Putnam patriot., 1922-09-22
JUDGE SETS ASIDE
 THOS. MOFFTTT WILL
Court Says Deceased Not Com. potent When He Made Un-
 usual Testament
Provided For Erection of Monument. For Which s7 ,ooo Was Available

For Which S7 ,ooo Was Available
 Because of the deeisi of Jude, Hinman, made known Tuesday al thl session of the Superior court at Put nam, in setting aside the will of Thom as L. Moffitt, late of Putnam. the resi- due of his estate, amounting to abou S700O will not be spent in erectin. beautiful monument over his re- mains in the family burial lot in Alb iagton cemetery. Judge Hinmar found that Mir Moflitt was not mental ly capable, at the time his will was ex. ecuted, to make such a last testament As a result of the decision of the court suitable granite memorial will be erected and the balance of the estate wiIl go to his daughters, Mrs. Mary <. Carpenter and Mrs. Flora II. Durfee af charlestown, Mass Lewis F. Bat icy of Putnam Is executor of the will.
 Daughters Bring Action
 The daughters. Mrs. Carpenter and Mrs Durfee, appealed from the de- cision of the probate court in admit ,ing the will to probate. and the case went to the Superior court. On Fri day of last week testimony was heard by Judge Hinman. Attorney Charles L. Torrey represented the exeeutor, and Attorneys Arthur s. Macdonald and J. F. Carpenter appeared for the daughters. Under the terms of the will MT. Mofiitt directed that S200 be paid Mrs. Durfee; s100 to his sister, Mrs. Emma Young of Pomfret Cen ter, and s100 to the Abingdon Gene tery for the care of his burial lot.
 The balance of his estate was to be used in erecting a monument on his grave. The will was drawn and exc cuted on May 25, 1901. A eodicil to the will was executed in October. 1921, making only one change-that of executor.
 Judge FIagg Te,tihes
 In court Friday David Flage, judge of probate. testified to the probating of the will L. E. Smith and Clarence Pierce identified their signatures as witnesses to the will Each of the lat ter two said they believed Moffitt to have been competent to make a will and thus direct the disposition of his property.
 Miss Elsie A. Gallant, stenographer in the office of Torrey & Geissler. identified her signature as witness to the codieil to the will. and afterward Attorney Torrey took the stand to testify that he drew the codicil to the will. He said that while he knew Moffitt could neither read nor write, he believed him competent to make will. Miss Gallant so testified to while on the stand.
 For the plaintiffs, George s. Platt of Abingdon; George H. Hicks. select man of Abingdon; Joseph H. Robbins of Pomfret; Miss Clara L. Averill of Pomfret, and Judge Flagg of Putnam each testified that they did not believe Moffitt to have testamentary capacity, and explained from personal observa- tions why they believed him not capa- ble of disposing of his property by will. That he did not realize the val ue of his estate, was one opinion ex- pressed.
 Mrs. Durfee Takes Stand
 Mrs. Durfee testified as to the cor dial relations between her and her fa- ther. She did not, however, believe him to be a normal man. She was sur prised to learn that he had left such sizable estate.
 Selectman Luther Nj. Keith was the last witness. He said the Moffitt buri- al lot at Abingdon measured about 20 by s feet. He said a s7.000 monu- ment on such lot would not be suita- ble and would not be the type that such a man as Mir Mofiitt would have desired He thought that about $l,- GOO would provide a lasting and suitable monument. according to prle- es prevailing today
 When all witnesses had been exam ined, court took the papers in the case and on Tuesday announced decision favorable to the plaintiffs.