Will of Jacob T BIDDLE (1900), Cecil County, MD Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Doug Arbuckle ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced In any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN; I, Jacob T Biddle of Cecil County in the state of Maryland, being in my usual health of body and of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding, considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the time thereof, and being desirous of settling my worldly affairs and thereby be better prepared to leave this world when it shall please God to call me hence, do therefore make and publish, this my last will and testament, in manner and form following, that is to say; First and Principally I commit my soul to the merciful God who gave it and my body to the earth to be decently buried at the discretion of my executor hereinafter named, and after the payment of all my just debts and funeral expenses and the cost of suitable tombstones to mark my grave, which I hereby direct my said executor to procure and cause to be put up at my grave, I GIVE DEVISE AND BEQUEATH as follows; Item. I give devise and bequeath unto my neice(sic) Bertie Biddle, daughter of my deceased brother George Biddle the sum of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to be paid to her by my executor hereinafter named, within one year after my death, and I hereby charge my real estate hereinafter devised unto my nephew George J Biddle, with the payment of said legacy of one thousand dollars. Item. I give and bequeath unto my former house-keeper Mrs Mary E Minner the sum of ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS to be paid to her in one year after my death. Item. I give devise and bequeath unto my nephew George J Biddle, son of my deceased brother George Biddle, all that farm or tract of land and premises, situate, lying and being in the Fourth Election District of Cecil County aforesaid, on the Public Road from Cowantown to Appleton formerly known as “Dysarts Corner”, containing ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE ACRES of land more or less, and being the same farm on which I now reside, subject to the payment of the aforesaid legacy of ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS to my niece Bertie Biddle within the time above directed. Item. All the rest, residue and remainder of my estate, real personal or mixed and wheresoever situate. I give, devise and bequeath unto the said George J Biddle and Bertie Biddle in equal proportions share and share alike. And lastly I do hereby nominate, constitute and appoint my nephew George J Biddle to be sole executor of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking and annulling all former wills by me heretofore made, and hereby ratifying and confirming this one and none other to be my last will and testament. IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I the said Jacob T Biddle have hereto set my hand and seal on this Ninth day of June in the year Eighteen Hundred and Ninety Six. Jacob T Biddle Signed, sealed, published and declared by Jacob T Biddle the above named testator, as and for his last will and testament, in the presence of us, who at his request, in his presence and in the presence of each other have hereto subscribed our names as witnesses hereto. William S Evans James F Evans Cecil County SS: March 19th 1900 Then came George J Biddle, Executor named in the foregoing instrument of writing, and made oath in due form of law that the same is the true and whole last Will and Testament of Jacob T Biddle late of Cecil county, deceased, that hath come to his knowledge and possession; that due publication of the contents thereof hath been made, and that he knows of none other or any reason why the probate thereof should not be taken. Test: R E Jasmar, Register Cecil County, ss: March 19th 1900. Then came William S Evans, one of the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing instrument of writing, and made oath in due form of law, that he did see Jacob T Biddle, the Testator therein named, sign and seal the same; that he heard him publish, pronounce and declare the same to be his last will and testament, and at the time of his so doing he was to the best of deponent’s apprehension and belief of a sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding; that he and James F Evans, the other attesting witness, severally subscribed their names as witnesses thereto, in the presence, at the request, of said testator and in the presence of each other; that the said James F Evans now resides out of the State of Maryland, and his presence here cannot well be had; that (being a son of deponent’s) he is well acquainted with the hand-writing of said James F Evans, and his signature as so written as an attesting witness to the will of Jacob T Biddle is true and genuine, and in his proper hand-writing. Test: R E Jasmar, Register In the Orphans’ Court of Cecil County: The Register of Wills after having carefully examined the above last Will and Testament of Jacob T Biddle, late of Cecil County, deceased, and also the evidence adduced as to its validity, Orders and Decrees, this 19th day of March, AD 1900, that the same be admitted to probate in this Court as the true and genuine last Will and Testament of Jacob T Biddle. [remainder missing] KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, THAT WE George J Biddle, John R Couden and William C Henderson, all of Cecil County, MD Seven Hundred dollars current money, to be paid unto said State, to which payment, well and truly to be made and done, we bind ourselves, and every of us, and every of our heirs, executors and administrators, in the whole and for the whole, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals, and dated this 29th day of March in the year Nineteen hundred (1900). THE CONDITION of the above Obligation is such, that if the above bounden well and truly perform the office of Executor of Jacob T Biddle late of Cecil county, MD deceased, according ot law, and shall in respects discharge the duties of him required by law as Executor aforesaid, without any injury or damage to any person interested in the faithful performance of the duties of said office, then the above obligation shall be void; it is otherwise to be in full force and virtue in law. George J Biddle John R Couden William C Henderson TEST R W Bowland (as to signature of Geo J Biddle) Alexander McCarns A true and perfect Inventory of all and Singular the goods chattels, and personal estate of Jacob T Biddle late of Cecil County deceased; appraised by the Subscribers: W C Henderson and J Elwood Zebley - jointly. We having first been Legally authorized, and having taken the oath prescribed by Law, as will be seen by the warrant to appraise and certificate thereon hereto annexed; One Stove $1.25 1 Looking Glass .25 1 Wash Stand .25 6 Common Chairs .60 1 Chest .50 Bedstead & Bed 1.50 Pillow & Bolster .65 1 Horse – (Bay) 10.00 1 Buggy 5.00 1 old Wagon 2.00 ------- $22.00 We the Subscribers do certify, That the aforegoing is a true and Just Inventory, and valuation of all and singular, the goods, chattels and personal estate of the said Jacob T Biddle deceased, so far as the same have come to our sight and Knowledge, and as valued and appraised by us in dollars and cents according to the best of our skill and judgment. In testimony whereof we hereto Subscribe our names and affix our seals this Eighteenth day of April 1900 W C Henderson J Elwood Zebley The 1st Acct. of George J Biddle, Executor of Jacob T Biddle, deceased. -------------- D. -------------- This accountant chargeth himself with the Amt contained in the Inventory and Appraisement $22.00 Also with cash in Bank at time of deceased’s death 260.00 --------- $282.00 And this Accountant claims allowance for the following payments -------------- C. -------------- For State Tax on Court – 2 per cent being charged $ .56 For Amt paid for probating will, Bond, Letters, etc, per receipt 11.25 For Amt paid Clark S Grant, undertaker, per receipt 100.00 For Amt paid Mary E Minner, legacy, per receipt 100.00 For Amt paid Wright & son for fertilizer, per receipt 20.00 For Amt paid Wm Henderson, store Acct, per receipt 10.00 For Amt paid John Coudon, blocksmith, per receipt 9.00 For Amt paid for Record sent to Circuit Court 10.88 For Amt paid for final Costs in the Orphan Court 15.80 --------- Amt Of Disbursements $287.54 Bal Due Accountant $ 5.54 Estate Accounted for $282.00 In the Orphans Court for Cecil County. In the matter of the estate of Jacob T Biddle, deceased. To the Hon the Judges of said Court. The petition and caveat of Mary Devlin of Cecil County aforesaid, respectfully shows: 1- That Jacob T Biddle, late of said county, deceased, departed this life on the 7th day of March, in the year 1900, unmarried, and leaving surving(sic) him as his nearest of kin and heirs at law, your petitioner, a sister; and Bertha Biddle and George J Biddle, children of a deceased brother, George Biddle. 2- That after his death, the said George J Biddle offered for probate in this Court a paper writing, dated June 9th 1896, purporting to be the last will and testament of the said Jacob T Biddle. 3- That probate of the said paper writing was taken on the 19th day of March, in the year 1900 without contest. 4- Your petitioner further shows and charges that said paper writing was not the last will and testament of the said Jacob T Biddle but that the said Jacob T Biddle died intestate. And your petitioner further alleges 1- That the said alleged will was not executed by the said Jacob T Biddle when he was of sound and disposing mind, and capable of executing a valid deed or contract. 2- That the said Jacob T Biddle at the time of the execution of said alleged will did not know or understand the contents thereof. 3- That said alleged will was not signed by said Jacob T Biddle or any other person for him, in his presence and by his express direction, and was not attended and subscribed in the presence of the said testator by two or more credible witnesses. Your petitioner prays that the said George J Biddle who is the executor named in the said alleged will, may be required to answer the premises and that the case may be again heard and examined and that the order of said Court admitting said alleged will to probate may be revoked and annulled. Morgan Blake For Petitioner In the Orphans Court for Cecil County. In the matter of the Estate of Jacob T Biddle, deceased. To the Hon the Judges of said Court. The petition of Mollie D Arbuckle, of Cecil County in the State of Maryland, shows unto your Honors that hereto fore, to wit, on the 28th, day of March, in the year 1900, a certain Mary Devlin filed in this Court a petition and caveat to a paper writing purporting to be the last will and testament of the said Jacob T Biddle which had been admitted to probate in said Court on the 19th day of March in said year, as the last will and testament of the said Jacob T Biddle. Your petitioner shows and suggest unto your Honors that since the filing of said petition, to wit, on the thirty first day of March, in the year 1900, the said Mary Devlin has departed this life intestate, leaving surviving her, as her only child or descendant of children and heir at law, your petitioner. Your petitioner further shows that no issues have yet been made up or sent to the Circuit Court for Cecil County for trial in reference to the matters arising under said petition. Your petitioner therefore prays your Honors to admit your petitioner to become a party to the aforesaid proceeding as the proper representative of her said mother. And as in duty etc. Mollie D Arbuckle Geo A Blake, Atty for Petitioner State of Maryland, Cecil County, to wit:- I hereby certify that on this nineteenth day of April, in the year 1900, before me the subscriber, a Justice of the Peace of the said State in and for Cecil County aforesaid personally appeared the aforesaid petitioner, Mollie D Arbuckle, and did make oath in due form of law that the matters and things set forth in the foregoing petition are true to the best of her knowledge and belief. Philip M Soones JP Ordered this twenty third day of April, in the year nineteen hundred, upon the aforegoing petition, that the petitioner, Mollie D Arbuckle, be and she is hereby admitted as a party to the said petition and caveat as the representative of the said Mary Devlin. Chas E Beatty S K Blake In the Orphans Court for Cecil County. In the matter of the Estate of Jacob T Biddle, deceased. To the Honorable the Judges of said Court. The answer of George J Biddle to the petition and Caveat of Mary Devlin in the Court Exhibited by Respondents admit the first three paragraphs thereof to be true. As to the 4th paragraph this Respondent deny the same. And this Respondent avers that the said last will of Jacob T Biddle was Executed in due form of law by him at a time when he was fully competent to Execute the same & that he fully understand the contents of said will. Albert Constable Wm S Evans For Respondents In the Orphans Court for Cecil County. In the matter of the Estate of Jacob T Biddle, deceased. To the Hon the Judges of said Court. This replicant says that she will aver and prove the petition filed in the matter of the last will and testament of the said Jacob T Biddle, deceased, to be true and sufficient, and that the said answer in all things, except wherein it admits the allegations of said petition, is untrue and insufficient, as she is, and will be, ready to prove: and she prays as in said petition she hath already prayed. George A Blake L Marshall Haines Attys for Replicant In the Orphans Court for Cecil County. In the matter of the Estate of Jacob T Biddle, deceased. To the Hon the Judges of said Court. The petition of Mollie D Arbuckle respectfully shows that the answer of George J Biddle has been pleaded to the caveat filed by Mary Devlin and to which your petitioner has been made a party since her death and that a replication has been pleaded by your petitioner to said answer. That your petitioner is advised that she is entitled to have the issues of fact, raised by said caveat and answer, sent to a Court of law to be tried and determined by a jury and she therefore prays that issues may be framed by this Honorable Court and transmitted to some Court of law for trial by a jury, as follows:- 1- Was the paper writing, dated the 9th day of June 1896, purporting to be the last will and testament of Jacob T Biddle, deceased, signed by the said Jacob T Biddle, or by some other person for him, in his presence and by his express direction, and attested and subscribed in the presence of the said Jacob T Biddle by two or more credible witnesses? 2- Was the said Jacob T Biddle at the time of the alleged execution of said paper writing dated the 9th day of June 1896, purporting to be his last will and testament, of a sound and disposing mind and capable of executing a valid deed or contract? 3- Were the contents of the paper writing dated the 9th day of June 1896 and purporting to be the last will and testament of Jacob T Biddle, known to him at or before the time of the alleged execution thereof? 4- Did the said Jacob T Biddle, at the time of the execution of the paper writing, dated the 9th day of June 1896, understand the contents of said paper writing? 5- Was the execution by the said Jacob T Biddle, of said paper writing, dated the 9th day of June 1896 and purporting to be the last will and testament of said Jacob T Biddle, procured by undue influence exercised and practicised(sic) upon him and constraining his will therein? And as in duty etc George A Blank L Marshall Haines Attorneys for Petitioner In the Orphans Court for Cecil County. In the matter of the caveat to the last will and testament of Jacob T Biddle, deceased. Ordered this fifth day of September, in the year 1900, by the Orphans Court for Cecil County, that the issue prayed for by the petition of Mollie D Arbuckle, in her petition filed in this Court on the fourth day of September, in the year 1900, be, and the same are, hereby transmitted to the Circuit Court for Cecil County for trial. Merritt S McVamee Chas E Beatty S K Blake