The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-06-20
SENGlu N THE CASE
Strange viii Contest of Frank
Palmer of Chicago.
is A DESPICABLE MIGRATE
Or One of the Worst Abused
Men on Earth.
S A DESPlCABLE MIGRATE

To Frank T. W. Palmer Of Chicago.
more than a fortune Is at stake in the
legal battle he is waging for the purpose
of breaking his mothers will. His reputa-
ton as a citizen and as a man fit to asso-
ciate with cultured men and women Is
hanging in the balance and depends upon
the result of the verdict that will either
make him a poor man or the heir TO for
tune of $650,0OO.
On the one side astute lawyers are trying
to convince jury that Frank Palmer is
the victim of conspiracy-possibly of a
hypnotic influence exerted upon weak
woman by a prototype of Du Maurier's
Svengali, DR.. Eugene DuPoy of Paris.
This French physician is said TO look like
Wilton Lackaye's impersonation of the
character. He is apupil of Brown Sequard,
and has obtained some fame in this coun-
try as a lecturer. Attorney Frank Walker
would have the jury believe that this man,
aided by Fordyce C. Bradley. a lawyer OF
this city, turned a mothers heart against
a son and implanted in her mind the idea
that he was going TO poison her. He would
have the jury believe that Bradley, a man
Of good reputation, planned and schemed
until he had Mrs. Russell Benedict draw a
will that would make it possible to land
this fortune in the lap Of his own daugh-
ter.
Other lawyers Of equal cunning are striv-
ing to debar Frank Palmer from good CO.
ciety and from the enjoyment of wealth by
proving that he is an abandoned drunkard.
that he has been a spendthraft, squander-
ing his money with such a lavish hand
that he came to be known in the fast sets
of many cities as the Partisan prince"
They are Offering evidence to blast his
reputation beyond repair, to show that he
bled his mother for years broke her heart
and finally abandoned her when physicians
said that her life hung by a thread of
chance. IT is a revolving picture that they
are framing of Frank T. w. Palmer. which
will be hung beside this other picture of a
loving and dutiful son robbed of his patri-
mcny. Which picture shall. catch the
fancy OF the twelve men who are viewing
the family skeleton, depends largely upon
the skill Of the lawyers that are working
fo- fees unusually large.
Frank Palmer does not look like victim
Of alcoholism. He is but little past the
primo Of life, has gray hair, the air and
conversation of polished gentleman. is a
graduate of Yale, and weighs in the neigh
borhood of 800 pounds. If he has been in
delirium tremens as many times as the de-
Tense claims he must have an iron consti-
tuition. That he sowed an average crop of
wild oats while in college he admits. That
he is q: drunkard and spendthrift he
denies.
He also admits that he received some
thing like $130,OOO from his fathers estate,
but denies that he squandered It all in two
years. In addition to this, the defense
claims, he received nearly $4,000 from his
mother in her lifetime. and 1t all went in
drink. dissipation and stock speculation.
The will which he is trying to break il
one that works a hardship upon him If
Frank Walkers picture OF the man Is cor
rect. He IS left the income of the estate
for life, and after that 1t will nearly all Q,
to Lucia Bradley. daughter Of the trustee
in the viii. There is a "spendthrift''
clause, however. which makes his receiv-
ing the yearly income entirely dependant
upon Mr.. Bradley. At any time that Brad
ley elects to say that Frank Palmer's con-
duct Is bad he can shut of the income.
and 1t will go on accommodating and piling
up for Lucia Bradley. Not a dollar CT this
money can Frank Palmer spend upon his
wife, whom his mother selected for him,
and against this woman is shown a bitter
vindictiveness which, it is claimed, proves
the theory Of insanity.
Palmer refused TO be guided by the
wishes Of his mother as expressed in the
will. and elected to contest for the entire
fortune and his reputation. He has not
since her death. on Feb. L.. 1896. enjoyed a
dollar from the estate. II he Is unsuc-
cessful he will never get a penny of it. for
by the contest he forfeits the right even
to the income.
In order to settle the questions involved
lawyers on both sides have made Several
trips to Europe. have made the rounds Of
the health resorts frequented by Mrs.
Benedict during the later years of her life.
and have spent much time and money in
taking dispositions of the people with
whom she associated.
some OF this evidence exposes the trar-
edy Of fife. There is a bundle of letters
written by her to Mr.. Bradley which show
the struggle she was having. or thought
she was having, 10 redeem an only and
abandoned son. The yea-nings OF a moth
er's heart. her frequent hopeless despair,
her fearful patience and her untireing
effort for his reformation are told in lam
guaSe that Is clear and sometimes almost
dramatic. During the period covered by
these letters she made three wills. two Of
them in favor OF her son. whom she
thought reformed. and the third the one
now under contest.
Mrs. Benedict was Miss Anna Watkins Of
ElkHorn. Wis. She first married Azaria r.
Palmer. who came To Chicago years ago
and ran planning mill. later he orEaniz-
ed the big business concern now known As
Palmer. Fuller q Co. Vine Watkins also
came to Chicago. and Palmer took him /,
partnership. Vine Watkins. brother OF
the deceased. is now millionaire living