The Saint Paul globe., 1904-10-29


of his daughter, Mrs. Appleby, who left
the larger part of her fortune to the
worthy poor of ST. Paul Had the
heirs been successful in breaking the
VIII of Mrs. Wilder, however, it is not
TO be doubted that similar attacks
would have been made on the Amherst
ii. Wilder and the Mrs. Appleby wills
by those who would have profited by
the distribution of the extensive prop
critics among the heirs at law.
Great Charity Created
The effect of the decision of the SUI
preme court is to declare valid the
Fanny S. Wilder will and to create one
OF the greatest public charities in the
country. Under the terms of the will.
with the amounts to be devoted to sim
liar charities by the wills of Amherst
q. Wilder and Mrs Appleby. nearly
$Z,50e,000 will be available for the relief
OF the worthy poor of st. Paul.
Both the Amherst H. Wilder charity
and the Fanny S. Wilder charity have
been incorporated by the trustees
named in the wills. That under the
will of Fanny Spencer Wilder-upon
which the supreme court passed yes
terday-is known as the Amherst H.
Wilder charity and was incorporated
Dy Channlng Seabury, John /. H. Field,
Charles n. Bell, Charles S. Spencer and
Victor NJ. Watkins, all of ST. Paul. The
Incorporation by the trustees of the
Amherst H. Wilder charity has also
peen accomplished, and it is expected
that third corporation will be created
TO administer the terms of the Cordelia
Day Appleby will
The terms of each will differ in some
particulars and strict compliance
with the law will neeessitate three sep
arate corporations, though it is prob
able that the different charities will be
administered from one headquarters
The Amherst H Wilder charity cor
poration will meet probably Wednes-
day of next week, and will take initial
steps to comply with the terms of the
Will creating the magnificent charity.
Will Establish Headquarters
I'VE have been in the courts for some
months, Victor M. Watkins, one of the
trustees of the will and one Of the in
corpOratorS of the Amherst H. Wilder
charity, said last night. I'VE have had
no opportunity, under the circum-
stances, to develop any plan for the
disbursement of the proceeds of the
estate in charity as contemplated by
the terms of Mrs. Wilder's will. 1t is
expected, however, that the corpora
ton will meet about the middle of next
week and take the initial steps towards
taking up the work which will be the
province of the corporation. Our legal
name is the A. H. Wilder Charity,
founded by Fanny S. Wilder, and one
of the provisions of the will is that the
corporation shall, as soon as prac-
ticable, erect or lease a suitable build
ing for headquarters to administer the
fund.
while nothing has been decided in
this respect, it is probable that the
building will be erected in the down
town district, where the worthy poor,
with WHOM we are to have business re-
| lations, will find the corporation avail
able. / think it probable, under the
strict Interpretation of the three wills
and the laws of the state, that there
will be three separate and distinct
charity corporations, though I know of
nothing which will prevent them being
administered from one headquarters"
Asked for an estimate of the amount
which would be available for the relief
of the poor under the wills, Mr.. Wat
kins, who has long been the confidential
agent of the Wilder family and who is
specifically mentioned in Mrs. Wilder's
will as entitled to confidence and rec
ognition in the administration of the
great trust fund, said that there would
be about 81, 225, 900. you may say that
the fund will be somewhere between
81 ,225, 600 and $2,5O0,000." he said.
F. B. Kellogg, of Kellogg & Sever
ance, who were attorneys for the trus
tees in the litigation, is out of the city,
but will return in time to be present at
the first meeting of the corporation
next week.
History of the Wills
Amherst H. Wilder died in st. Paul
Nov. IL, 1894, leaving a large fortune
to his widow, Fanny S. Wilder, and
daughter, CorneIia Day Wilder, but
provided that in the event of his
daughter dying without issue large
part of his fortune. should go to
found a perpetual charity for the
worthy poor of st. Paul, the charity to
be known as the Amherst H Wilder
charity. In May, 1897, the daughter be-
came the wife of DR.. 7. E. w. Villiers
Appleby, but by an ante-nuptial agree
ment DR.. Appleby released all claims in
her estate provided he survived her.
Mrs. Appleby died, chiIdless, jan 90,
1903, her husband and mother surviv
ing her. Her will provided for her
husband, in accordance with the ante
nuptial agreement, and gave the resi-
due of her estate to a fund ''for the re-
lief of the worthy poor of st. Paul, ito
be known as the Amherst H. Wilder
charity" April 5, 1903, Mrs. Wilder
died, and her will gave the, residue of
her property, after certain minor be-
quests and legacies, to fund to be
known as the Amherst II. Wilder char
ity.
A question arising as to the eonsti-
tutionality of Mrs. Wilders will, the
trustees brought an action to secure
legal construction of the will, but dur
ing its pendency Henry D. Spencer,
John S. Spencer and others, nepheWs
and nieces of the deceased, intervened
and asked leave to defend the action
on the ground that the will of Mrs.
Wilder created a trust in creating the
Amherst II. Wilder charity, and that
therefore the charity descended to them
and to the other heirs at law. They
raised the further point that the
amount of the residue of Mrs Wilders
estate depended upon the validity of
Mr.. Wilder's will, and hence they had
a direct interest in the result Of the
action.
The trial court by Judge Bum dis
missed the motion of the nephews and
nieces for leave to appear and struck
out their complaint on the ground that
they had no direct interest in the es-
tate. The lower court adjudged Amherst
H WiIder's will to be good, and the
interest of the appellants was whether
or not the will of Fanny Spencer Wild
er is valid.
Supreme Court Unanimous
The supreme court decision holding
the will valid and the creation Of the
Amherst II. Wilder charity legal was
written by Chief Justice C. M. Start,
and in the accompanying opinion the
other four supreme court justices con-