The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-13

q
Bequests of Andrew Jackson-Ihey
Include a Slave to Each of His I'M
mediate Relatives-Adams' Many
Possessions.
From the New York Advertiser.
Washington, July 81, John Smith,
being of feeble health but of sound mind,
and desiring TO settle my affairs in this
world, and to- make my peace with God,
do make this my last win and tesla
ment."
In the great iron vault in the basement
of the city hall in Washington there are
thousands of legal documents with similar
preface, One only needs to enter the
vault with the register to realize what a
wealth of historic manuscript and of
quaint, forgotten eccentrieities it con
1 tains. There was provision in the early
law by which the wills, once deposited,
could not be withdrawn, so that the
register has in his keeping all the legal
| instruments,of this character since the
| year 1900. Many men known to history
and identified with the Development of
| the nation have lived and owned property
in Washington, and their wills or exact
/ COpANo ACOA AOPQoS AZ 1IO LNhb lIOu Tt
oeptacle.
The will of George Washington is, per-
| haps, the most famous of all the docu-
ments. 1t was recently copied by order
of the register into a record book where it
| could be consulted with facility The origi-
nal is som ewhere in Virginia, but Wash
| ington had some property interest in the
capital city, and a copy was. deposited
with the authorities here. While the
] liz Nr Fr% IL,
| country, though he was one of the richest
! Americans of his time, were by no means
| as extensive as those of many modern
millionaires, he prescribed with the great
est minuteness how they should be dis
! posed of.
The most famous provisions in this
| great document, which Washington de
! clares to have written with his own hand,
are those in which he devises fifty shares
of stock in the Potomac River Company
| for the sounding of an American univers-
| ity, and that in which he provides for the
! liberation of his slaves. The shares of
stock were presented to him by the Vir-
| ginia legislature, and were at first de-
| clined, but the gift was afterward so ar
ranged as not to conflict with his notions
of propriety in receiving public gifts.
| The provisions for the gift to The pro
posed university are couched in patriotic
! language characteristic of the man.
| Washington was not only PATRIOTIC he
was public spirited. He made MANY
| gifts in his will which were intended to
| be public benefactions.
| 1t is the slave cause which reads most
| curiously TO the child of the last genera
ton. 1t is, in fact. an excellent abolition.
ist document. They were not to be re-
leased till the death of Martha Washing
ton, his wife. He stated that it was his
! earnest wish that they should be emanci-
| ted bnfOrp b11T he fhnnObf fbia tEnu1d
be accompanied with unsurmountable
difficulties. The chief of these was the
intermarriage which existed with the
dover negroes. He says that he would
be glad 10 emancipate both, but it was
not in his power to do So They were to
be taught to read and write, and at Mrs.
Washington's. deoeasea all his directions
with regard to their freedom were to be
religiously carried out without evasion or
neglect
AS a remembrance of the days of bond
age the will of "Old Hickory is curio.
1t was made at the Hermitage, where he
passed his declining years 1t required
nearly all his earthly possessions, saving
a few slaves, to pay the debts which his
adopted son, Andrew jackson, Jr., had
contracted, and he states at the begin
ming of the document that he had made
| this will on account of the change in his
affairs necessitated by the obligations he
ndu dSSuI1eu lOE his son. EVERY MEMBER
of his immediate family, including his
grandchildren of tender years, is remem-
bered with at least one slave, to be owned
! absolutely. These requests are made in
language expressive of the great affection
which he possessed for all his kin
Probably the old pictures of jackson,
which represent him as always walking
with cane, are true to life, for in his
will he has several requests Of his favor
lite walking sticks. These appear as dear
| to him as his swords. He presents the
latter with the patriotic request that they
never be raised except in defense of the
nation Indeed the language of the will
| leaves no room TO doubt that Jackson was
a patriotic man to the core and that he
had the highest welfare of the nation at
| heart. &C.
In striking contrast to the will of Jack
! son is that of John Quincy Adams They
| are as unlike as were the two men. Adams
was a Unitarian of the Boston school, and
his will contains none of the usual refer
ences TO religious matters. but deals
| strictly with the topic in hand-the dis
position OF his property. He says nothing
of his belief in God as does jackson nor
of his hope in the hereafter. Adams lost
his original will and wrote the one which
stood at the time of his death in It's stead
It is lengthy document, and, is more
! like the will of Washington than that of
any other President. He, too, was fond
of his walking sticks, and gave particular
directions as 70 the disposition of those
which had been presented to him in honor
of his labors tor the right of petition.
| One of these canes, in accordance with
his wish, is now deposited in the patent
office s
Adams died wealthy man for his time
| He owned considerable amount of prop
erty in Washington. He had house and
| some land on + street and q store and
house on Pennsylvania avenue. Besides
these he had many possessions in Massa-
chusetts, of which some were in the city
of Boston, and very valuable. A pecu-
liarity OF his will is that he mentions his
own name as John Quincy Adams, doctor
Of laws. He was very proud of this dis
tinction, which was given to him as a
graduate of Harvard College, where all
the men of the Adams family have at
tended for generations 1t was like
sword through the plates of his armor
when jackson, his arch enemy. visited
the hallowed precincts of old Cambridge
! and received this honored degree from the
college authorities.
The briefest of all the presidential wills
in the vaults of the District of Columbia
is that of James Monroe. He had but lit
tie to give, and he gave it without the use
Of any unnecessary language IL contains
but 100 words. He gave $1,000 TO each Of