The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-23
STAPLES CASE ON TRIAL
PROPERTY VALUED AT $1,000
900 IS INVOLVED

the Contestant In the Action
Brought to Set Aside the WILL
Evidence Tending to Show Mental
Weakness offered on the OPEN
Ing Day-Adjournment Probable.
SALTWATER, Mimi, Aug. o.
(Special)-The contest of the will of
the late Hon. Isaac Staples. who died
the later part of June, leaving prop
erty estimated to be worth $1,000, OOO
began in the probate court this morn
ing, before Judge Wilson. The con-
testant is Edward s. Bronson, a grand
son OF Mr.. Staples and a son of Col
w. q. Bronson. The trustees Of the
estate are represented by Judge C. E.
F1andrau, Of st. Paul, and F. w. Gail,
of this city, and the contestant is rep
resented by w. P. Warner, Of St.
Paul, and John c. Nethaway, of this
city The hearing is being held in the
district court room, and a large num-
Der of witnesses were present at the
opening Of court
The estate took up it's side of the
case for the purpose of proving the
will, and the first witness examined
was e. S. Brown, who testified that
the signature attached to the will was
that OF Mr.. Staples, and that the sig
nature Of H. N. Setter, who drew the
will, was also genuine.
The next witness was Reed Johnson,
of ST. Paul, who testified that he was
present when the will was executed,
and that he had signed 1t as witness.
He did Nfr IT.
will, but that the will had been signed
when he went into the room He did
not notice anything peculiar or strange
about Mr.. Staples when the will was
presented to the witness for his sig
nature.
Mrs. Angelina Hover, Of Hamline,
Mimi, was the next witness. She tes-
titled that she had known Mr.. Staples
during the last six years prior to his
death and was a member of his house
hold, having gone there as a nurse
for his wife, and after her death he
had remained as Mr.. Staples nurse.
She remembered the making Of the will
and signed 1t as a witness, but did not
read 1t. She did not see Mr.. Staples
sign it. Mr.. Staples had been in poor
health for several years prior to the
signing Of the will but was no worse
on the day the will was signed than
he had been previously. She always
had to assist him in remembering
things, and kept track of his business
to certain extent for the purpose of
assisting him.
When Mr.. Setter asked Mr.. Staples,
in her presence, If it was his will, he
with HI = 4
not look up, but answered "Yes"
STAPLES MIND WEAK.
The witness went to Mr.. Staples
home March 20, 1892, and remained
there constantly until July last. She
took care Of Mr.. Staples and the house.
Mr.. Staples was seriously i'll in Feb
ruary, 1893, and a consultation Of ply
sicians was held at that time He was
i'll again in July, and was very weak.
His left side seemed paralyzed, and
he complained of aches and pains in
his head. He was out of his head
some Of the time. His face was very
red and he breathed heavily, making a
noise with his lips. Following this ILL
ness his mind seemed to be derangei.
and he couldn't talk straight He con-
tinued poorly until November Of that
year, when she accompanied him to
Hot Springs, Ark, where he had an
other bad SPELL She took care of and
dressed him and also bathed him dur
ing the last five years. He was I'M
able to do it himself. He often refused
to take medicine, and gave as a rea-
son for SO doing that he was afraid of
1nty
himself after his first illness.
In 1894 he didn't seem to understand
very much and also refused to take his
medicine. He was out of his head at
every sick spell, and his mind grad
ually grew worse. After that spell he
imagined he had another house. and
always spoke of going home, although
he was at his home. She let him have
his way about everything, the attend
Ing physicians having told her not to
cross him in anything. He imagined
the pictures on the wall were people
and would talk to them. He said a
great many things after his sick spell
that she considered peculiar. He claim
ed he saw water running over the car
pets. He would have Authorizations fire.
cline from 1893 to the fall of 1894. The
witness related number of incidents
bearing upon his condition from that
time until the time the will was sign
ed and later, and witness thought Sta
pies was out of his mind She fire.
| quently went with him to his farm.
near the city, where he would give
orders to the men that they could not
understand, and he frequently would
| forget what he went after After his
| sick spell in the spring of 1896 he was
weaker than he was before, and she
didn't think he was right mentally.
There are a large number of wit
nesses to be examined on both sides,
and it will probably take several weeks
| to complete the hearing. In case it
! is not completed next Saturday even
ing an adjournment will be taken I'M
til Sept. Is, one of the attorneys hav-
| ing some other business to attend to
during the interim.
| The deposition of DR.. T. G. Clark.
who is the surgeon of the Twelfth Min
nesota volunteers, and was Mr.. Sta
| pies physician during the last three
| or four years, was taken at Chatta-
nooga and will be offered in evidence
DR.. Clark testifies that he thought there
was gradual deterioration in Mr..
| Staples, both physically and mentally,
from the time Of his severe illness in
July, 1885, and thought there was a
| hrea KING down of tho vital forces