The Residuary Legatee; Or, The Posthumous Jest of the Late John Austin — John Shaqi
The Residuary Legatee; Or, The Posthumous Jest of the Late John AustinStimson, Frederic Jesup
General
The Residuary Legatee; Or, The Posthumous Jest of the Late John Austin
Stimson, Frederic Jesup
Inheritance and succession -- Fiction
“In the name of God, Amen. I, John Austin, gentleman, being of sound
mind and disposing memory, and a widower, for which I am reverently
thankful” (it has been mentioned that Mrs. Austin died some years
before) “do make and declare this my last will and testament.
“My body I consign to ashes, and direct that it be duly cremated under
supervision of my executors; my soul I recommend to him who made it,
provided that He have not already taken the soul of Georgiana Austin
Austin, my late wife, under his same supervision, in which case I
reverently pray that it be left to my own disposition.
“I bequeath to my executors the sum of Five Thousand Dollars, and
direct that it be expended in the erection of a large white marble
monument to my late wife, aforesaid, said monument to be designed after
the florid manner of the later Gothic, and to be placed upon my family
lot at Mount Auburn, and to bear, besides the name of my late wife
aforesaid, but one inscription, viz.: A PERFECT WOMAN.
“I direct my executors to pay the sum of five hundred dollars annually
to the niece of my late wife aforesaid, May Austin, until she be
married; and upon her marriage I direct that said sum be annually paid
to her husband, for his sole use and consolation.
“I devise and bequeath my bin of Lafite claret, so-called Eclipse, to
my nephew, Austin May, together with all my other estate, real and
personal, stocks, bonds, moneys, goods, and chattels, wherever the
same be found, but subject only to the following condition, namely: I
direct my executors to manage and invest all such moneys and estate,
save the use of my house in Brookline, Massachusetts, which I give to
my said nephew directly; and all the income, rents, and profits of such
estate to pay over to my said nephew annually upon his sole receipt;
_provided_, that if he marry at any time within eleven years after
my death, or before he shall reach the age of thirty-five, whichever
shall first occur, then and in that case I revoke all the devises
and bequests to my said nephew aforesaid; but direct my executors
to deliver such of my Eclipse claret as then remains, to the most
prominent Total Abstinence Association which shall then exist in the
town of Boston; and all the rest and residue of my estate I devise and
bequeath absolutely and in fee to my residuary legatee. And I have
written the name of said----”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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