. Two of them committed
suicide. He offered this evidence as bearing
upon the condition of Gov. Coburn's mind in
to be offered in the case. The court excluded
the evidence.
e. P. Page testified that he was witness
to the will and had been an inhabitant of
Skowhegan between IA and 10 years and also
a taxpayer.
Charles F. Jones, secretary of the Coburn
Hall Association, produced the books and
records of that company to show that the
corporation was receiving an income fromits
property, and that George Gushing one OF
the witnesses to the will, was shareholder
and had received dividends. There is de-
wise in the will of $4,000 to this corporation.
The case will occupy the attention of the
court on Monday, and, perhaps longer. 1t
seems to be conceded that it will go to the
law court, whatever Judge Walton's decision
may be.