Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1888-05-17
ODD FACTS ABOUT WILLS.
ECcENTRICITY IN BEQUEATHING
WORLDLY ESTATES.
A Sailor Gives His Soul to God, His
Body to the Fishes, His Wealth to
Relations

The numerous instances on record OF
the trouble and litigation which have
arisen from the doubtful expression and
intention of testators, omissions, loss oil
the document, their destruction by YER
min and otherwise, would fill an inter-
esting volume. The delay, too, of men
of property in making their wills till
they become mentally incapable, ordcath
prevents their doing so, as if itwere exc
cutting a" death warrant" instead OF
settling simple business transaction, is
to be regretted.
Among numerous celebrated cases may
be mentioned that of the great real
property lawyer, the late Lord st. |
leonards, whose will could not be found,
and was supposed to have been buried
hidden about his person. Other eminent
lawyers have failed to appoint executors,
omitted the date or some important
clause or word which has called for the
Intervention of the court and often re-
suited in depriving persons of what the
testat01ntended them TO have, to the
!; !: :: !: !; !; !:
enriq lf Others, thus in some in
staf h to prove that the ''man
VI kxn lawyer has a fool for
seldom bestow the same
thoi he on his own affairs that
! be 4 lose of other people.
SsssSasrical error l have seen
49, written ''martialn
'ne ueo' "- enc it was customary to
'tIn the name of
ID, being of sound mind
VA sahd so on, the intention evil
~ T. ho,, - -.
ass be testator's mind, undue influence,
etc, ysut it is obvious that this mere
statement, unsupported by evidence,
could scarcely "hold law" Then, again,
men formerly gave back their souls to
their Maker. | once came across the
probate of will of sea-faring man,
which RAM First, I humbly bequeath
my soul to God, my Maker, beseeching
His gracious acceptance and forgiveness
of all my sins; my body l give to the
earth or sea, as it shall please Him to
order. My worldly affairs l dispose of
as follows"
Most lawyers, while properly resenting
interference with their province, ''red
tape" by ''amateurs," often reap rich
harvest from the usual bungling of such
meddlers. | remember case where a
party had his will prepared, and codi-
Gil afterwards Endorsed in proper legal
form. Requiring a second codicil, he
thought it an easy matter to add it him.
self and thus save expense. lie wrote it
all right, taking the previous one for a
guide, and called in two credible" per
sons, who affixed their names as wit
nesses" to its due execution" But the
testator had unfortunately omitted to
sign it, and it doubtless formed nice
point Of law for the court to decide as
to whether being written by the testator
himself, combined, of course, with the
witnesses signatures and testimony, it
constituted execution" of the codicil.
The term "Cut off with shilling, has
become the subject of stage play, and
it bears we'll known relation to wills.
l question, however, whether there are
many authentic instances of its having
been actually employed in writing, being
perhaps more significant of a fathers
threat to an offending son. Ibid, how
ever. come across a genuine case in the
improved will of farmer, written by
himself in memorandum book, in which
he said (inter alia): II give to my son
John one shilling, sterling, money of
Great Britain y
The writer once prepared officially the
will of a tradesman of which no one but
he and myself knew the contents. I'm
agine, therefore, my surprise when he
told me soon after that he had been in
formed that his will had been seen and
that the contents were common talk. /
assured him that it was mistake, but
he stated that it must be true, as his in
formant had told him some of its pro-
visions. 1t transpired subsequently that
the testator had made a previous will
which he had destroyed, SO far as tear
ing it up was concerned, but it had been
carelessly thrown in the ash pit and some
workmen had been mean enough to put
it together and had posted it up in a
workshop near by. 1t was ultimately
recovered.
was intimately acquainted with a
lady, of whose father it was said that the
family solicitor, with the concurrence OF
the widow, had procured execution
after death, and it is said that previous
to the signing, which was done by tie
lawyer holding the dead mans hand, a
spider was placed In the deceased's
mouth, which is supposed to have con.
stituted ''lifc in the body"
Some men in making the most simple
wills giving their all to the wife, wishing
to be sufficiently explicit and compre
hensive, have given her Everything
possess in this world
blanks of wills and fill them up to save
legal expense, but it is very unwis'
pre- ceeding, and it is not generally under
~ r..