Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1905-11-07
PERSONAL IDENTITY.
THE MOST DIFFICULT THING TO
PROVE Is WHO YOU ARE.
Our knowledge of Ourselves Is Based
Upon Principally Hearsay-
Some Illustrative In
stances,

Paradoxical as it may seem, the
most difficult thing to prove in court
of law is who you are. 1t is simpi5
matter if you have still living plenty
of relatives of an older generation
but suppose your parents and uncles
and aunts are dead, it becomes well
nigh impossible. AS matter of fact
says the New York World, your knowl
edge of your identity is absolutely
hearsay. You know your father and
mother called you their son, and to
that fact you may testify if the ques
ton of your identity should ever come
before judge and jury. But the testi-
mony goes before the jury with the
warning from the judge that it is only
hearsay, for you have no persona
knowledge of the matter.
Official town or parish records are
valuable, but by no means conclusive.
Suppose you are John Smith, son OF
Robert and Mary Smith, born at AL
bany on August 1, 1865. The record
of births in the bureau of vital stats
tics at Albany will prove that a son
named John was born to Robert and
Mary Smith on that date; the register
of the church may prove that John.
son of Robert and Mary Smith, was
baptized on a certain date, but they
do not prove that you are the John
Smith of whom these are records.
To establish the connection between
you and the person mentioned in the
records, in other words, to prove your
own identity, is the difficulty. If your
mother is alive she can do it; if any
relative who has known you since
you were born is alive he can do it.
The successive suits for the estate
of A. T. Stewart failed on such
grounds as these The plaintiffs, cou-
sins of the late Mrs. Stewart, were un-
able to prove their relationship. 1t
was necessary in one of these cases
that man should prove his late father
ers, but he had no personal knowledge
OF the matter; he had heard his father
in Ireland refer to A. T. Stewart as
his brother, but the court would not
let him testify even to that and, as the
defendants denied the relationship, the
case fell to the ground
The identity of a person becomes
even harder of proof after he is dead
In the Royal Arcanum there are sew
eral hundred thousand dollars of death
benefits tied up because of the inability
of heirs to prove that the insured man
is dead.
Very often it is necessary to success
In litigation over an 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 conclu-
sive. Birth and marriage certificates
are accepted as corroborative, but it
requires quite a mass of such matter
together with at least some witnesses
who can testify Of their own personal
knowledge, before a court will accept
such fact as proved to it's satisfac-
ton.
All Of this illustrates the great value
of keeping family records, for these,
while not conclusive, are strong cor
roborative evidence of identity, espe-
cially if the handwriting of the sue
cessive heads of the family, in which
the entries are made, can be proved,
which is generally fairly easy. Many
a great estate has been lost to fits
rightful owners solely because of their
inability to prove who they were