The times., 1899-03-28
NEWS FROM ALEXANDRIA.

c. e. Nicol The session continued until
o'clock this evening, when court ad-
journed until tomorrow morning. As pre-
viously stated in The Times, Mrs. eliza
| Daingerfield died on December 2S 1897.
| Her heirs s-at-law were the children of her
two sons. Henry and Reverdy Daingerfield.
both of whom died prior to the death of
/ their mother. Mrs. Daingerfie!d by her will
bequeathed the bulk of her estate to the
widow and children of Reverdy J. DANGER
. field, and practically disinherited the wild
ow and children of her son Henry. The
widow of Henry Daingerfeld and her chill
/ dren instituted proceedings and are en-
| deavoring TO have the will set aside, aver
| ring that the testatrix was of impaired
mind at the time and that undue influence
was brought to bear upon her at the time
| the will was executed. 1t is also alleged
that the testatrix was persuaded that the
value of her estate was only $4,000, while
subsequent events prove that the amount
reached $4,000. Messrs. Edmund Burke.
| Samuel G. Brent and r. Walton Moore
represent Mrs. Virginia Daingerfield. and
| Messrs. John NJ. johnson. Eppa Hunton,
! jr., and Bernard Carter, jr, OF Baltimore.
appear for Mrs. Reverdy j. Daingerfeld.
| The courtroom was crowded throughout
| the proceedings. The entire families OF
| the contestants were in court. OF the
| twenty four jurors summoned the follow
! ing were drawn to adjudge the case: S.
B. Fisher, S. II. Lunt, NJ. B. Harlow. R.
! Lee Field B. Baer, 4. ID. Br0ckett, w. II.
| May. J. X. Chapman, ]. A. Marshall. K.
! l.. Monroe, John p. Robinson. and f. s.
| Harper After the usual preliminaries Mr..
| Johnson counsel for Mrs. Reverdy j. Dain-
| gerfield opened the case by giving his
\ tory of the will of Mrs. Eliza R. Dainser-
| field, and claiming that all formalities in
! connection with its execution. probate, ETC.,
| had been literally complied with. He was
| followed by MIR. Moore, counsel for Mrs.
| Virginia Daingerfield. He called attention
| to the fact that the provisions of the will
practically disinherited the children of the
| late Henry Daingerfeld, as the bulk of the
property had been bequeathed to Mrs. Ef-
| fie Daingerfield, not OF the blood KIN OF
| the testatrix and that the act was unnat-
ural. He further averred that 1t would be
shown that the testatrix at the time the in
strument was executed, was not capable
OF making a will which would undergo
| legal scrutiny, and that at the time she
was not free and capable agent; that her
| physical condition was critical, she hav-
| ing suffered a stroke Of paralysis; that her
memory was defective; that she had con-
fused notions of business. and that IL was
| a well-known fact that she was subject
| to certain delirium rendering her sus-
! ceptible to the persuasions of designing
| persons He referred to domestic troubles
! encountered by the testatrix from 1870 TO
| a period subsequent to the execution OF
| the WILL citing an incident which occurred
| at Asbury Park in 1890, and the subse-
| auent suicide of her two sons, Henry and
Reverdy j. Daingerfield he contended that
| these incidents were sufficient to unbalance
her mind Counsel further argued that
1 there had been two previous wills. IN
which fair distribution Of the property
| had been made, but that after the death
! Of Henry Daingerfeld undue influence had
been used to cause the execution OF the
will in controversy.
| At the close of Mr. Moore's statement
witnesses were called. Gardner l.. Boothe
| and Thomas G. Miller, subscribing wit
nesses to the will, stated that at the time
| of its execution Mrs. Daingerfield's mind
was apparently perfectly clear. Judge J.
| X. NJ Norton, author of the will. and the
| third subscribing witness. stated that lie
| had been given the memoranda by the tes-
| tatrix which he supposed were in her
| handwriting She had expressed her opin-
| ion that the heirs of Henry Daingerfeld
were provided for from the estate OF their
| deceased father, while the heirs OF Reyerdy
| J. Daingerfield would have nothing except
! what they received from her. She had also
| expressed the belief that the relatives OF
| Mrs. Henry Daingerfield would provide for
| her and her children. The witness was OF
\
| of strong mind. After a recess Henry
| Daingerfield, eldest son of Mrs. Virginia
| Daingerfield, was placed on the stand. He
| gave the names and respective ages OF each
| member of his own and his uncle's family.
| and he stated that at the time OF his Ia
| Tiers death the income from his estate
was between 81 400 and s1.6G0, and that he
had conveyed his interest therein to his
mother for her maintenance. His grand
mother who had previously been fond OF
his mother and her children, had. subse-
quent to his fathers death, manifested
| decided hatred for them; his grandmother
did not attend the funeral of either his IA
| ther or uncle, and after the tragedies had
| said that she had no further desire to live
He was required to state how his father
and his uncle. Reverdy ]. Daingerfield,
met their death. which was by suicide
When the witness was asked il his grand
mother had not received a still further
shock by an occurrence involving the good
| name and reputation of the family. cOun-
sci on the other side objected. The jury
was then dismissed until 10 O'Clock tomor-
row morning and arguments begun on the
| legality of the question. Mr.. Burke. for
contestants. argued that certain scandal
had occurred in 1890. at Asbury Park. in
which the name of the principal beneficiary
| under the will was brought into promi-
| nence; that his side proposed to show to
| the court and the jury that this occur
renee was one of the many incidents in
the family which tended to impair the
mental faculties of the testatriX. Mr..
Johnson contended that the alleged oc-
| currence at Asbury Park was irrelevant.
as there had been an interval of five years
between that time and the execution of the
will Judge Nicol stated that he would
render a decision on the point tomorrow
morning.
The work of repairing the big holder at
the gasworks. which was damaged by the
storm in February last has been COM
pleted.
meeting of the Womans Christian
Temperance Union will be held in their
rooms tomorrow afternoon at > o'clock
The funeral of Daniel Boland took place
this afternoon from st. Mary's Church.
Rev Father Cutler ofiiciated. The inter-
ment was in the Catholic Cemtery.
Richard Brown. who was recently In
jured by the falling of scaffold at st.
Asaph. has almost entirely recovered from
the effects of the accident. He left the in
firmary today.
The steamer Dennis Simmons arrived
here today with lumber from Williamson,
n. C.
Rev. Father O'Leary. of Georgetown Col
Iege, will preach the Lenten sermon in st.
Mary's Church tomorrow night
Chnmberlnin's Cough Remedy.
| rh;s ,e,rcdy Il intended especialy for coughs