Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-10-30
Patterson Estate Suit
Faced With Delay as
I Old Wills Appear

Appearance of seven old wills
and two codicils of Mrs. Eleanor
Patterson, picturing the chang
ing fortunes of her daughter
and more than a dozen former
beneficiaries, today was expected
to delay trial of the late Times
Herald publishers contested will
for three months.
AS a result of the filing of these
old wills, Register of Wills Theodore
Cogswell said a whole new set Of
affected parties will have to be no.
titled, thereby starting the legal pro-
cesses all over again.
Although each of the old wills
was revoked by a later one, he ex-
plained, the persons named in them
must be given their chance to con-
test the will Among the former
benefciaries are the League of Re-
publican Women, once named to get
Mrs. Patterson's Dupont Circle
home. and former Senator and Mrs.
Henrik Shipstead, named in two
former wills to receive $4,000.
Date Back to 1924.
The wills date back to January,
1924, when Mrs. Felicia Gizycka,
only daughter of Mrs. Patterson,
was her mothers sole heir. Mrs.
Gizycka now is contesting Mrs. Pat
terson's last will, dated June 81,
1916, on the ground her mother was
of unsound mind and that the will
was obtained through fraud, dureSs,
coercion and undue influence.
Four of the wills and one cedicil,
dating from 1924 to 1884, were filed
late yesterday by Kenneth F. Brooks,
trust officer of the Riggs Bank. He
said they were found earlier yester-
day among Mrs. PattersonS personal
papers in a safe at the Security
Storage Co. They were discovered
he said, by himself, Miss Margaret
M. Barney, who was Mrs. Patterson's
personal secretary and James C..
Rogers, counsel for the bank.
The other documents were filed
by Louis G. Caldwell, one of the
attorneys for the executors. Mr..
Caldwell said he received them
from the Chicago Office of his law
firm, since the filing of the petit
ton for probate, partly Immediate
ly thereafter and partly about six
or eight weeks ago, the exact date
not yet having been ascertained."
Found in Office Search.
In an affidavit, Mr. Caldwell stat
ed he knew of the existence of one
will and one codicil sometime
shortly after the filing Of the petit
ton for probate" but did not know
he had two of the other wills in
his possession until yesterday, when
he had a search made of his Office
files, due to a meeting with rep
resentatives" of the bank.
While the documents brought in
by the bank were intact. two of
those filed by Mr.. Caldwell had the
signatures torn off and one was,
Cancelled by a line through Mrs.
Patterson's signature
Mr.. Cogswell said that, if the
present will failed to stand up in
court. the next will to be considered
would be one dated August, 3d. 1943.
A later will and codicil were no
good, he said, because the sigma
lures We're ripped off. 1t was
pointed out, however, that a legal
question would exist over whether
the revoked 1913 will could be con-
sidered.
Terms of Will.
, The 1943 will, produced by Mr.
Caldwell, left the Times-H Herald to
Mrs. Patterson's brother, Capt Jo-
seph Medill Patterson, founder of
tne New York News, who died in
1916. If that will were to become
effective, it was explained, the
newspaper would be included in the
bulk of the estate, which was left to
charities.
In the 1943 will, Mrs. Gizycka was
bequeathed Mrs. Patterson's Dupont
Circle home now left to the Red
Cross; her mothers estates in Port
Washington, N. Y. and North Da-
kota, which she would get under
the present will jewelry and house
hold furnishings, also bequeathed
to her in the current will and a
$4,000 annual income which is also
provided lnder the contested will
Unlike the current will, however,
the 1943 will provided that Mrs.
Patterson trustees could pay a
beneficiary part of the principal
from which benefciary's trust
income was derived.
Provided for GRANDDAUGHTER.
The 1943 will provided Mrs. Pat
terson's only granddaughter, Mrs.
Ellen Pearson Arnold, with an an
nual income of $4,000 during her
mothers lifetime.
Less than seven months earlier,
IN December, 1912, WILL Mrs. Pat
terson specifically declared it was
her intention to exclude the then
Mss Pearson from participation