The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-01-19
Is THE WILL OF
The LATE HENRY
c. COLE A FORGERY?
THIS Is THE QUESTION THAT
MUST BE SETTLED.


Wills e, NJ. Gammell has to decide
whether the paper which is before
him for probate is the will of Henry
d. Cole of Waymart is a forgery or
the simon pure document disposing
of his estate. Mr.. Cole was a pros
| porous farmer and left an estate
amounting to over $4,000, his real
estate being valued at $4,000 and
personal about $4,000.
When Mr.. Cole died letters of ad-
ministration were taken out by and
the bond signed by John Sensenstine
who is a brother of Coles second
! wife. About three weeks ago Mrs.
! Cole claims to have found a will
| which she claims is that of her late
! husband, in which all the personal
! property is left to her. The will
was written with lead pencil and the
writing is so dim and indistinct that
it is not decipherable without the
aid of a magnifying glass. This
will is contested by Coles children
by his first wife, who claim the will
| is a forgery. Register Gammell
gave hearing on Saturday in order
that both sides might give what evil
dence they had to support their
sides of the case. Mrs. Cole was
represented by Attorneys F. P.
Kimble and o. l.. Rowland, while
the contestants were represented
! by Attorney E. c. Mumford.
Sensenstine, who, as above stated,
is a brother of Mrs. Cole, and is the
one who took out the letters of ad-
ministration and signed the bond,
swore that he recognized the will
as one made by Cole and that he
was present when it was written,
saw it executed and signed same as
a witness and that one Win Bur-
dick was the other signer. The will
was dated August y, 1907. On
cross examination he reiterated this
testimony and was requested by At
torney Mumford to write on a piece
of paper the name OF Henry D.
Cole, his own name, the name of
VIII Burdick and the words Way
mart, August 70, 1907" Sensen-
tine further testified that the sigma
ture attached to the administrator 5
bonds was his own writing.
Miss Nellie Hummell, of Way
mart, testified that she had lived in
the Cole family and had seen Cole
write his name upon a slate several
times for the amusement of the chill
dren, sometimes he wrote III. d.
Cole" and other times Henry D.
Cole"
Mrs. Burdick, widow of w. b.
Burdick, late of Waymart was
shown the Cole will She stated
after a close examination of the al
legged signature of her late husband,
that it was not his writing and that
he never wrote it, and called atten-
tiOn to the spelling which was
"Boedick" and stated her husband
knew how to spell his name which
was "Burdick," and that she never
knew him to sign his name "Will
Burdick," but wrote it w. b. Bur-
dick or Willard Burdick.
William II. Bronson, assistant
cashier of the First National Bank
of Carbondale, said he knew Cole
and saw him write his name upon
the signature card at the bank.
of the late II. d. Cole, said he was
acquainted with his fathers writ
ing, having received several letters
from him and had seen his signature
on checks. Fathers alleged will
was shown him and after examining
it through the glass said it was not
fathers handwriting. That none of
it was his fathers writing, not even
the alleged signature. On cross-ex-
animation witness said that his
father didn't always write his sigma
ture Henry Cole" but sometimes
II. ID. Cole"
The next witness was George o.
Sharp, assistant cashier in the Mer-
chants and Mechanics bank, of
Scranton, who stated that he had
testified on several important cases
in the Lackawanna valley as an ex-
pert in handwriting, among them
being the celebrated Crawford will
case in Scranton, The alleged Cole
will was given Sharp, who stated
after careful examination had been
made, that it was his opinion that
the body and signature of the will
was OF one handwriting, because
the letters were practically all of the
same slant and appeared to be writ
ten by cramped hand. In pick.
, ing out different letters a compari-
, son was made with the signature
and they were all of the same slant
1T is my opinion" said Mr.. Sharp,
that one party wrote the body OF
J the will and signature all at the
same time. The capital IS" in John
: Sensenstine's name, and where II
appears in the body of the writing,
in my opinion, appears to be the
same" The handwriting of John
Sensenstine made in court Saturday
was given the expert and a compari-
son made between the two. When
asked whether the writing of John
Sensenstine was the same as that