The Holt County sentinel. (Oregon, Mo.) 1883-1980, 1916-03-31
HISTORY or WILLS.
Their Study Interesting. Earliest
Dated Nearly 5000
Years Ago.

show mr. t. lltE ITO we buoSN U'luSl'
elevated Cr de based, the sclilshnrss "
generosity Of the makers. and reflect
ing the Gust pu,s and manners Of tN'
times in which thcy were written, Al
subjects profoundly interesting, ne
only to- the lawyer, but to all laymc'.
Wills have been known from u
earliest periods cf human history. u
H. claimed by learned antiquarian.
that Adam, Noah and job made tesla
mpntary dispositions of their pron.
erty. That the old patriarch jacob
did so cannot be doubted, for Scrip
ture records that Joseph received "a
portion above his brethren" The Wi
as We know IL Is supposed to conlr
from Roman law; yet long before in
fact thousands Of years before ""
day when Virgil sang. Nero fiddle
and Cesar ruled, wills in u writt'n
form were known in Egypt. a PAT
and rarccl Of their high state Of CIV
ilization. The laws Of Persia of Il
similar date 40 not show written
wills. but they do show laws in nar
respects the same n are iound IN o.
statutes OF today. An cntcrprisinE
bank in ll'iiois has copied the ~"
side by side with striking effect
Or'y fcw years ago William Ma
thew Flinders pctric. the rcnown"i
Psychologist, unoarthrd nj kahun H..
earliest known written Will "
lated i.aOO years ago. and yet II sol
curiously modcrn that il might p.
| granted probate today. By II the e
'n'nr settles his property IN his wi 81
rcta. for life. hut empowers her '"'
dispose of IL. guardian t. appoint
| for the tcsa'ur's infant children n
| he ducum"rt w. witnessed IN the ma
nor ryc..iih,d los or modern fHrr
Soy, raj hundred years before hr
| Sorpnrlriih l"f; y Viii and 10y
"a cd certain "hrac''ois. cor"n'
| ri other pgr,in.- objects Of -
| worry and pr'y'prs .iru'H d"'nr.'
ZOE ale keeping IN the temple
Nrhn."
p.u,n. Ari tot, arl ro;rnrch i
sin. ur great lyurtl aud uf str ciuN
| and .puti ""rtgl tea ~, and - 'H
| Nuprt = Cesar and the poet Vim
| rhc will. ur n portion uf the viii, "'
| 'ulr'hus preserved IN Genoa. .'
will nr Mar IN luthor /, under gla
| use nj the Heidelberg library and
| an b. Inspected by visitors. The MI
| VI Napoleon was for long tine ~
| I'D doctors commons in London, bot
| vas returned Ia th" French COVER
| rent ut the request of Emperor Lou.
| Sapolcon. The will Of Shakcspcarr
an be- seen nj Somerset house, Lon
| Ion, where /, wa brought when il"
| locturs' commons was abandoned IL
la registry some thirty years ar.
There, too, are the Wills Of Lord Me-
.on. Isaak Walton. Edmund Bur-"
aud many other famous men. u"
world has been enriched by thor
works and their Wills are IN perfect
harmony with their lives.
| The probate records nj Washington
contain rich store of Wills Of great,
americans. \ copy uf the will OF
| Washington Is there, the original be-
ing on Tile somewhere IN Virginia.
There are also the original wills ~
ia'f n dozen other presidents, ,u say
nothing If those If many inwou-
,tat,smcn. Abraham Lincoln l,i' an
estate exceeding slOO,OOO, but III ~
interstate. General Grant left No viii
and no estate. On" Ol the most per.
f"rtly drawn Wills which hav" come
under observation from legal point
Of view h. that ui Paul Revere. The
wills of Daniel Webster, Thomas lcll'
rr,on. Chief Jus,io" Marshall, Henry
Clay, Patrick Henry, John Randolph
land Robert T.. Ice are VulumluouS
papers and exceedingly interesting.
by these documents the t"s'ators
freed their slaves. ~ did Washington
10y his last will.
l.. 7. liarnum left large r.tatc
and his will is one Of the longcs, Wills
on record and Il printed in pamphlet
form. Brigham Young provided In his
/. viii for nineteen wives and more than
vice a. many children. Florence
Nightingale hoqucathcd her many
medals, decorations, pet eats ana par
, rot. She also gave her body for ana
tomical uses and medical scicncr, de-
clining buril in Westminster Abbey,
, Lord Nelson. by n codicil to hi will
, written during the battle of l'afal-
, gar, requested the British govcrlmen
to care for Lady llamltOnr but was
not done and she died in poverty on
, French soil. Those who have studied
! wills know that they have played, and
{ will ever play, an important part in
/ history and human affairs.
, Quite number of wills in thyme
, have been successfully prohated
, Writers of fiction and playwrights m,
, fond of constructing wills, Dickens
was great will writer, and hi, por'
, trayal Of the foibles of elderly pcoplo
: in making wills in his american
| Notes" is not surpassed in correctness
: of description or in accurate knowl'
. edge of testamentary affairs. Ever
. that prince of jokcrs, Don QulSotc
/ when death overlook him, exclaimed
"An end IN ipstin hiring mo IA con,