The Saint Paul globe., 1897-08-19
WILL OF d. w. INGERsoLL.
Judge KeIIy's Legal Construction of
the Document

the Document
Judge Kelly filed His decision yester-
day in the matter of the construction Of
the will of the late Ds w. Ingersoll.
Mr.. Ingersoll died two years ago, leav-
ing an estate consisting of the home
stead on the northeast Scorner Of Nell
son avenue and Summit place, and the
land and building at @Wabasha and
Third streets, known as the Ingersoll
block, and other property. At the time
Mr.. Ingersoll made Nhisliwill he owned
a large estate, which has since then
considerably depreciated in value.
One of the provisions of the will was
that Mrs. Ingersoll, } the widow of the
testator, should receive from the es-
tate the sum Of $4,000 per annum. 1t
was further provided that said sum of
money should be paidOfMrs Ingersoll
from the "income" Of the estate after
the payment of all taxes, insurance in
terest, ETC. The teStator also provided
in the will fer certain annual allow
ance to be paid such daughters as
might be unmarried at the time of his
death. AS it happens, there was only
one unmarried daughter, Anna Inger-
soil, and she asks to be paid the an
nual income of $500 allowed her by the
will of her father.
1t transpires, however, that the es-
tate has decreased in value to such
an extent that the net annual income
thereof scarcely exceeds $1,000. The
court finds that the annuity to the wild
oW takes precedence over that of the
unmarried daughter, and also takes
priority over all other legacieS men
toned in the will and the codicils.
The court also finds that the widow
has made ne attempt to preserve the
homestead as a family residence, and
that all the provisions of the will for
the occupancy and use of the home
stead have been waived and aban-
doned by the widow and children, and
that it must become a part of the gen
eral estate. r'.sN ta--
In the memorandum accompanying
the findings, Judge Kelly says, in part:
successful business man, loving husband
and father, just man attempts by this in
strument. drawn or modified in the zenith of
his financial success, to make provision for
his wife and his children, in way emnently
fair and impartial, and at that time entirely
feasible But the estate, then ample, becomes
impaired before death makes the viii ope a.
tive, that now some of its provisions seem
hard If there was ever a case where the
good office of a family COUNCIL should be in
voked to smooth down these rough places
made by misfortune and not by fault, this
in my opinion, is SUCH n
Taking this will with it's two codicils, by
the four corners and heading it whole,
the testators intention is absolutely clear as
to the money allowances for his widow. By
Cn6 original Will Sne Is TO De palQ Sl5 per
month for life, increased to $100 per month
by the first codicile, and to s., 900 per annum,
payable quarterly, by the second. So that
there can be question that Mrs. Ingersoll,
under the will, changed by the codiciles.
is entitled to receive s., 600 per annum dur
ing life. y
And this sum is chargeable upon the body
Of this estate. For although by the fifth
paragraph of the will the testator directs his
executors to pay this sum "out of the income
of my estate" yet in the twelfth paragraph
where he gives and devises to his children all
his estate. real and personal it is made
especially subject to this allowance to the
widow. And in the sames: paragraph his
executors arerequired to reserve from the
division or distribution of his estate to his
children such sum ''aS securely invested to
the satisfaction and approval of his wife,
will yield to her the allowance. And also by
way of special security this, and other al
lowances are charged upon Ingersol block
and the homestead And in order to pre-
serve the widows rights, l hold it is neces-
and repairs as Indicated y -:
The annuity to the widow takes precedence
over those to the unmarried daughters for
the reason before given, and because the
widow, in consideration for the annuity re-
leased her dover rights $50 caled) and there
fore takes as a purchaser. The other le-
gatees are as against the widow, mere volun-
teerS'' l21f 80
There were thirty-four propositions
OF law submitted to the court upon the
will, land a stipulatioI0 of facts. The
counsel engaged in the case were Har-
ris Richardson A. G. Briggs, Young &
Lightner, T. r. Palmer and Eller, How
and Butler