The San Francisco call., 1908-07-11
FAMOUS DAVIS
Will CASE REVIVED
Aged Claimants AlIege Fraud
and Conspiracy and Re-
new Contest
Suit Involves S3,OOO,0OO Worth
of Property and Prominent
Names Mentioned

The famous contest over the will of
! the late Jacob Z. Davis at one time
one of the wealthiest real estate men
/ Of San Francisco was reviewed yester-
! day when eastern contestants of the
Davis estate filed in the United States
circuit court an application for a re-
ceivership for the old firm of Boyd &
/ Davis and the existing Jacob Z. Davis
estate company. The suit, which in
wolves about $4,000 600 worth of San
Francisco property and names as de-
PENDANTS many prominent San Francis
co people and firms, including the re-
gents of the University of California
and the trustees of Stanford university
was filed by Attorney Horace w. Phil
brook of this city as counsel for the
claimants.
Allegations of criminal conspiracy
and of the grossest fraud are made the
basis of the action, and the complaint
on file in the circuit court is one of the
longest and most involved documents
of its kind ever presented in this state
The principal defendants are Mrs. Jean
McGregor Boyd, widow Of the late Alex
ander Boyd. and her nieces, Mrs. Eliza
beth Muir Mugan and Mrs Isabella M.
Curtis, who are charged with having
conspired to defraud the real heirs of
Jacob z. Davis of the immense estate,
which, it is alleged, rightfully belongs
to them.
COMPLAINANTS ARE AGED
According to the complaint on file,
Jacob Z. Davis died on October IS, 1906,
and was survived only by the descend
ants Of a deceased sister. These de-
scendants We're Catherine .. Stead Of
Philadelphia and Joseph P. Wilson of
Maryland, children of the deceased sis
ter, and the widow and children of ia
cob d. Wilson, another son Of this same
sister. II is by Catherine Stead Joseph
P. Wilson and the heirs of Jacob d.
Wilson that the present suit is brought.
The. complainants are all between 20
and so years of age, and claim that at
the time of Jacob Z. Davis death they
We're financially unable TO prosecute
their claims and were in ignorance of
their real rights.
IN his lifetime Davis was a copartner
with Alexander Boyd in the real estate
business, and their joint estate is said
to have been worth nearly a million
dollars at the time of Davis death.
Boyd took charge of the affairs of the
copartnership, but died soon afterward,
and it is charged that his widow, Mrs.
Jean McGregor Boyd. who was many
years his junior, entered into a con-
spiracy with her nieces, Lizzie Muir
and Belle Curtis. to defraud the real
heirs Of the Davis estate of their rights.
viii purporting to be that of Jacob
T. Davis was filed in this city and later
admitted to probate, bequeathing the
entire Davis estate to Lizzie Muir and
Belle Curtis, who were named in the
brief document as Davis nieces.
FORGERY is CHARGED
The present complaint charges that
this document was a forgery. A for
NAL contest was entered by the pres
ent contestants before this will was
admitted to probate in 1897, but it is
claimed that the court hearing was
had without due notice, and that the
attorneys of the contestants did moth
ing to protect their clients interests.
Moreover, the complainants claim that
the firm of attorneys which they en-
ployed sold out their interests to the
Boyd heirs, accepting $1,000 for the
traitorous act. Each of the three pres
ent complainants received S12,5O0 of
this amount, the attorneys taking
$4,000 and expending the remainder
for expenses. Trust deeds, releasing
all rights and claims against Mrs Boyd,
Mrs. Elizabeth Muir Mugan and Mrs.
Isabella Curtis were given by the pres
ent claimants, but It is now alleged that
these deeds were fraudulently procured.
Since this settlement Of the estate
" elo 4l4dut LuG JdCOD II. Davis estate
company was formed and much of the
property involved has been made the
basis of loans and transfers An ef-
fort was made within the last 1S
months to reopen the case in the To-
cal courts, but after long contention
In the superior and supreme courts
the contestants were defeated. and the
present suit is in the nature of an an
peal to the federal courts.
UNIVERSITIES DEFENDANTS
A loan Of S450,00O made by the tr1,s-
tees or Stanford university on a por-
ton OF the property involved, and a
similar loan of s150,000 by the regents
OF the University of California. brings
these institutions into the case as de-
fendants, and several well known local
firms are also named. Included in +ba
property now held by the Davis es-
tate company are valuable lots in the
very heart Of the business section of
san francisco, the title to which is now
questioned. Some of the most val1a hIe
parcels of realty are lots at the south
east corner of Sutter and Kearnv
streets, at Folsom and Second streets
In California street near Drumm at
the northeast corner of Front and Mar
ket streets, at Pine and Battery
streets, in Front street near Pine. and
IN Battery street near California.
CANAnT ACCnTrAr-,