The herald., 1896-10-27
Furnishes Fat Fees for Able
Attorneys
rAYERWEATHER'S FORTUNE
To Be Fought for by Some twenty
Eastern Colleges
There's Money Enoguh at Stake to Pro
vide Very Well for the Colleges
and the Lawyers.
Associated Press Special Wire

| Associated Press Special Wire
| ALBANY, N. Y, Oct. 26.-The calen-
dar of the New York state court of ap-
peals for tomorrow contain one of the
most interesting cases heard in some
time by that august body, and whicn
affects nearly every college and univer-
sity of any standing in the country, as
we'll as many hospitals. The case is
the contest of the will of Daniel Fayer-
weather, in which he left $2,1500O0 to
these twenty colleges: Bowdoin, Dart
mouth, Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan,
Yale, Columbia, Union Theological SEM
mary, Hamilton, Rochester, Cornell, La
fayette, Lincoln, University of Virgin
la, Hampton, Maryville, Marietta, Adel-
bert, Wabash and Park.
This was under the ninth clause of the
will, Cornell and Columbia each receiv-
ing 5000, 900, Yale $O0,000 and the others
from $1,000 to 100000.
Under the tenth clause he left the
residue of his estate. which amounted
to about $3,000.00O to the same colleges,
share and share alike. In codicil of the
will, however. the testator changed this
residuary bequest, leaving the residue
absolutely to the trustees. A contest
was begun. on the ground that this alb
solute bequest was Illegal, and thereupon
the trustees made a so-called deed of
gift in which they announced that they
had distributed the residue among GER
tain colleges and hospitals, as follows:
Woman's hospital and Cooper union
100000 each: Yale, $4,000; New York
university, Union, Harvard, Princeton,
Northwestern university, Rutgers and
Barnard. 100000 each; University of
Pennsylvania Wesleyan, Lafayette,
Maryvale, 'Maryietta. Wabash. Haver-
ford, Brown, Wells Female, Elmira Fe-
male, Vassar, Trinity and Society of
St Vincent de Paul. $4,000 each; Shat
tuck school, Presbyterian hospital,
Manhattan Eye and Ear, New York Eye
and Ear, Manhattan dispensary, Meth
odist. Brooklyn, ST. Luke's, Montef1ore
home and New York Cancer hospitals
Sa5,0O0 each; Mount Sinai hospital,
$15.000; total, $2,14OO0O.
This decision entirely ignored Bow
doin, Dartmouth, Williams, Rochester,
Amherst, Columbia, Hamilton. Cornell,
University of Virginia, Hampton and
Adelbert. The trustees of Amherst,
Dartmouth, Hamilton and Williams
college and the University of Rochester
thereupon contested the validity of the
deed of gift, and Judge Truax set it
aside, holding that the residue should
be distributed between the twenty col
leges under the tenth clause of the will,
as If the codicil had not existed
The general term affirmed this decis-
ion unanimously. Justice Toilette and
Chief Justice Van Brunt both wrota
opinions. Justice Parker concurred In
tine opinion of Justice Toilette, who
says that the defendants Thomas G.
Ritch and Henry E. Vaughan, for them
selves and on the part of Justus L.
Bulkeiey, induced Mr. Fayerweather
to believe that If he would make them
residuary legatees of the estate, as pro-
vided in the codicil, they would sell anu
convert the regiduary estate into cash
twenty corporations mentioned IN the
ninth paragraph of the will, and that
Mr., Fayerweather died convinced that
the trustees would do this, hut that
they attempted to dispose of the resid-
uary estate in violation of these PROM
ise5.
The defendant trustees, backed by
the schools and hospitals recognized by
them, now contest the general term
opinion. A brilliant array of counsel
will be present tomorrow to argue the
case, and the decision will be 10 oked
forward to with great interest.