Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-11-30
The Redfield
Will
1t Looked All Right When
Made, but Did Not
Pan Out Well
By F. A. mitchell


was opeheo IL was learned mat all MS
property-a goodly fortune-was lett TO
his daughter Anne, with the condition
that she marry the testator's right
hand man of business. Theodore Grif-
fin. Griffin bad been in charge of the
Redaeld comnanv for soma time before
~. to,naa,,a ao,a,ao ona .,noo ho No.
Inc oniS 'na VIM eouiu sd'eeAe pio
IL OUT Vi II lnere was no necessary ioi
making any otner provision TOT lts
management. Nothing was said in the
will as to a refusal of Griffin to marry
Anne Redfeld. Her father when she
was passing into womanhood had told
bor tho+ n was b,s ,nton+,on 70 oiva bor
a good manogar for tho fort,,no no
wouId leave her In tha norson of crif.
fin Anna xyas tban FOO yo,ng 70 con
sidor +bo imnortanoo Of tba nlon 70
bar ond bor fatbor vas LODI to heliovo
tbat che wonld mako NO obiaction to n
when Tho ,;ma carve 70 f,Iau tbo con
d,t;ons Tbere was no do,,bt ahort
| CrifBn,s accad;ng To n
This 10 univ tho will mQdn No mQufjnp
of q refusal ON the mart of Griffin to
ms rrv tbo bo;ross If sbo rof,,Sod to
marry him the stock Of tbe Redtield
COMPANY which would otherwise be
hers. would 90 to Griffin. The residue
of the estate would in this case be di.
vided between several charitable insti.
tutions in which the testator had been
Mr. Redfield died four wears after
mentioning the matter to his daughter
When he did so she was fifteen. AT
the time of his death she was nineteen.
She had told some of her schoolmates
that she was to marry Griffin and had
made no objection to doing SO. At that
time it was a matter for the future,
and she considered 1t a matter of
course. as a boy NAV do who Is brought
up to understand that he Is to- enter a
certain profession.
But when Anne Redheld at nineteen
| found herself an orphan and called
upon to fulfill the conditions of her
fathers will she was a woman and
had a lover who had nothing whatever
to do with the condition except that If
she married him she would give I'D a
fortune.
David Corwin was the young man
who had stepped In to prevent John
Redfeld's well conceived plan from
being smoothly worked out. David had
been attentive to Anne for some time
before her fathers death hut Mr.. Red
| field was not obseryant. and quite
often parents who are watchful fail to
detect a love affair that is developing
| right under their noses. This one came
| to a head during Mr.. Redfeld,s last Ill
ness.
When the will was read Anne was
reminded of something tbe importance
of which she had not realized and
which. never having been mentioned to
her since she was fifteen years old.
SIZE regarded as a dead letter. But
even now IT did not occur to her that
Griffin would force himself upon her.
she being unwilling. She sent for him
and told him that she could not marry
her fathers choice for her without v;o-
lation to her feelings. Griffin renlied
that he had promised her father TO do
his mart in CARRYING ont the nlan. If
Anne would not do her mart he saw no
wav hut that the pronertv other than
tbe business must po to tbe h arities
named in the will.
Anne consulted a LAWYER. who fold
her that under the terms of the will
she must marry Griffin to inherit her
~propertv. There was b1t one wav ont
of the dilemma. and that was for Crit
fin TO refuse TO marry her. This would
make tbe will inoperatiye. and she
would inharit az heir at law fbe same
az If there were no will she being the
only child and there being no widow.
Anne did NOT understand the legal
distinctions in the case but she did
understand that her inheriting her
nronertv and marrying the man she
, oa ~ Orimn,s 5ooI3ni,r