Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1913-01-10
COUNTY COURT
Columbus Smith Will Case in
Hands of Jury.

The Columbus Smith will case, which
We before the county court when our
last report closed, has occupied all of
the working time of the court in the
meanwhile, and the end is not yet in
sight, although it may possibly come
this week.
The whole of last Friday forenoon
session was devoted to the reading of
the testimony of Mrs. Harriet ]. Smith,
the widow, taken at her home in West
Salisbury the preceding afternoon.
Miss Ballou, the official reporter, read
the testimony from her stenographic
notes and the accompanying letters and
documents, offered as exhibits, were
read by counsel for either side. This
disposition covered a long period of
time and a mass of details, and was
perhaps the most important testimony
put into the case in behalf of the pro-
ponents; and with its introduction the
proponents rested their case.
Friday afternoon and Saturday fore
noon were taken up with the intro
duction of additional testimony for the
contestants. This consisted largely of
the evidence of former employees of
Mr.. Smith, neighbors, acquaintance at
large and various people who had done
business for or with him for many
years especially covering the time of
the making of the disputed will in
December, 1897, and the intervening
period up to the execution of the last
codicil, in March, 1903. These witnesses
were unanimously of the opinion that
the testator was not of sound mind at
the various times when the will and the
codicils were executed.
Dr. Walter d. Berry of Burlington,
who was formerly for several years
connected with the State asylum for
the insane at Waterbury and has in
later years conducted sanitarium for
patients suffering from mental diseases
at Burlington, was a very important
witness for the contestants. DR.. Berry
was put on the stand late on Monday
afternoon, court having resumed work
at 2 o'clock after a recess from II
o'clock Saturday forenoon, and a night
session was held from to 9 o'clock in
the hope of getting the doctors test-
mony completed that day so he could
return to his patients. This hope, how
ever, proved vain, as not only was his
testimony not completed that evening,
but he was on the stand again the
whole of Tuesday forenoon and for an
hour in the afternoon,
Dr. Berry testified that in October,
1903, the fall following the March in
which the last codici was added to the
will, he was called to West Salisbury in
consultation with DR.. E. H. Martin of
Middlebury, the attending physician, in
the case of Mr.. Smith. At that time
he found Mr.. Smith suffering from
various delusions of one kind or another
and also thought him to be suffering
from Bright's disease In October,
1904 the patient was removed to DR..
Berry's retreat in Burlington. DR..
Martin and Mrs. Smith accompanying
him on the journey, and he remained
there about a month, when Mrs. Smith
had him removed TO DR.. Sparhawk's s
sanatarium in the same city. After
being at his place for a few days the
testator presented DR.. Berry with a
check for 500 900. While at his retreat
Mr.. Smith was suffering from senle
dementia, which might or might not
have been caused or aggravated by the
/ Bright's disease. In answer to long
hypothe teal question, concerning his
own observations and facts which he
had learned from other sources, the
witness stated that he had no doubt
that at the time he executed the will