New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-01-07
FAYERWEATHER WILL CASE
STEPS TAKEN IN THE sURBoGATE's COURT
FIRST DECISION ~ FAVOR OF THE wlDow-DR
IEOYDS AFFIDAVIT.

.hro,cbout tbc country. were taken before the
Surrogate Yesterday, and the first decision In the
case was in favor of the contestant Mo LuoS
b. Faycrwcather, the tcstaiors widow. Inc case
came ND on two motions One was ny inc con-
| ,estant for the appointment of an administrator
nendino tho contest over the will, and the other
was by the executors TO require Mrs. fayer-
,,ootber IN state the ground on which she con-
tasted the will with more exactness Trey wat
od = ploin statement of facts giving the clrcum-
stances upon which she founded her contention
that the will was obtained 10y undue lnnueuce anu
fraud Surrogate Ransom denied That iAouon
Both sides consented 10 tho appointment OF Joseph
l.. Bulkley rs temporary administrator pu' SUI
roratc Ransom said that he would not MAKE me
apucintmrnt even consent OF hoth sloeS u'l Il
he he'd examined the case. If he fouhd upon en-
,,oir,tion that the administrator should he APP
nointed he would name Mr. Buckley for the place
I Tho courtroom was crowded with lawyers who
y..,o i,tcrested in the case when it was reached
IN rho calendar Ex-Iudgc William II. ArnonX
onncared for the executors and Frederic X Condert
and ID J. Holden for Mrs. Fayerweather Some
81 tbo colleges were represented rs follows:
Amherst hy b. w Hitchcock. Williams by Bangs
S,ctson. Tracy & MacVcash Dartmouth by Horace
Pussou Adclbcrt by w. +. Epson. Maryville ny
Iohn Parsons. University of Virginia by H. I.
TAYLOR. and Bowdoin by Butler. Siilman y lluo-
bard. ..
The motion 10 appoint Mr. Buckley as Temporary
administrator was quickly disposed OF as Tar aS
tbc argument was concerned. there pcih3 no Oh
lection 10 that motion Then eN-Iudg' AHo"N
began the argument in favor OF MS mo'loh I"
REQUIRE Mrs Faycrwcathcr to make her opl'c'lons
more definite and certain. lie said that HE
motion was unprecedented, as Tar AZ ne Knew j.
Ncw-Yorll and Kings counties lie then rclerr'a
ia Mrs Favcrweather's objections. lie "'''di''
that they were founded entirely upon mioriuauon
and belief and did not allcGe single l'c' 10 sup
mort her contention Her statement, he Saii' SIN
nlv contained some conclusions OF law, "hlch
might or might not I've established by proof. MIS-
Fayerwcathcr he said. had lived WIN hcr nus
band nearly fifty years and she ought 10 ~ ''o
10 make more concise statements than 10 say 'h''
some one had told her that her husband was III
ono A. the time he made the will. lie closed
his argument by declaring that Mrs layeF"eatllei
had evidently gone on a fishing excursion
Nj. Coudert, in replying, said ihat II Mrs.
Faverwcathcr's effort TO obtain reasonable
sbarc of bcr husbands estate was a fishing eNcur-
sion, then tlcie were certainly two such eNpedl-
tons.
When Your Honor sees this paper continued
Mr. Coudcrt. you will see that it Is lranduiene
on it., face. and you will say / want to know
something more about it.
Correcting himself Mr.. Coudcrt said that he
did not quite mean that. and he would " take IL
back but the concession, he SAID. "ould ho'
avail the other side much, because the paper under
the law. Was presumably fraudulent
AN attorney Of this court. continued Mf.
Coudert. has written himself an heir and put
a million dollars in his pocket, contrary to the
claims Of kindred or charity There Is rot
drop Of common blood in his veins. The law saws
that the presumption Is against the instrument.
and the proof is upon the proponents mere
suggestion Of fraud is enough TO warrant Your
Honor in putting your foot upon II II II is ftaud'
The last codicil was written a few minutes
perhaps hours-hcfor his death. We were not
there Mrs Faycrwcather II Is conceded. WINS
not there Have we not the right to say there
is fraud when this man has written himself an
heir? This is a ease which Your Honor would
probably wish 10 examine. even II the contest
ants papers were faulty.
EA-Judcc Arnoux closed the argument, and said
that H. was true that Mrs Fayerweatier was not
present when the last codic was added - the
will. but niece was present, he said and She
had testified that her uncle was competent to
make n Will That fact, be declared. did not leave
any ground for the presumption Of fraud
At the clos, Of the argument, Surrogate Ransome
said that the motion was the INST one OF te
kind which had ever been presented to him
Such MOTORS were sonnet mes made IN common
law actions but in this State hr statutes governed
such a condition Of affairs as here presented.
As have read the law he continued, ." il
reouires that the Surrogate shall SATISFY himself
that iestatOI has executed paper freely, and
that the allegations of the answer shall reason
ably present the matters Of doubt The allega-
ton " undue influence Is Affirmative and must be
sustained hy affirmative proof ! have little faith
in presidents, and I reason for granting
this motion | will leave the responsibility OF
granting such a motion with the Appellate Court
There were other developments in the case
Yesterday 1t was announced that the Rev. DR..
William Lloyd Of the Central Congregational
Church, Fifty seventh st. ard Eghrh-ave., had
signed an affidavit making serious reflections on
those present with Mr.. Fayerwcathcr during his
last hours and that the af'IOavit was in the
hands Of Coudert Frothers counsel for The plain
tiff Mr. Fayerweai hers widow. Frederic Il.
Coudcrt referred the reporter 10 ID. j. Holden,
one Of the firm Mr. Coudcr, would say nothing
except that he had made no statement in which
he promised some shocking and sensational Tcvcla
tions when the case should he heard.
Mr. Holden was reticcnt, and would neither
acknowledge the existence OF DR.. Loyd's affidavit
nor deny IT,
But this VIII case interests the public very
much the reporter SAID.
The public have had quite enough revelations
about the case already, and will have TO wait
till January - for further ones
II. T. Vaughan, one of the executors Of the Will,
could not be found at his Office, No Is Ferry-st
1t was said there that hc had gone 10 Kentucky
for a month. This information was altcrward
confirmed by T. j. Ritch, of ArnouX, RiIch ~
Woodford, lawyers, No. II Wal-st.
Mr. Ritch, who is also one OF the executors, had
not heard of the disclosure when called upon
in the afternoon He read the statement in the
newspapers carefully, and then remarked This
is a most extraordinary statement. IL u wrong
however where it. states that ] made out the
cOdIcIl neither made H. out, nor was | present
when II was executed IN fact, had not been in
MI Faycrweathers house for a week previous -
his death. The codic was made out by my
partner General stewart l.. Woodford. With