St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-17
EATON'S QUEER WILL.
He Makes Provision for a Col
ony Of Widows and
Old Maids.
Trustees Directed by a MiSer
to Divide His Land
Into Lots,
And Erect on Each Of Them q
Cottage for INDECENT
Women.
His Indiana Estate Consists
OF Over 1000 Acres, VAL
ued at $4,000.
Chicago Herald.

Steuben county, Indiana. conveying a
large landed estate TO trustees in trust
for INDECENT old maids and widow ladies
over thirty-five years of age, on account
of its singular terms and conditions,
and the disposition which 1t makes OF
the testator's large estate, has been the
subject of considerable comment in the
| newspapers throughout the country. In
recent issue of the Herald it was as
serted that the validity of the will had
been established by decree of court, In
all action brought by the son, Isaac
Eaton, to set the will aside on the
ground of the mental unsoundness
! of his father at the time he
| executed it. This idea was mis-
leading, inasmuch as the case was
ubmitted to jury who failed to
find verdict. which leaves the case
pending for trial at the November term
| of the circuit court of Steuben county.
The extraordinary will and the remark
| able man who executed it are together
worthy subjects to be woven into the
| eXtravagant fiction of III. Rider Hag-
gard, and are certainly strange enough
to excite general interest. Old man
| Eaton came to Steuben county at an
| early day. from the state OF New York.
| and settled upon farm few miles
| west of the village of Fremont. He
was at once recognized by those with
| whom he came in contact as an eccen-
| trio man. He was Of more than Or
binary intelligence, devoted attend
ant and member of the Methodist Epis-
e0pal church. preacher gifted with
! considerable power of OratOry, his SER
mons and conversation bearing evidence
| of careful mental discipline and thor
| Ough education. yet, withal. so grovel-
ing, miSerly and penuriOus in his hab-
| its, and in his manner of living so
| greedy for wealth, as to provoke very
| general adverse criticism. Within a
! few years from the time he settled in
Steuben county he was married. The
woman of his choice was seemingly pos
| SeSsed of many of the peculiarities of
| lived, or at least managed to sur
| vive, in wretehed and dilapi-
dated old hut, through which the
wind cOurSed without restraint. Old
hats. bits of rag carpet and straw were
made to supply the place of missing
window panes. A broken cook stove,
| an old discarded square stand, two or
three dismembered chairs, and collec-
ton of rags and sheepSkids for bed
clothing constituted all the house fur
nishings, and with these miserable sur
roundings they practlced the most rigid
Self-denial and privation, being at times
in absolute want, until the year 1870,
when the old lady died of pneumonia,
no doubt the result of self-im-
posed starvation and exposure to the
rigorous winter weather. IL is said by
| those who visited them during Mrs.
Eaton'S sickness that the family was
| literally starving TO death, there being
| no article of food in the house except
the eoarSent of chop made of corn, such
as farmers feed to their stock. although
at that time Eaton was wealthy man,
and surrounded with every means for
making his family comfortable, baving
large amount Of wheat and live stock
| on his farm. But the accumulation of
| property had become a malta.
The chief deluSiOn of the old mans
mind was his apprehension of coming to
want, of which he was constantly COM
planning. At the time of his wife's ill.,
ness his neighborS urged him to kill
| COW and have some Of his wheat made
| into flour to provide the means of sus-
| tanning life, but the old gentleman drew
himself up and with solemn impressive
ness Informed them that ''such
things were not for poor people. but
were only intended for the wealthy, for
! the kings and p0tentateS Of the earth"
After the death of his wife, the old
man lived in state of wretchedness
and squalur that would rival that of the
most degraded savages. The ravages
| of time and the elements having almost
| demolished the hut which had been his
| abiding place for so many years, he dug
hole in the ground beneath the floor,
and with an old stove and a TIN dish
with rag in it to serve the purpose OF
| rude lamp he passed two winters under
| ground. The dimensions of this hole
were so small as not to admit Of its being
| occupied in reclining position. and to
| provide place to sleep he dug the dirt
| out of one of the sides of this hole, thus
| forming a cavity. in which rested one
end of wide board, the other end being
| placed upon the dilapidated stove. A
| quantity of coarse wild grass, covered
with rags and SheepSkinS. made the bed
| upon which ne slept, with his head in
| the cavity followed out of the side, and
his feet resting upon the stove hearth.
| Afterward, he spent year living in
sort of dog kennel, which he made by
following out the side of straw stack
| and leaning poles against the stack, COW
forming hole in which he
slept. The last few years of his
life were passed in an old log structure,
which had originally been used as
! stable, without windows or light except
what found its way through the holes
| in the roof and sides. Notwithstanding
the hardships and exposure he endured
| he lived to be Seventy-Soven years old.
edied on the 9th of February last,
leaving an estate valued at $4,000. con-
sisting principally of land, of which he
| owned over Loco acres. This. with the
exception of forty acres decided to his
son, he devised to the board of county
| commissioners in trust, by his will,
directing them to sell the unimproved
lands and to divide the improved
| portion into five-acre lots. and with the
| proceeds derived from the sale of the
wild lands erect oil each lot dwelling
| house, i6xS4 feet. chicken coop and
cow stable, all to be under the control
of the commissioners and to be known
as the eaton Home" and to be open
for occupancy only to INDECENT maidens
| and widows over thirty-five years OF
age, of good reputation, who had re-
sided in Steuben county for six months
Immediately preceding their application
for admission. And if, after construct
ing the buildings there should re-
main a surplus of money, the
same should be expended by the
commissioners in pigs, poultry and cows
for the use of the inmates of the home.
Immoral or unladylike conduct on the
part of any one of the inmates was to
be cause for immediate expulsion. The
most neceSSitous and deserving of these
beneficiaries were to be first selected by
the commissioners as the OBJECTS of his
bounty. 1t was further provided by the
will that the commissioners as trustees
should receive no compensation what
ever for their services, and only be
allowed their actual and necessary ex-
penses in relation to their trust, and in
case of their failure or refusal to accept
the trust authority was conferred upon
the judge of the circuit court to appoint
/ orr act q trncfaaS