Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1907-06-13
windsor County Court.

unity court opened ON the
Nh Indee l.. l.. Waterman presid-
la IA. John G, Coolidge was made fore fore.
W. me grand jury, which was auiy
nan y 80 sworn and charged by the
snl4 ss,ny Judge. The jury calendar con-
Pv''ss 49,. Twenty-Five members OF
lalA' - ,,s,e present at the opening OF
ihs ,ae,udine Judges Harvey OF Mont
eee's' IA Gibson Of Brattieboro.
Islls s,st case for trial was In re Est, OF
Watkins, contested VIII case,
lass resulted in the sustaining of
y. .'in after week OF trial. the WIZ
~ made July %, 1903, by Edgar r
~.,tl., and hequealhed all his property
Ns ~. - Lucinda. The estate was In
n ~ Al az, 500. The parties who
'shs'. - contest were Mrs. Retsey Wat
h.A.'' s.o,t AZ Plymouth and I. w, Wat
~ I, putIand. Both are cousins OF the
aHN ssa Edgar r. Watkins. lie was the
$50 :, I'm Watkins, a farmer ON a large
~ = sharon. The farm contained 500
sew when the elder Watkins died at
=. .avaneed age Of %, the property was
'@ss,itsd by Edgar f., an only son. lie
lA .,,,nsd 10 live ON the farm with his
80 Inclnda. TO whom he was married
,sss I'm January, 1899, the farm was
y ~ Mr.. and Mrs. Watkins moved to
~ rillage Of South Royalton.
,,,y 10. 1905, Mr.. Watkins was at
= exlng some part Of small bridge
", M. house and was stricken with
,,syv He was taken home and put
- "a ana for a week or ten days was In
n,,,arious condition. Then came a
- N picking up and Improvement.
,I,,,ss abie 10 utter words and the power
.s..s,rh. Of which he had been bereft,
s,.,,,ed IA him, so that he could utter
.a,svlableS. He could understand
anss r,adily when spoken to, according
y ~ evidence introduced ON the part
a. The prepayment.
s1n5.y. July %, A. G. Whitman OF
,hs law firm OF Tsrbell a Whitman, was
ssllea into the sickroom and made this
Tal in question. There were present at
~ time besides the sick man, Edward
g,ps and DIR. f. J. Fish, the attending
rhv.ieisn. Mr.. Whitman testified he
s.S some few weeks before that date had
an with deceased about making his
IN and how he wished il made. When
~ will was written, Mr.. Whitman
.nrrssted TO Mr.. Watkins he would have
"a si,n. hut his right side was paralyzed
and he asked, Chow can signg' SO
Mr.. Whitman, after reading TO him the
win, said, "If you wish me to do so, i
viii sign your name and You can make
vour mark This was done and Mr..
Watkins made cross after the name
written by Mr.. Whitman. The will was
then witnessed by the three persons
present. Within "A hours Mr.. Watkins
hsi RELAPSE and was much worse than
before, though in few weeks he recoy-
cred sufficiently to sit up and have part of
bis clothing on. He could also talk in
diligently and without difficulty. Early
in September he died.
The contestants claimed that the will
did not truly represent the feelings and
wishes Of Mr.. Watkins, il he had been
in & normal condition; that he was in an
enieebled condition and not OF sound and
disposing mind and memory when the
will was made. Contestants also intro
duced evidence tending to show that be-
fore his shock Mr.. Watkins had de-
eined to viii all his property to his wife.
The counsel in the case were, for the
proponent, W. b. c. Stiekney and Tar
bell 4 Whitman; for the contestants,
Davis 4 Davis and John G. Sargent.
The next case standing for trial is
White River Valley Electric Railway Co.,
Frank +. Page, receiver, VS.. Town of
stockbridge. Defendant urges trial,
but Judge Waterman is disqualified, hay
ing been counsel for plaintiff. An effort
will be made to get another judge for
this lease. Following that is John Bar
haiti vs.. Town of Grafton, which it is
expected viii be the next jury case.