The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-26
IA PROVE Y VINO YOU ARE
IS AD|FF|GU.E.T-I|.A|:|.l.N'|. [:
John Smith May Not Testify II
in Court That H IS the Son
Of Robert Smith.

Paradoxical as 1t may seem. the most
difficult thing to prove In court OF lay
Is who you are. 1t Is n simple matter II &
You have still living plenty OF relatives
Of an older. generation, but suppose your our
parents and uncles and aunts are dead, (
It becomes we'll nigh Impossible as @
matter OF fact your knowledge OF your,
identify Is absolute hearsay. You Know
your father and mother called you their
son, and to that fact you may testif II
the question or your identity should ever
come before n Judge and Jury. But the
testimony goes before the jury with the the
warning from the judge that t Is only
hoarnay /, for you have II o personal KNOW
edge Of the mutter. M i5f III, 5as DE- 5t
~ Official town or pnr1s RECORDS are W
able, but by no means $conclusive.s.S suppose
you are John Smith. son OF ROBERT ana
Mary Smith, born at Albany on aug US !
1865. The record Of births in the Bureau
Z Of Vital 8 taustlos ut albany vii prove
that u son named John was born to r
crt and Mary Smith on that date; the
register of the church may prove nat
John, son OF Robert and Mary SMITH
was bapttsed on a certain. date, but they
do not prove that you are the John smith,,
OF whom these are records. RI
To establish the come ctlon between you
and the person mentioned In the records,
in other words I Q prove your oWn, !, ide a
atty, is ,4theGdiiIlculty.. r your mother lsI
alive she can do At: Ef any $relAtlVe VINO
has known you since sou were born 8is
alive he can do IT. Y .sE3 G ,5iS . Jsi
The successive suits for the estate of AZ
IT. Stewart failed on such grounds as
these. The plaintiffs, cousins of the late
Mrs. Stewart. were unable to provc1tfelr
relationship.
1t was necessary, in one of these cases
that g man should prove his late father
and A. r.. StewartEto have been brothers.
but he had no personal knowledge OF. the
matter; he had heard his father In ireland
refer to a.. r. Stewart as his brother, but
the court would not let him testify even,
TO that.and. as the defendnInts denied the
g The identityEof a person becomes even
harder of proof after he Is dead. In the
Royal Arcanitm there are several hundred
thousand dollars OF death benefits tied up
because Of the lnnhllity3Of heirs to prove
that the insured man Is dead.
Very often ! Is necessary to success In
litigation oyer$un estate to.prove not only
who were your parents but who were
your grandparents. Family Bibles, with
the records therein help out In this, but
are not at all conslusive.& Birth and mar
riage certificates are accepted as corrobo..
such matter together with at least some
witnesses who can testify OF their own
personal knowledge before n court Wall
accept such a fact as proved to Its salts
faction.
All of this illustrates the g:en value Of
keeping family records. for these while
not conclusive, are strong corroboratlve
evidence of identity, especially If the hand-
writing OF the successive heads Of the
family, in which the entries are made,
can be proved, which Is generally fairly
easy. Many q great estate has been lost
to ita rlGhtful owners solely because OF
their inability to prove who they were
New York World 52