The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1910-07-22

q rev nays ago III CulCdSO WhCh q hAou
of means simply placed an estate
valued at $4,000, 900 in the care of a
trust company for the benefit of his
four children. Thus with one stroke
he satisfied himself that his property
would reach the hands Of those for
whom it was intended, and no doubt
this was a gratifying achievement.
For. after all, the will that every SEN
sible man is supposed to make does
not always fulfil it's obpect and thus
the world sees a contest Of claimants
which is often less desirable to view
than a church quarrel.
The will, as an instrument Of the
law, owes it's development to the
Romans. India did not know Of 1t be-
fore the conquest, and 1t was but a
r%udimentary affair In Mosaic law and
In ancient Athens. The early Roman
will was effectual during the lifetime
of the person who made 1t, and 1t was
l%rrevocable, it's object being to secure
the perpetuation of the family. Thus
the hereditas was vested In a person
who could be relied upon to carry on
the family name and traditions. Often
such wills were made ON the v of
battle, and they were published in &C
cordance with the law.
When Constantine the Great caused
Christianity to be recognized by the
state, this act had its effect upon Will
~,olyirn ;ooCrpnoh 90 tho duty Of Q1V-
ing requests to the church was en-
couraged Monks and heretics, how
ever, were not allowed to make wills
or to take requests. Then again, wills
were deposited In churches; indeed,
In England the church exercised juris-
diction in testamentary matters for
centuries. Up to 1858 the probate and
custody of Wills lay with the English
ecclesiastical courts, but the careless
ness to which the documents were ex-
posed at the hands of lazy and incom-
petent officials led to vigorous crit
icism of the system by Charles Dick
ems and other writer's, and, as a con-
sequence, the church lost its ancient
privilege.
In modern days, by reason of the
prosaic language Of legal craftsmen,
Wills nave lost much of their inter
est as purely human documents; but
If one were to set himself to the task
of writing the social history Of a great
city like New York, from its begin
ming. he could do no better than delve
into the records of the surrogateS
courts. All wills are prObated there;
children are adopted under the dlrec-
ton of the surrogates; they appoint
guardians and discharge them again.
when minors reach the age of legal
discretion; they settle and distribute
the estates Of the poor and rich. Thus
there Is to be found in the probate
records the details of social life by
generations, and it is possible to a
the evolution of families, old and new,
and their rise and fall on the tide OF
fortune.
The skeleton in the closet is often
revealed by legal procedure, and,
though 1t cannot be avoided, the fam
ily quarrel is bound to be aired when
will contests are tried before a surro-
gate. Many elements enter into these
contests-dissatisfied heirs, forgery
undue influence on the part of per
son who have been associated with
the property owner; the existence OF
more than one will; vague and indeti
mite language in a mans last tesla
ment. for "all things which are so writ
ten in a will as to be unintelliglble
are to be on that account regarded as
though they were not written"
Russell Sage, who disposed OF
vast estate without indulging In SUI
| perfiuous words, adopted a simple
method to prevent litigation over his
property. A clause of his will read:
SHOULD any of the beneficiaries un
der this, my will, other than my sale
wife, object to the probate thereon, OF
In any wise directly or indirectly con
test or aid in contesting the same o.
any provision thereof, or the distrlbu
ton of my estate hereunder, then an6
in that event l annul any beques
herein made to such beneficiary, ant
1t is my will that such beneficiar!
shall be absolutely barred and cut OF
from any share in my estate" Their
was no contest, although 1t was sale
that the beneficiaries grumbled a lit
tie bit.
One OF the most dramatic will case'
In the history Of Massachusetts wa!
tried a few weeks ago in the probate
court of East Cambridge, where tw'
claimants appeared to fight for
share of Senator Daniel Russelps es
tate, valued at $750,Oo0. BY his Will
the elder son, William C. Russell, wa
directed to share the estate equal.
with his brother, Daniel Blake, VIII
had disappeared in 1885, after a quar-
rel with his father. The first claim
ant. who came from Medor, N. D., an
was popularity known as "Dakot
Dan," did not meet with the approve
of William C. Russell and his cousin
Ferdinand B. Amy, who asserted tina
the mans real name was James /
Rousseau or Russaw, and that he ha'
~familiarized himself with the histor,
Of the Russell family before putting
his claim forward. Photographs Q
Rousseau were introduced In 0v
dence. there were exhibits of letter