The herald., 1893-08-30
THE WILL AND COPY WERE LOST,
Sisters Of Mercy Brighten q
Musty Court Room.
The Case Was Contest Over the Will
of Owen Biernes.
His Relatives Object to His Beg uests to
the sisters of Charity aud the Or
phan Asylum-The Testi-
mony Taken.


in the court rooms of Los Angeles is
very unusual sight, and Sister Philo-
mena and Sister Josephine Leddy did
not look as II they enjoyed the expert
ence yesterday in department number
two OF the superior court.
The contest of will brought the
sweet-faced ladies there. 1t was con-
test in which the brother and sister OF
| Owen Biernes, deceased, are attempting
to set aside Dequssts he made to the
Sisters shortly before his death. Mr..
Biernes was resident of Pomona, and
had been sick at the Sisters hospital in
this city three weeks, when he died last
| spring.
He was an old man, widower, about
| 72 years OF age at tho time OF his death.
His relatives consisted of an old brother
and sister, Miles Biernes aud Esther
Biernes, living at Niles, Mich, two me- ph-
ews, children of dead sister, Mrs. Julia
Danaher, and dead sister who left no
children.
The old gentlemen had shoe store in
Pomona, had $l057 in bank, 10 shares of
Los Angeles Building and Loan associa-
ton stock, certificate No 70. his estate
being valued at about $500.
May IL, 1898, not long before his
death, he wanted to make his will, and
Robert j. Adcock was called to assist
him to prepare it. A will was drawn up
and duly signed by Mr.. Biernes. 1t was
witnessed and put in an envelope. BY
its provisions DR.. NJ. M. Kannon was
made the executor without bonds.
IL Il L. --k> A.. kA
will was brought to Mr.. Adcock's Office
for the purpose OF his taking the neces-
sary steps to have it admitted to pro-
bate. In some way the will became
misplaced. Mr.. Adcock was quite busy
his Office. A search among all his pa.
pers failed to reveal any trace of the
missing document. He prepared his
set forth that it was lost. but also set
forth it's provisions in copy which he
made from memory. In some manner
this copy also was misplaced.
1t was on the petition as filed that the
contest was begun by the brother and
sister of the deceased. They allege that
their brother was under the influence of
the Sisters when he executed the will,
and that that influence was undue.
They charge that the will was never
properly executed or witnessed, and at
tack the accuracy of the statement of
the contents of the original document.
When Mr.. Adcock took the stand
yesterday afternoon he related the cir
cumstances of the execution of the will
at length, and stated its provisions as
nearly as he could from memory.
He stated that the bequests were az
follows: Ten shares of building and
loan association stock, paid up, to Sister
Josephine Leddy OF the Catholic Or
phan's home; $500 to Emma Connolly
OF Chicago, daughter of Thomas Connol-
ly, formerly of Dublin; any balance of
residue was devised to his sister, Esther
Biernss, if che survived him, ii not, to
his brother Thomas.
He told how he had mislaid the will
and how humiliated he felt about it,
and his efforts to remember the exact
wording of the paper were very success
ful.
Upon croes.examination fact devel-
oped which had not appeared before,
and that was that in addition to the be-
quest Of stock to the orphans, the dying
man had given outright to Sister Philo-
mena of the hospital $1C57 in cash be-
fore he executed the will.
Mr.. Adcock told about this, saying
that when Mr.. Biernes sent for him he
told him that the sisters had been very
kind to him that his brother and sister
were we'll provided for and old, and that
he wanted to devise what money he had
to the hospital. Mr.. Adcock told him
the better way would be to make a gift
of it and present Sister Philomena with
a check. This he did. The bank book
was procured and the amount found to
be $l057. The check was drawn and
given to the sister. Then the will was
drawn for the balance of the estate.
The attempt of the contestants to at
tack the contents OF the lost will did not
appear to be very energetic. They con-
tented themselves during the afternoon
in inquiries directed to the nature OF the
bequests to the Sisters. 1t is claimed BY
them that the bequest to Sister jose
phine is illegal on technical statutory
grounds.
Sister Philomena was called to the
stand, and made a novel picture in her
modest costume and white head cover
ing In contrast with the musty legal at.
mosphere of the court room. She tes.
titled that she has charge OF the hospital
and patients are considered generally in
her charge. The deceased was there about
three weeks before his death. She did
not try to influence him in the disposi-
ton OF his property. She talked with
him about his affairs when it became
evident that he was going to die, and he
told her about his brother and sister.
The sister denied having used any un.
due influence to bring about the gener-
GUS gift of the dying man.
The case is exciting considerable in
terest among thoee who are conversant
with the facts, and the result will be
awaited with anxiety by all concerned.
Miles Nerve and Liver Pills
At on q new ncipRl-regui ting the Iauer