Ancient, Curious, and Famous WillsHarris, Virgil M. (Virgil McClure)
History
Ancient, Curious, and Famous Wills
Harris, Virgil M. (Virgil McClure)
Wills
“Seeing that I have no direct descendants, and that I am wholly
unacquainted with those I may possess collaterally, I bequeath my
fortune to any one among them who, in the course of a twelve-month from
the date of my death, may distinguish himself by an act of heroism
worthy of ancient times.
“In case none of my collateral descendants should be justified in making
this claim, I then leave all I possess to be divided between all the
women who can prove that they have been my mistresses, be it for ever so
brief a period.”
IMPOSED ON THE NUNS
A sick traveller once presented himself at the hospital of Auxerre, in
France, where he was received and treated with the care and attention
bestowed on all the sick who seek an asylum there. He expressed his
gratitude for the kindness shown him, and his intention of testifying it
in a more substantial manner, begging the nuns to let him see a notary.
This functionary having obeyed his summons, he informed him that, as an
old soldier, he was in the enjoyment of a retiring-pension, and, having
earned a medal, of a further allowance; that, in addition to this
income, he owned a mortgage worth four thousand five hundred francs, of
which the title, as well as his other papers, was deposited with the
notary of the commune of the Département du Seine et Marne, where he had
a settlement. Upon this he dictated to him a will, by which he
bequeathed everything to the hospital, upon the sole condition that they
should give him a decent and honorable burial.
At this time he appeared to be recovering, but suddenly his state became
worse, and on the following day he died.
To fulfil the promise exacted from them, the administrators of the
hospital, instead of supplying the simple funeral ordinarily accorded to
the paupers who died there, responded liberally to the behest of their
generous benefactor, and accompanied his interment with every mark of
respect, after which they went to the office indicated to claim the
inheritance bestowed on them. But here a new feature appeared in the
case. The mayor and the notary of the parish indicated, expressed
themselves entirely ignorant whether of the papers in question or of the
singular testator, and on further inquiry they discovered him to be no
more than a wretched cowherd, bearing in his neighborhood a very
suspicious character. What his motive could have been in practising this
deception in his dying moments it is difficult to guess, and his conduct
remains an instance of one of those crookednesses of the human mind we
often meet with, but do not understand.
LEAVES ESTATE TO JESUS
One of the most unique wills ever recorded, was filed recently in
Worcester, Massachusetts. The testator, Charles Hastings, leaves several
garden lots and buildings, valued at fifty thousand dollars, to the Lord
Jesus, with the explanation that He is the rightful owner of all lands,
according to the Bible, the first book of Laws.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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