The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-05-06

read IL / thought IL was JuuEe nr',ff
style, and supposed he wrote y, nu. , t ~
of Job Davis. It seems to me very slneuts
that Mr.. Davis. who l supposed was III IN
habit of consulting his attorneys on impor!
ant matters. should attempt to alcta'e M
own will or permit Job Davis, who was OH
a boy then, to write 1t for MN. - III;
"Did you know the witnesses 10 thi
willw
II knew Job Davis we'll, also the other re
puted witnesses to the will-James DaVi
and John sconce. James paws was
, large man inc suffered fearfully, anu ""
called Suffering Uncle jimmie nas ~
He could write only with considerable az
ticulty. He WAS a stock buyer ana ueal,
largely. shipping mostly from independent
ana receiving his returns there LOT u nuin-
Der of years, and l suppose he has written
his name on my books severa! nuhaIeo
times. He was u good buyer ana q reputa-
stock-buyers of that county. eventually got
the worst of it. job Davis was his son,
and ~realizin, his own lack of education
Uncle Jimmie had given Job a pretty Cood
one for those times, and l remember tnat
Job wrote a fair hand and used frequently
to write letters i'll my office for MS Iather.
John Sconce was also a stock-buyer, ouy-
ing mostly for Uncle Jimmie Davis. lie
was, however, a little better writer than
Uncle Jimmie. John A. Davis, Andrews
brother, | also knew well. He WIS
about there several years after Andrew ltft,
in charge of Andrews farm and property
generally. Jonu was a sort OF a lawyer,
and after l began studying law we often
met helo. 9 the Justices of the peace. l le-
manned at Independent until 1874, when l
removed to the county seat. II was mucn
surprised when l heard of the discovery OF
the will, as it was common rumor that A. y.
Davis was somewhat superstitious on the
| ophia. opl ko1 saii that hA would never
make one. l believe it bears date III lS66,
| at a time when he and John A. were on
confidential terms, but rs their ielatlons
after tina became much strained 1t seems
singular, if true, that Andrew never revoked
it, especially as he gave John A. the gfand
bounce in everything else, | believe.
eff there is a subsequent will, there is a
prominent gentleman living in Iowa who
prop ,oly knows about it, as understand
Davis had an interview with him on the
will subject the last time he went east prior
to his death. don't care to give his name,
IS l think he would not care to make 1t pub
lac, but ne stands rs high as any man, and
whatever he would say on the subject would
be accepted wherever he is known as the
truth"
"What do you think about the genuine
ness of the viii end the witnesses for ~"
II know all the witnesses recently in Mon
tana for the will, have known them since
lSbS, dllu saw luel1 oul q SAS I'm VA
their way home from Montana. l have no
orinion one wav or the other as to the
genuineness of the will. and could not
have unless l could see the will, i'll which
case l think l could satisfy myself on
the subject, from what know of the
handwriting of the persons concerned
and other things necessarily connected with
its execution. such as the paper it was writ
ten on, etc. l understand that James and
Job Davis, two of the attesting witnesses.
are dead, but John Sconce is still living.
l saw him here Il short time ago OH his way
from Montana to Iowa, the first time l re.
member to have seen him for some years."
''If jeff is his son, how does it come that
he ia not claiming to be m heir?"
II never knew any one at all Informed on
the subject that doubted Jeff's paternity,
although there are a good many people who
know much more about it than l ever did,
but as l understand he has combined with
his uncle to assist in sustaining the Will,
under an agreement that he is to receive a
considerable sum for waving any objection
to it."
"It is reported that the Root faction have
discovered another will, said to be of later
date than the one in favor of John A. Davis.
Do you know anything about it?"
81 have heard it said that such a will was
in existence. but | know nothing in relation
to its date or contents. | kept the p~ostofice
at Independent for several years, along in
the sixties, and. | guess, kept about the only
legal cap there was for sale in that region,
and wills and legal documents written in
that neiehborhood in those days would be
very likely to be written on paper l had
Sold"
You say you nave seen the correspond
ence in the Tribune about the case, especial
iy the interview with James Jordan. What
do YOU NOW about the matter he refers top
81 have seen the correspondence from Ell
don, Ia. in the tribune of March 20 in rela-
ton to the Davis estate. | know Uncle Jim
Jordan who is referred to in that article
as having been an old-time friend of An
drew j. Davis, and have known him quite
intimately for nearly thirty years.
There is no doubt but that he knows
about as much in regard to Davis
affairs and relations in Iowa as almost
any man living. Jim Jordan. as he
was Familiarity called, was a frequent visitor
both at the postof1ice and railroad station
He is fuller of "reminiscences of that coun-
try during the days of its Indian occupancy
than any other man in it. He often RECALLED
Il group OF listeners at my store for hours
at a time telling these stories. He is get
ting old now and his memory not as good
as formerly, as he is evidently mistaken
in saying that Andrew Davis went to Mon
tana in 1865 and had no property in 1866, or
else he is not correctly reported in the arti-
| Gle referred to.
1.-THE somewhat obscure reference in the
article mentioned to the marriage of Jeff
Davis, Andrews son, as the cause of his be-
ing practically disinherited by the will is
not altogether correct. Andrew had set the
boy up in bushes on his Iowaville farm,
bat jeff was inclined to be wild and extrav-
agant and ran in debt, and his father
threw him overheard and then set him on
his feet again two or three times.
The last time jeff made a break was,
| believe, at the time of his mar
riage, having, as now remember it. sold
| off the stock on the farm and ran away
with the girl and married her. II was his
repeated misconduct that caused the es-
arrangement between him and his father,
but | doubt if Andrew ever intended to
leave JEFF to inherit all or any considerable
portion OF his property. as their relations
were never very close in property affairs.
After Andrew and his brother John A
got into disagreement, about 1870, John A,
left the country and Andrew placed his
Iowaville farm and property generally in
the hands of Isaac Nelson, a reputable
farmer living near, and | presume gave him
some instructions as to looking after jeff
who up to that time had been sort of stray
ing about, and it was Nelson who first in
stalled jeff on the farm. jeff ran Il big bill!
at Manning's store in Selma which Andrew
refused to pay and left Nelson to pay it,
and even then Andrew refused to Reimburse
Nelson. This loss was severe on Nelson,
who was himself entirely honest, and it be-
Ing as he thought a breach of friendship
and honor on the part of Andrew gave him
30 much trouble that it no doubt had much
to DO with Mr.. Nelson's death, which oc
CURED not long AFTER