Case Name: In the Matter of the last Will and Testament of Anthony Chapman, deceased
Court: Supreme Court of Ohio
Jurisdiction: Ohio
Decision Date: 1833-12
Citations: 6 Ohio 148
Docket Number: 
Parties: In the Matter of the last Will and Testament of Anthony Chapman, deceased.
Judges: 
Reporter: Cases decided in the supreme court of ohio : upon the circuit at the special sessions in Columbus
Volume: 6
Pages: 153–154

Head Matter:
In the Matter of the last Will and Testament of Anthony Chapman, deceased.
Appeal does not lie to the Supreme Court from a decision of the court of common pleas, adjudging that the proof adduced to prove the execution of a will is insufficient for that purpose.
This case came before the court by reservation in the county of Knox. The devisee, under a writing claimed to be the last will and testament of Anthony Chapman, deceased, presented it. in the court of common pleas for probate. The proofs were heard, and being adjudged insufficient, an order *was made re- [149 fusing probate of the will. From this decision, the devisee appealed to the Supreme Court, and executed a bond to the heirs at law, the contestors of the establishment of the will. The question-presented for decision was, does an appeal lie in such a case ?
H. Curtis, H. B. Curtis, Delano and Brown, for the devisee.
Goddard and Converse, for the heirs.

Opinion:
Judge Lane
delivered the opinion of the court:
The practice of removing causes by appeal, for a second trial, is created by statutory provision. Where an opportunity for a full, trial has been had, an appeal for a second one ought not to be allowed, unless it is required by the plain tenor and terms of the law, giving such appeal. 3 Ohio, 277. Section 22 of the statute relating to wills gives an appeal "from the decision, of the court of common pleas, when any will, or other matter relating thereto, shall have leen contested." In this same statute, provision is made for contesting, by bill in chancery, the validity of a will when once admitted to probate. In admitting a will to-probate, the court pronounce a final decision. But this is to be avoided by a process different from an appeal. An application to-prove a will, though rejected, may be made again, upon fuller proof. The rejection extinguishes no right, and binds nobody, for there are no proper parties before the court to be concluded. But-when a will is declared established, and ordered'to be recorded, it binds everybody until set aside. It must then be contested in th& form of a litigated suit, if contested at all. The parties interested must be brought before the court, and consequently must be bound by its judgment. In that case, the appeal is as proper and necessary as in any other. Not so when the probate is refused. The court, therefore, are of opinion that this appeal can not be sustained; it does not come within the provisions of the statute.
Such has been the uniform practice throughout the state, as far as can be now ascertained, by recollection and inquiry. We have no instance in which such an appeal has been taken and acted upon. The practice on a point like this is regarded as full evidence of the law.