The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-07-28
KIN AGAINST KIN.
Whore OWL War Is the Rule and
Not the Exception.
Glimpscs into tho Musty Volumes OF Now
York Wills-Fathcrs Who Have Dis
Inherited Children-The Leslie
Cnsc n Notable Example.
lCopYRIGur. 1892 1

Mrs. Coleman Drayton, will make
contest for her share of the great
William Astor estate, will be ndiudi-
Gated.
In little courtroom on the second
floor of the building just back of New
Yorlls city hall Surrogate Ransom dis
penses justice. 1t is civil war there year
in and year out. 1t is brother against
brother, mother against daughter, kin
against kin. There all ties are sun
dercd in the contest over great estates,
all friendships, all loving companion
ships become bleak and barren NOM
DRY, and it is death which has dealt too
justly or unjustly against one or the
other Of living kindred.
Surrogate Ransom was listening to
the testimony in a strange case while
was in his courtroom. The estate in
volved was not five thousand dollars
and yet the two disinherited children
were clamoring for share against
mother and favoritc child.
"RomanccS without end" said Can't.
Mcintyre, the surrogate's clerk
Slowed away in our musty document
rooms are the wills of all New Yorks
testate dead, and some day the
romancer who will found a great tale
on fact will dig up the testimony of
noted case and will tell u stranger story
than was ever conceived by human i'm
agination."
Some time ago it was the Favor
weather case, in which great estate
was given over almost entirely to
philanthropic ends.
Far back the Hammerslcys were con-
testing for what is now the property of
the duchess of Marlborough.
Still farther back it was the Frank
Leslie will case, in which two sons
were disinhcritcd.
The clerk was looking over the musty
records, and each great case evoked an
interesting utterancc as to its general
nature.
Richard Newcombe! Ah,yes. That
is late one. He disinheritcd his
daughter. Alfred Bcdlow! He disin-
hcrited his wife and daughter and
made the estate over to u stranger
Rosa V. Burns! She was n niece of
Victoria Woodruff. Disinhcrited her
husband and left the estate to an old
Spaniard. Isaac Halsey He disin-
herited his wife and children"
And so he went on from noted case to
case, and when had tabled off hun
dred volumes 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
hsl hon, ,,ff
be deciphered But within were
mass of interesting facts. I turned
back to one Of the 1880 volumes and
conned over the will of Frank Leslie.
He had given his entire estate, then
badly tangled up and involved, to his
wife, disinheriting his two sons, Alfred
and Frank. They contested the will,
claiming undue influence. Then came
out the strange story of Henry Carriers
life-that was the name of Frank Les
lic-of his first marriage and of his sec
ond wedding. The story of the life of
Mrs. Squires, now Mrs. Frank Leslie
Wilde, was told. Here a slur and there
bit Of praise.
The thrilling deathbed scenes wcro
detailed by sons and wife. Alfrcd's
story was u bit OF vivid romance He
had gained access to his fathers house
4 day or two before the death and told
how the then spccchlcss man had taken
the sons hand, kissed it over and over
again.
Then came the cold statements of the
Leslie attorney who had drawn up the
will. The sons, he testified, had, nc
cording to Mr.. Leslic's statements,
oil Cot nd 80,
ancc was the consequence. They had
made his life misery and he was clear
minded when he dictated the will then
in probate.
In that testimony also came justifi-
cation for the wife. The world had
wronged her and none but he knew Of
the noble character of her many sacri-
fees. All this Mr.. Leslie had mentioned
to his lawyer. Of course the contest
was lost and the wife inherited the
| estate, now worth many millions.
The case of Rosa V. Burns was full of
interesting detail. She was the niece
of Victoria Woodruff and Tennie G.
Claflin and had inherited quite an es-
| tate from her father, who died in To
| peka, Kan. Her husband had left her
| some years before her death and she
had passed after that as the daughter
of IN old Spaniard named Fernando de
Francisco Martin. With him she passed
NIL her time, and in her will she left
"All the estate may die possessed Of
to my friend and bcnefactor, Fernando
de Francisco Martin" The husband
and relatives contested in vain and the
Spaniard got the estate. But the testi-
mony was not of nature to rebound to
the credit of either the legator or the
legatee.