The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1890-03-28
w or MILLIoNAIRES
ONLY XsFtw OF THEM HAVE e.
CARED BEING CONTESTED.

neissives Arr Almost Invariably Dissatas.
aeA asA Try to Get . Illsgsr shars q
-thc atssey Of the ssd-ses.s casss
Tnkca froN New York Reooeas.
Within the last dozen years very few
wills made by wealthy people dying in
.iew York city have been left uncon.
tested. There arc, however, two shining
examples where the bcqucsts Of the dead
millitM,aires have been carried out. One
was the case OF William II. Vanderbilt
and tho. other that Of Miss Catherine L
wolfe' ,NaAderbilt had the experience
which he had gathered years before In
the great fight which was made over his
own fathers will, and which brought the
Vanderbilt family and its early history
90 conspicuously into public notice. Miss
Wolfe was happy in the fact that the
wealth already enjoyed by her legal
heirs made the alienation of her millions
matter Of comparatively small mo-
ment She, however, like Mr.. Wander
bilt, spared no pains to mako the terms
of her tcstanentary instrument 30 brass
bound and iron clad that q contest before
the surrogate would prove unrcmunera.
tive.
When Surrogate Rollins retired from
Office the statement of the business done
during his incu,nbency showed that
nearly 400 wills had been the subjects Of.
contest before him, many Of which had
cntailcd long and expensive litigation.
and had in some instances almost beg
CARED the estate. Que of the great and
controlling causes which tend toward
the contrasting Of wills Is the provision
in the laws Of this state which assures
to the lawyers in the case large fees and
allowances and ply them out of the prop.
crty whether they win or lose.
SAMUEL. J. TlLDEN's GREAT REQUEST.
It is a fact that very few persons of
large wcaltl, succeed in disposing Of their
property bv will in manner that meets
the requirements Of the laws, or that
will stand the keen scrutiny Of the legal
advisers Of dissatisfied relatives. It is
true that most Of tho contests made.
especially Ivy tho heirs of wealthy men
and women, are based upon the flimsiest
prctcxts, and solely with tho hope that
grabbing for the whole or the greater
part they may secure for themselves
few thousands by compromise. That the
causes for contest are usually Of char
acter which units them for close judicial
consideration is made evident from the
fact that of tho 400 contests begun before
Surrogate Rollins scarcely 30 were sus-
tanned.
Enterprising lawyers laugh ut men and
women who sit down and, in words de-
void Of legal technicalities, write their
own wills in their own way. Yet the
records show that this sort of will is the
very hardest to break. The lawyers
themselves are not infalliblc in will
making-not even the greatest of them.
In his long and successful career rs q
business lawyer. Samuel j. Tilden drew
tho wills of scores of his clients, and it b
not on record that any Of then, ever was
upset. When he was to make his own
lie called to his assistance counselor no
less eminent than limself-Mr. James
g. Carter. Together they prepared the
document, which, besides other provi.
sions. was to provide si.00O.O00 ALSO
lutely for tho endowment of a great free
library. Well. the case will in all prob
ability furnish the most conspicuous cx.
ample Of failure to carry out ones intcn.
tions.
OTHER FAMOUS RECENT CONTESTS.
When James Stokes died few years
ago he left an estate estimated to he
wor,l. ut least $lO.O0O.G0O. lie was
scarcely in his grave when the fight over
the property lrgan. and it went on with
wearisomc details for months by and
by there was an adjournment. and the
matter was substantially settled out of
court. The lawyers must have had
good million amongst them after the bat.
tie was ended.
jessie Hoyt had gathered big fortune
before lie himself was gathered to his
fathers. lie died worth about $4,000.
600, and the monument that was to mark
his resting place was unbuilt for years,
as the heirs were too busy contrasting the
provisions OF his will. and trying. each
of them, to get bigger share of the
money than the dead man had decided
they should have.
Louis IIammcrslcy's 50. SOC, 900 and the
way in which he left it by will was an.
ether fruitful source for litigation. Tie
legal twists and tumblcs that character.
izc the case made it one of the most in
tercstiny on record. and tho end is not
yet. Every HOW and tllcn his widow, at
present the Duchess of Marlborough, ap-
plies t" the courts for more money out
of the estate. and though she sometimes
receives what she asks, she is occasion.
ally rfus' 4.
There WAS Mrs. Sarah Burr. who.
when flic departed from earthly realms,
WAS obliged to leave all of her s., O0O, COO
behind her She doubtless thought size
had liked everything in her will SO that
no contrst could arise, yet the grass was
not greer, ~, her grave before crowd Of
her friends nn,l relutivcs wefo fighting
over her property In this case. rs in
nearly all til" others. the testimony de-
vcl"red stories almut the inner family
life Of the dead that the world would
never have heard and never have laughed
over but for the fight over the millions.
New York News
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