Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-10-04
HUNGRY COUSINS
Who Want a Slice of John
Crerar's Fortune.
A PUBLIC REQUEST ENDANGERED.

a fUbLlO BEQU Isl ENDANGERED
Reputed Relatives of the Dead Chica-
goan to Begin a Suit for About Sc, 5O0,-
900, Which the Testator Left for the
Public Good-The Tilden Case Cited as
similar by the Contestants, But De-
ciared Different by the Other Side.
CHICAGO, Oct 4 When the will of the
late John Crerar was admitted to probate
nearly year ago there seemed no earthly
possibility of any dispute as TO the dispo-
sition of the estate of he millionaire Ev-
cry bequest was as squarely set forth as it
was possible for words to express it, and
the great bequest for the John Crerar Ii
brary was, as far as the ordinary mind
could judge, hemmed in with every con-
ceivable safeguard against the possibility
of its being misapplied But despite all
these precautions it now appears more
than likely that lawsuit will shortly be
begun for the purpose of multiplying the
will and canceling the magnificent gifts
| which il was Mr. Crerars intention should
accrue 10 this city after his death.
The People Who Want "a share.
The complainants in the promised suit
are relatives of the late MIR Crerar, or,
at least, such is their claim. The rela.
tionship was, however, only discovered
subsequent to Mr.. Crerar's death, and it
is not even intimated that during life the
present complainants ever laid claim TO
kinship with the late millionaire. The ex-
act relationship of these people with the
fal ar 10 ai1 To a Z ~,
uncles on the paternal side No mention
was made of any such relatives in
the will, though every known relative on
the maternal side came in for recogni-
ton. The complainants are almost with
out exception Canadians, and come from
Stratford, Ont, where Mr.. Crerar's un
cles lived. They are all cousins, first or
second.
The Basis of the Fight.
The grounds on which these postum
ously discovered relatives will seek to have
the will set aside are somewhat similar to
! those upon which the Tilden will was up
set. Ii will be claimed that all the be-
quests to public societies and particular
ly the one to the Crerar library fund, are
invalid by reason of uncertainty. The
clause in the Tilden will upon which the
courts set it aside is that wherein the Tesla
tor makes use of the words cor so much
thereof they may deem expedient"
This clause the courts held invested the
trustees with an uncertain power, and
therefore created an invalid trust. Upon
this assumption the contestants will claim
that the devising OF fund for public Ii
brarv purposes is in the nature of Great
ing n invalid trust, and they claim the
same as regards severAi other large be
quests
They Lived in Hopes.
Ii was not known by the executors that
any relatives of Mr.. Crerar on his fathers
side were living. None of the claimants
is well to do During Mr. Crerar's life
they lived in hopes of benefiting largely
by his will at his death. When the latter
event occurred and they found that not
only we're their names unmentioned but
that the entire estate had been tied up in
manner that apparently precluded the
possibility of a contest they made de-
mands on the trustees for recognition
Hunt lngtOn w. Jackson, as attorney for
the estate, was first approached by James
Stewart, one OF the contestants Mr.
Jackson listened to the mans story and
Informed him that he did not see any
grounds for the trustee to interfere in his
favor against the express terms of the
will.
Depend ON What He Would Have Done
Then the man went to local lawyer
and stated his case The latter set about
hunting up other relatives and from the
success that attended his search il an
pears little short of marvellous that Mr.
Crerar should have had so many near rel
stives and not know it. But it's precisely
on this ignorance of their existence that
the co Isins and second cousins claim that
they lave just grounds for breaking the
will. They say that inasmuch as Mr..
Crerar remembered all his relatives on his
mothers side it is evident that he knew
of no relatives on his fathers side or Re
would certainly have made mention of
them.
A Chicago View of the Case
Mr.. Jackson is in Europe but his part
ner, Mr.. Lyman, had heard of the suit
and WAS prepared to express his opinion
upon the case. If the suit is brought by
parties claiming to be related to Mr. Gre
rar, and to whom no bequest has been
given, the decision of the supreme court,
wherein it was decreed that testator
may even disinherit his own children, is
sufficient answer Provided that Mr..
Crerar was of sound mind and memory at
the time the will was made, he had power
to bequ cath his property just where he
wished
Not Like the Tilden VIII.
"As 10 the question of validity of the
trust created to turn over property TO the
John Crerar library, that is an entir RELY
difterert matter. The legatee is cor
poration created for the purpose of carry
ing out the objects of the request, as spe-
officially set forth in the will, and any suit
against such corporation cannot be sus-
tanned. The language of Mr. Crerar's will
with re ierence to the establishment of the
library is very clear. 1t in no manner re-
sembles the terms of the Tilden will in
which the testator authorized his eXecu-
tors to convey to or apply to the use of the
new corporation the rest. residue and re-
mainder of all his real and personal estate,
or as much thereof as they may deem ex-
pedient
Nothing Indefinite About 1t.
"The last clause is claimed by the con-
testants of the Tilden will to be objection
able. They claim that the amount left
to the discretion of the executors was I'M
certain and therefore invalid In Mr.
Crerar's will, however, tine bequest for
the library is not left to the discretion Of
the executors and trustees. The bequest
Is definite and clear in its character and
free from any uncertainty"
The total amount of money involved is
about e 500, 900, of which over g., 600. 900 is
lie # for the library.
ABBREVIATED TELEGRAMs.
Mr.. and Mrs Henry NJ Stanley are the