Ancient, Curious, and Famous WillsHarris, Virgil M. (Virgil McClure)
History
Ancient, Curious, and Famous Wills
Harris, Virgil M. (Virgil McClure)
Wills
“Now, therefore, I do hereby exercise any and all powers of appointment
contained in and given to me by any such will by any person if any such
will there be, desiring and intending that whether or not I survive the
maker of said will, the persons, corporations and institutions
hereinbefore named shall be benefited in accordance with and to the
extent of the terms of this instrument, either as legatees hereunder in
case of my survival of the maker of said will, or as my appointees
thereunder in case of my predecease.”
HIS EARTHLY HAPPINESS
An old bachelor, on dying, left the whole of his property to three
ladies to whom he had proposed marriage, and who had refused him. The
reason for this bequest, he stated, was that by their refusal, “to them
I owe all my earthly happiness.”
MUST PAY FOR HER DRINKS
Mr. Davis, of Clapham, England, left the sum of 5_s._ “to Mary Davis,
daughter of Peter Delaport, which is sufficient to enable her to get
drunk for the last time at my expense.”
IMAGINARY WIFE AND CHILDREN
A Mr. George, resident of one of the British Colonies, who died
possessed of a large property, contrived to puzzle the brains of his
executors by imagining and inserting in his will two heirs who had no
existence but in his brain. After bequeathing his worldly goods in the
usual form, he named as his residuary legatees a son and daughter, whom
he stated to be his children by a beautiful Circassian he had married at
Plymouth in St. Peter’s Church. He added that, though the lady had
subsequently eloped with a parson, he bore no ill-will to the children,
whom she had taken with her, but should be glad to think they would be
traced and apprised of their good fortune.
The whole romance turned out to be a complete fabrication, but not until
it had severely tried the patience of the executors.
THIS FOOLISH WORLD A DREAM
Harris Bletzer, who died on August 21, 1910, at his home, 35 Moore
Street, Brooklyn, N.Y., worth about $10,000, had pretty definite ideas
as to how he wanted his money to go after his death, and he also had
come to the conclusion that, after all, this was a foolish world and a
dream, so he wrote down in Hebrew his philosophical conclusions and had
it properly attested as his last will and testament. This remarkable
document has been translated for Surrogate Ketcham’s benefit, and it has
been offered for probate.
Mr. Bletzer wants his wife to have all his money for her lifetime, and
she isn’t to be dictated to by anybody, either, as to what she does with
it, the testator says, for she worked for it as hard as her husband did.
But he says that when their two daughters, Sarah and Mazie, get married,
their mother can spend $2000 upon each of them, and it shall be
considered as their share of their father’s estate. After the widow
dies, then the money is to be divided among the sons. The reason for his
opinion of life is given in language not quite grammatical, as follows:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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