Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-08-25
100000 FOR DISTRIBUTION
WHEN HETTY GREEN DIES
VAST SUM LEFT BY AN AUNT MUST BE
DIVIDED AT LlFE-FAMoUs LITcA-
TON OVER WILL

tent to make a will on account Of mental
and bodily weakness, and that she had
been improperly influenced by those about
her. This appeal was shortly after with
drawn.
VIII Filed In 1866.
In December, 1866 a will was filed by
Hetty In the circuit court. She alleged
that her aunt being anxious that no prop
erty from the Rowland stock should come
to her father, had requested her to make
a will excluding her father from Inherit
ing her property, and had agreed to do
likewise; that they made mutual wills
excluding her father from the inheritance,
exchanged them and agreed that neither
should make another will without notify
ing the other and returning the other 8
will, and praying that as this had never
been done the executors should be ordered
to convey the property to her. To this was
affixed a will, to which there we're two sig
natures, which, It was alleged, were not
genuine.
The first and third pages constituted one
document, In which Sylvia Ann Rowland
bequeathed all her property to Hetty H.
Robinson and her assigns forever.
To this was annexed a singular paper
known throughout the case as the second
page OF the will. In substance It implored
the Judge, IL any viii appeared, without
notifying her niece and returning her will
to her, to decide in favor OF this win, and
revoke all Wills made before or after.
It further set forth that nothing would
induce her to make q will unfavorable to
her niece, but, being I'll and afraid, If any
of her caretakers insisted on her making
a will, to refuse, as they might hear or
be angry she gave this will to show, IL
absolutely necessary to have IL appear
against another will found after her death.
The pleadings, in addition to the curious
issues of fact involved, raised many inn
portant questions.
In Niece's Handwriting.
The main issue of fact raised was
whether the signature to the second page,
which was admittedly in the handwriting
of the niece was genuine.
Hetty's story of the will was that 1t
was drafted on a slate at Round Hills
and finally written out in ink. 1t was ar
ranged afterward to write the second page
separately so that IL might be easily de-
tached If her aunt's caretakers did not get
the advantage of her, and a subsequent
will was not made
|. Two copies Of the second page were
written and signed and caught to the first
page of the will by fine thread. and ar
ranged so that they could not be seen by
the attesting witnesses.
The pages remained attached to the will
but a single night, when the thread was
severed by Hetty in the presence Of her
aunt. One copy Hetty was to take to
New York with directions to reattach 1t
should the influence of the aforesaid
caretakers overcome the invalid's reso-
luton while the other was placed in a
white envelope, together with copy OF
the will, and retained by Miss How
land.
The duplicate selected for the niece was
that signed after tea. for the curious al
AI1N h1fv fcryanA Vnr
the moment of the execution Of the will,
It more nearly resembled the signature
to that instrument than that signed earl
Ter I'm the day.
Three years later Sylvia Ann Rowland
died On the evening of the day of the
funeral Hetty, with Mrs. BrowneI, the
housekeeper went to a little hair trunk
in a closet, where her aunt was in the
habit of keeping her papers.
The white envelope and the duplicate
second page were found and retained by
her. Next morning another search was
made in the presence of Edward HI.
Green, to whom Hetty was betrothed, and
the second will was discovered. The al
legged mutual contract had been violated.
Defense Alleged Forgery.
The foremost defence of the executors
was forgery. They asserted that the
signatures To both the duplicate second
pages were forged by tracing from the
signature to the will admitted to be gen.
uine.
II was not, however, upon this that the
executors relied solely. 1t was repre-
scented that the relations between the
aunt and niece were not the most agree
able and the "caretakers'' were depicted
as the faithful friends upon whose con-
ISOLATION and support the old lady was
wont chiefly to reply. The improbability
of the contract was emphasized.
But 1t is for the extraordinary conflict
of testimony, demonstrating how COM
pletely scientific opinion may differ. that
this case after the interest awakened by
the magnitude of the struggle has died
away. will be the most famous in the
annals of the law.
Here were three signatures of Sylvia
Ann Rowland, one to the will confessedly
genuine and one to each Of the duplicate
pages.
Upon supervising the other two over
this. the covering was so exact, and not
merely the covering existed together
with identity of all the spaces between
the letters and the words, but the locality
on the paper and the distance from the
margins Of the signatures so nearly coin
eide that the defendants, supported by
the opinions OF some of the best experts
in the country, claimed that the sigma