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1. "Where There's A Will"
Posted by Kat on Jan-28th-02 at 12:59 AM

Inquest, pg. 106, Morse being interviewed by Knowlton:
A) Years ago, out West at my place one time, he said he had a will (Andrew);  several years ago he told me he had destroyed it.
Q) How long ago did he tell you he had destroyed it?
A) 15 years ago.

The very next page, 107, Emma is interviewed about a will of Andrew's:
Q) Did you understand that he had a will?
A) I knew he had one, I did not know whether it was destroyed or not.

I subtracted 14 years from 1892 and got the date 1878, and checked the time-line to see what was going on then:

Andrew and Wm. Almy retire from their business
Sarah & John Morse's father (Anthony) dies
Abby's father (Oliver Gray) dies

It made sense that Andrew's will would become obsolete upon the dissolution of his business.  Didn't partners take out "insurance" or some other form of surety for each other in case of the untimely demise of one?  (And Andrew had no son to take over a business).  They might have had a deal, to keep the remaining partner afloat in business, if one died, and wrote a sort of business will to that effect.  Upon retirement this document would no longer be valid and Would have to be destroyed.  It may not have been a Family will, as such, at all...

(Message last edited Jan-28th-02  1:02 AM.)

Your thinking on this older will is very well done. Crystal clear.

Then wouldn't Andrew need to make up another will upon the destruction of the first one? Now here's a question. Did he have to file a will with the court to make it valid? Or was it the custom to have a lawyer draw one up and you just put it away in your safe place, to be found upon demise?

Reason I ask is this: if he had a will earlier, and then destroyed it upon retirement, wouldn't the lawyer know this? And if Jennings was his family lawyer, why wasn't he called to testify about this?