The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-12-04
THE HOLT WILL CONTEST.
Joseph II. Choste to Defend the Validity OF
thc Will.

WASHINGTON. Dec. s.--Thc now cell
ebrated Holt will case came up to-day in
the Probate Court. counsc! for Miss jose
yhine Throckmorton Holt, or New York.
and Miss Lizzie Hines. OF Lebanon. ny,
fling their answer to the pleadinSs maze
by the heirs AT law. Inc Attcr' through
their attorney, Judge Jere wilson, con-
tend that the mysterious Will Of 1873 was
n forgery. or. II 1t were genuine. it was
not properly signed and attested. The an
swer 10 these allegations to-day was that
the will was clearly not n forgery, and
that the other statement as 70 the time
and act Of signing could not be proven
In a few days the attorneys on cach Sue
will frame the issues 70 he tried, and III
due time the case will come on Tor trial
No legal cause since the Breckenridge
case has aroused such interest In WASH
ingtor
Joseph H. Choate has been retained by
Miss Throclmorton, and nus handiinS OF
the suit is looked forward TO with cacer
interest. 1t will add favor OF romance
to tho trial. also 10 have the plaintiffs
Drescnt. one is "A dccrepit old lady who
has been A paretic all her life and de-
pendent on the kindness OF her relative
whose will is TO be established or iepu-
dated In the coming trial. The other Is
4 most beautiful young woman. tall,
dueenly, and fascinating. With these APP
peaiing exhibits in ;he case Mr.. Shoate
.yili undoubtedly make strong impress
sion on any twelve men likely 20 he called
upon TO decide the validity OF the VIII.
II is now over three months since TINS
que r. viii. made IN 1873. came TO tho late
Register OF wills. Col. Wright. in his
mail one Monday morning. The docu-
ment had been mailed somewhere IN
Washington between . and . O'Clock on
the afternoon of Saturday. Aug. 2ith. The
viii was clearly written by Judge Holt
himself II was in his well-known hand
and his name after the amen clause and
an the signature were Identical Inc WIZ
nesses were Ellen II. T. Sherman the
wife Of Gen. William Tecumsch Sherman;
4. s. Grant President OF the United
States at the time the will Vas written.
and W y. Sherman, then Lieutenant
General OF the Army The date was Feb.
=. 1879. At that time from the files OF
daily newspapers. il appears that Pres
ident Grant was i'm Washington. as were
also Gen. and Mrs. Sherman. With the
exception OF the names Of the three Wit
uesscs. every word Of the will appears TO
Doe I'm the writing OF Judge Holt.
Not a single fact has been unearthed
since Aug 2ih. 10 throw any liSht on the
case but two presumptions' according TO
.he LAWYERS are believed 10 be incontroN-
ortible i'm regard to the history OF the
paper after Judge Holt and the witnesses
signed il. II was folded when II was
burned for the holes. made as n by Goals
on CRATE fire. are In coinciding line
diagonally across the paper when 1T is
folded. and these holes grow gradually
smaller from the outer fold to the inner.
The other fact presumed is that one
fourth OF the paper on which the VIII
was written is zone. for there IS ruled
line within an eighth of an inch Of the
top Of the sheet The writing is close to
this edge. and the document when fold
ed i'm the way in which lawyers fold legal
papers. shows clearly that a portion OF
the sheets IS missing
As the estate amounts 10 $4,000, the
heirs at law declare that they will night
hard and long against this VIII. Ihey as
sert that there was another will made in
1855. which made an entirely different dis
position of the property.-New York sun.