Ancient, Curious, and Famous WillsHarris, Virgil M. (Virgil McClure)
History
Ancient, Curious, and Famous Wills
Harris, Virgil M. (Virgil McClure)
Wills
Any number of individuals have been accused of inability to make their
last wills on account of an inclination to hunt for hidden treasures.
One such in New York State took with her her nephew, and had him carry a
red rooster under his arm for good luck, and they dug diligently, but
found no gold. She left gold, however, but not so apportioned as to suit
her relatives, and a will contest followed. Another person bandaged his
face with handkerchiefs, to prevent false impressions being made on his
mind: probably he did not succeed, yet his will was sustained. One
gentleman charged his wife with putting tongs in his bed to make him
uneasy. Whether hot or cold tongs, is not stated by the decision of the
Supreme Court of Connecticut; but the Court did decide that such an
offence was more often chargeable to the heart than to the head.
A belief in perpetual motion, and a denial of the revolution of the
earth on its axis, and assertions that “the sun do move,” have not been
sufficient to undermine testamentary capacity, according to the Supreme
Court of Wisconsin.
Frequent efforts have been made to show that marriage late in life was
evidence of insanity, but always unsuccessfully.
The Supreme Court of Connecticut held that it was a perfectly natural
trait for the aged to tell favorite stories and to embellish them a
little more or less, as fancy prompted.
A woman’s fondness for gossip, and the constant changing of her mind in
regard to the arrangement of the house she was building and the color of
paints used for it, were insufficient reasons for setting aside her
will: on the contrary, the Court intimated that it was perfectly natural
that she should change her mind and that the workmen should be scolded.
Certain it is, that one feature of this decision has long been sustained
by custom.
The same Court, the Supreme Court of Michigan, decided that a
disposition on the part of an individual to give his services to the
United States Government in the management of its financial affairs, did
not necessarily show insanity, and added that if it did, most of us
would not escape.
So, after contemplating some of these peculiar and generally
uncomfortable departures from the straight line of human conduct, one
feels that Dryden spoke by the card when he said, “There is a pleasure
sure in being mad which none but madmen know.”
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING WILLS
Mr. John Marshall Gest, a prominent member of the Philadelphia Bar,
delivered an address to the students of the Law School of the University
of Pennsylvania, October 17th, 1907, on “Practical Suggestions for
Writing Wills.” It is by far the most entertaining and erudite
composition the author has ever read on the subject. It can be found in
the American Law Register for November, 1907, Volume 55, No. 8. Mr. Gest
opens his address in the following words:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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