Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-10-17
LAST TESTAMENTS.
THE STRANGE FANClES WHICH FIND
EXPRESSION IN THEM.


Something About Mills Of Olden Times.
Stacks of Such Documents In Somerset
House-The First Mill and Awful Fate
Of It's Maker.
The many little whimsicalities which crop
out in human nature as the hour of final dis
solution draws near are equally as unac-
countabe rs the other peculiarities-every
one is distinctively peculiar in his way-for
which he or she was noted "when the pulse
beat high with hfe." and death was last in
thought.
ANY one will attest 20 the truth of this
who has ever had the pieasure--it is "a real
pleasure TO one with taste for things out of
the ordinary-of examining musty old rolls
IL quaint aud curious testamentary docu-
ments. The many oddities found in last
wills and testaments, " cannot with any assur-
ance of infalhbility be taken us an
index or criterion TO the real char
acter Of the person whose signature
Is attached thereto One NAV pursue
the even tenor of his way aud live out the
afternoon, the twilight and the shady even
ing of long life, and at last plunge into
darkness which follows il at its close, re-
spected for his sagacity, his good sense and
good management. with provisions in his will
which, had they been given ante-mortem in
stead OF post-mortem publicity, would have
been the cause of his last days being sper
within the precincts of some insane asylum
SOME STRANGE CASES
These thoughts have been suggested prima-
rily by recent events some remarkable speci-
mems of testamentary curios having quite
lately been made public refer to the Nash
vile, Tenn, woman who left $1,000 10 her
two dogs rs benefciaries; 10 the Columbus.
5 C., man who left vast estate of 5000
acres tied up in such n shape that it cannot
possibly benefit the persons for whom intend
ed before the year 1889 and the Wabash,
Ind, woman who requested that her heart
be removed from the body, and that her
hands and feet be amputated and together
be sent TO and buried in France, the scenes Of
her childhood days. while the mutlated body
was TO beconsigned to mother earth near her
late home in the Hccsier state
With these three extraordinary documents
as u text, propose 10 trace the origin of win
making and consider the most uncommon
provisions in the hundreds of teStamentary
rarities which have gone on record since the
first property owner wrote: Il hereby will
and bequeath"
document Of its kind known TO the historian
and the antiquarian, is that of "the great
king Sennacherib, mentioned So frequently
in the Scriptures by Herodotus and by Jo-
sephus Sennacherib lived and reigned be-
tween the years zoe and 80 r. Cover
2,5OO years ago. In the will, which was
found by excavators on the site Of the royal
library. the great invincible" wills his sons
certain 'stores OF precious things" at that
time ON deposit in the Temple OF Nebo 1t is
a sad commentary on the crude civilization
of the times that these same sons should
50 far forget their filial duties as To assassi-
nate their considerate parent while he was
busily engaged In worshiping his favorite
god.
The Romans, 400 or 500 years before the
birth of Christ, adopted the plan of setting
forth, before taking their departure for the
unknown world, their wishes rs to what dis
position should be made OF the treasures &c
cumulated during an aggressive lifetime.
These instruments, which were written by
the testators upon skins and parchment, were
kept in the Temple of Vesta, the senior
priestess having special charge of all such
documents Under the oldest of English
laws regarding will making an infant-any
one under the age Of 81 years is supposed 10
20 this day, debarred from bequeathing prop
erty. The old Roman laws before the time
of Christ, were more liberal According 10
the code of these ancient times a male who
had arrived at the age of Is years, or fe-
male who had only passed her fourteenth
summer, could, if they had amasSed property,
dispose OF 1t in any way they tit. Some
writers believe that the Twelve Table Laws
were the foundation upon which all old Ro-
man wills rest. These laws were enacted be
tween 400 and 800 years before the time Of
the Saviour, as mentioned above, where allu-
sion is first made % ancient Roman wills.
In some respects these old time documents
are surprisingly like those OF modern date,
the laws respecting their final administration
were very similar. At the present time if a
maker of will is drunk, insane OF unduly
influenced at the time the document is signed
IL Is void and without effect. The ancient
Romans had precisely the same provisions
with others added, one Of which did not al
low deaf and dumb person the privilege of
disposing Of his realty or chattels.
Augustus Cesar was the first millionaire
to dispose of his property through the instru-
mentality Of will
The custom Of disposing of property
through wills was carried west into Britain
of the conquest, when stringent laws were
passed making it all but impossible for the
landed interests TO get outside a certain
circle, the leaders of which soon become lords
and noblsmsn In the 30 or coo years which
followed In the wake OF the conqueror the
will making custom was almost lost sight Of
IL was revived, however, about the time of
Edward V, and has since remained "A recog-
nized institution. One Of the grandest treats
incident to a visit TO London is a day at Som
erset House. the English Temple of Vesta, the
place where London wills are stored As an
historical institution this will repository is q
good second In point OF interest to the British
Museum itself. AL the Wills which have
been made in London since the latter part of
the Fifteenth century now reposing upon
its many shelves They number thousands
upon thousands, many indeed, it is said,
that were they pasted together end to end
they would girdle the entire globe with a pa
per belt.
Charles V, the monastical watch collector,
made a will in which he left his watches and
rich tapestries to the monastery where he
ended his days. Other famous historical per
sonages have similarly disposed Of their realty
| and personal property. At Somerset house
the will Of the immortal Shakespeare, the one
| IN which he bequeaths his best bed and bed
ding 10 his wife rests beside those Of John
son, the dictionary maker, Sir Isaac Newton,
| Van Dyke, and those Of Wellington, 1.-THE
| ON duke, y and Nelson the hero Of Trafalgar
Uf the hundreds OF other wills of greater or
| less historical interest, crowded at the rates
Of 1000 To 1900 per year into this paper
Pantheon, space forbids mention, as a step
outside the above named immortals would
only open the ioodgates for an avalanche of
names, each of interest to some particular
reader.--John W. Wright in st. Louis Re-
public.
The old double log cabin long ago occupied
| has been repaired and preserved for another
century ut least by the enterprise of local
| association OF ladies.
| industrial Family Names