The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-17
KIN AGAINST KIN.
WHERE CIVIL WARTS THE
RULE AND NOT THE EXCEPTION.

New York Wills-Fathers Who Have
Disinherited Children - The Frank
Leslie Case Notable Exemple-The
side-Barrsd Out Wife and Children.
Like the Nswcombs Case-Ex-Surro-
gate Rollins Details Interesting Legal
Peculisrities OF the State Law on
Wills and Inheritancss.
(Copvrioht0
NEW YORK. July 16.-This week the Aston
case, In which 1t is possible that the disin-
heritsd child, Mrs. Coleman DraytOn. will
make a contest for her share of the great
William Aston estate. will be adjudicated
In little court room on the second floor
OF the building just back Of New York's
city hall Surrogate Ransom dispenses jus
tice 1t is civil war there year in and year
out 1t ia brother against brother. mother
against daughter, kin against kin. There all
ties are sundered in the contest over great
estates, all friendships, all loving compnn-
ionships become bleak and barren menu
ory, and it is death which has dealt too
| justly or unjustly against one or the other
Of Lying kindred
Surrogate Ransom was listening TO the
testimony in strange case while / was in
! his court room. The estate involved was
not 5000 aud yet the two disinherited
children were clamoring for a share against
mother and fAvorlte child.
"Romances without end :" said Capt. Mo
lntyre, the Surrogate's clerk. Slowed
away in our musty document rooms are the
wills of all New York's testate dead and
some day the romancer who will found
great tale on fact will dig up the testimony
of noted case and will tell q stranger
story than was ever conceived by human
| imagination.
Some time ago it was the Fayerweather
case, in which a great estate was given over
almost entirely to philan thropic ends.
Far back the Hamersleys we're oontesting
for what 10 now the property Of the Duchess
of Marlborough.
Still farther back 1t was tho Frank
Leslie will case in which two sons were dis
| Inherited.
The clerk was looking over the musty
records, and each great case evoked an In
! teresting utterance as to its general nature
Orchard Newcombel All, yes! That Is a
late one. He disinherited his daughter
Alfred Bedlow He dfsinherited his wife
aud daughter and made the estate over to a
stranger. Rosa V. Burns. She was a niece
of Victoria Woodruff. Disinherited her
husband and left the estate to Arnold
Spaniard. Isaac Halseyl He disinherited
| his wife and children"
And 30 he went on from noted case to
case, and when had tabled off 100 vol
umes ! went down into the old document
room and began my search for the romances
Of real life. Many volume Of wills lies
| stored away in the lower vaults, Those are
the earlier records. But the testimony in
the cases Of the past fifty years is bundled
up in volumes, some so thick with dust that
the number of the tome could not be de-
ciphered But within were a mass of In
terestinE facts. / turned back to one OF
the 1880 volumes and conued over the
entire estate, then badly tangled up and
involved, to his wife,. disinheriting
his sons. Alfred and Frank. They con-
tested the will, claiming undue influence
Then came out the strange story of Henry
Carriers life-that was the name of Frank
Leslie-of his first marriage and of his sec
ond wedding The story Of the life Of Mrs
Sauires, now Mrs Frank Leslie Wilde, was
told. Here slur and there bit OF praise
The thrilling deathbed scenes were de-
tailed by sons and wife. Alfred's story was
| bit OF vivid romance. He had gained Ao-
cess to his fathers house day or two be-
fore the death and told how the then speech
less man had taken the sons hand kissed it
over and over again.
Then came the cold statements OF the Les
lie attorney who had drawn up the will
The sons. he testified, had, according to Mr..
Leslie's statements, wronged the father aad
the disinheritRnce was the consequence.
They had made his life a misery and he was
olear-minded when he dictated the will then
IN probate c.t-e g.. ss- Tzt
In that testimony also came a justifoa-
ton for the wife, The world had wronged
her and none but he knew OF She nozzle
character OF her many sacrifices. All this
Mr.. Leslie had mentioned to his lawyer. or
course the contest was lost and the wife In
herited the estate, now worth many mill
ions.
The case OF Rosa V. Burns was full OF In
teresting detail. She was the niece of Vic
toria Woodruff and Tennis C. Clafin and
had inherited quite an estate from her
father, who died In Topeka, KHn.1 Her nus
band had left her some years before her
death and she had passed after that as the
daughter OF an old Spaniard named Fer
nando de Francisco Martin. With him she
passed all her time and in her will she left
"All the estate | may die possessed OF to
my friend and bsnefactor, Fernando de
Francisco Martin" The husband and rela-
tives contested in vain and the Spaniard
got the estate. But the testimony was not
| OF a nature to rebound to the credit of
either the legator or the legatee.
There are volumes in this old room which
must be handled tenderly. One of these
| contains the will Of the last OF three famous
millionaire old maids, that of Sarah Burr.
She left 81, 900. 900. all to charity, ignoring
a host Of relatives who scrambled for the
money. This disposition had all been ar
| ranged years before. Each sister made the
other her heir, and tho last was to give the
accumulated estate over to the world. So
| it was done, and the contest over the noble
purpose has long since ended.
The will of the great New York lawyer,
| Richard Newcombe, who disinhsrited his
daughter because she eloped with theat-
rioal manager named Lederer, finds some
thing OF a parallel. in the testament OF
Jerome B. Fellows, whose daughter sued ID
vain for a share in the large estate.
The will of j. d. Ingersoll, who disin-
herited his nearest Of kin and gave his en-
tire estate to utter strangers, was success
fully contested on the ground Of undue in-
| huence.
The brothers Of Daniel r. Lyddy made
vain attempt 10 secure possession Of the es-
tate, which was bequeathed to the wife, the
Mime. Connolly, whose smuggling expert
ences are still fresh in the public mind.
| But the disinheritance of both wife and
children is by no means unfrequsnt Isaac
Haisey, the millionaire, dispossessed both
wife and son and their contest was abso-
lutely in vain.
In the Astor family the practical disln-
| heritanoe of Henry Astor marks proceed ant
for the last will of William Astor. Nor
was this act OF Inheritance single IN its en-
| forcement IL WAS q specific part of the