The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1922-12-07
BURNED WILL
BRINGS CONTEST
r. V. Baker to Establish
w. Cantway's Claim to
UncIe's Estate.
INVOLVES LARGE sum
Nash EmplOye Was Named
Heir Forty Years Ago in
Will of Noel Cantway.

The recent burning of forty-year-
old will, in which William w. Can't
way OF Kenosha was named as original
sole beneficiary Of an 100000 estate,
has precipitated a contest in the coun-
ty court of Kankakee county, Illinois.
Robert Verne Baker, attorney for the
Kenosha man, is in Momence, Kankakee
county, today, where he will file suit
against the other claimant heirs, who
are alleged to have burned the original
will. The Kenosha attorney will seek
to establish the destroyed will as it
was originally made out in favor Of
William W. Cantway.
Uncle Reared William.
Noel Cantway, a farmer and bach
elor, who had rich holdings in the vi
cinity of Momence, Ill, and whose will
Is the subject of inquiry, was an uncle
of William Cantway and died Deem
Der 5, 1921. Noel Cantwell had been
on familiar and affectionate terms with
his nephew, William, while his own
Immediate family of brothers and sis
tiers had scattered. William was born
on his grandmother's farm near the
town Of Momence, and when he was
eleven years old he went to live with
his uncle Noel, who reared him there
after and gave him high school edu-
cation.
At the time William went to live
with his uncle the latter made his will,
living William as sole beneficiary. The
indications we're, according to the Ke-
nosha attorney, that the ties which
connected the two were very close and
tender. This will was kept by Noel
Cantway until his death year ago in
December, 1921.
The VIII Is Burned.
At the funeral of Noel Cantway the
whole clan was again gathered and
united. 1t was said then that no will
had been found among the papers
the rich old bachelor left behind. The
heirs applied for an administration of
the estate, and one of Williams broth
ers was appointed administrator.
The heirs then produced will,
which they said they had later found
after careful search among Noel
Cantway's papers, stating that the will
was found just as it was when they
brought it forward. The will, it is al
legged, showed that name had been
erased in the place allotted ito the
name of the beneficiary, and another
name, that of brother of Noel's, Jo-
seph C. Cantway of Chicago, substi-
tuted
Joseph Cantway was advised by an
attorney that as his name had not
been originally in the will, he could
not inherit the estate. Then, accord
Ing to the Kenoshan's claim, all the
heirs, with the exception of William
Cantway, had conference and agreed
to destroy the will, and the will was
accordingly burned.
Cashier Remembers Original.
Attorney Baker declared before he
left for Kankakee that he expected to
show the court in the Illinois county
that the evidence was all in favor of
William Cantway, and that there was
every reason for believing that he had
been intended by Noel Cantway as his
heir, and reason for believing that
there had been no erasure of the name
in the will during his lifetime or by
him. s.
A cashier of the First National Bank
of Momence remembers the signing of
the original will in 1889, when Noel
Cantway left his estate to William
Cantway, his nephew. SO far as is now
known, the other contesting heirs have
no evidence to support their contention
that Noel Oantway himself erased
his brother William.
William Cantway, who is employed
at the Nash Motors company, lives on
Scott avenue, near Selma.