The morning times., 1896-07-28


famous people, or The copies or their wills,
filed in the registers office in Washington
than in any other city In the land. The
reason is obvious, for many statesmen who
spent part OF their lives here al one time or
another invested in city property.
A man almost always grows thoughtful
when he makes his will. There Is o
stereotyped edprelude used with fe W variations
in almost every one OF these mortuary doc
ulnents. 1t is always substantially as
follows:
..In tile name OF God. Amen. /, John
Smith, OF the city OF Washington, being
weak in body but of sound and disposiag
mind, considering the certainty OF death
and the uncertainty OF the time thereof, do
make and publish this, my last will and
testament"
Any great variation from tile above
is rare. Yet it is as unnecessary TO the
validity of the will as ifit were a stanza of
poetry or a sliorttreatise on metamorphosis.
Tie ina ajority of wills, too, are made shortly
before death.
So general is this belief in the necessity
of some reference to the uncertainty OF
temporal things and the perpetuity of
divinity that ii is occasionally amusingly
abused.
SOME QUEER sPEcI MEMS.
A few days ago the register read the
will Of late son of Erin. He begun by
writing his bequests in regular form.
Toward the end OF the paper several
scratched out words showed that the testa-
tor had reached an uncertain frameofmind.
tie apparently thought he had neglected
something and all was explained when he
wound up with: 81 hope my executrix
will not be required to give bond and know
size will carry out fully the provisions OF
this will, for Gods sake. Amen"
1t is not at all infrequent to find ante
belIum wills making bequests of slaves.
In the will made by a lady January g, 1912,
she disposes of come twenty odd male and
female slaves, passing them around in the
nature of souvenirs among her friends.
A certified copy OF the will Of the late
George Washington is filed here. The
original is in the county archives in Alex
andria The paper contains several thous-
and words and was signed July 3, 1850.
lie left a large estate, OF which his widow
was to receive the rents and profits during
life.
Upon the death of his wife Gen. washing
ton wi.ied thsf all rbe slaves he had held
in his own right should be freed.
WASHINGTON ON SLAVERY.
ITO emancipate them during her life, "
he said in the will, would be attended
10y such insurfcrable difficulties on account
| of Interhixture by marriages with the
dover negroes as to excite the most painful
sensations. IL not disagreeabe conse
| Quences."
His mulatto man, William Lee SSvas giveI
immediate liberty, however, ''Decaase O
his faithful services during the Revolution
airy War;
Washington had goodly fortune. In
making beuqest for the advancement
of university in tn District Of Columbia
he commented as follows:
ut has always been a source of serious
regret with me to see the youth Of tn,
United States sent to foreign countries FOL
education, often before their minds were
formed or they knew OF the happenings
of their own, contracting too frequently
/ not only habits OF dissipation and extrava
gance, but principles unfavorable to re-
publican government"
1.-The first will of Thaddeus Kosciusko,
the Polish soldier and patriot. is filed
here 1t bears date Of May 3, 1898. The
paper is quite short and named Thomas
jefferson, the third President, the ex-
ecutor of his estate in America. The prop
erty of the testator is not mentioned but
lie authorizes the executor to convert all
his property in the United States into
money and to devote it to the purchase and
- 1,,to
will. dated March %. 1906, from Paris, is
also filed with the original. 1t merely
repeats the former bequests in so far as
his property in this country is concerned.
WILL OF JAMES MONROE.
Another will of President to be found
here is that of James Monroe, dated May
10, 1881. He left all Of his property to
his two daughters.
President Andrew Jackson made bis
first will September 80, 1888. He found
it necessary to make another June Z, 1s43
at the Hermitage" because. he said. The
estate has become greatly involved by my
liabilities for the debts Of my well be-
loved and adopted son, Andrew Jackson
ir"-
After starting out in the customary, "In
the name of God, Amen, President Jack
son made his first bequest as follows:
First: beQueath my body to the dust
whence it came, and my soul to God who
gave IL, hoping for lasting immortality
through the atoning merits of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Savior Of the world"
Many following items are devoted to a
disposition of the swords he had used in
the service OF his country. One of these, q
present from his native State OF Tennessee,