Lizzie Borden Society Forum

In the Book, "Lizzie Borden The Legend, The Trial, The Final Chapter", on the pages 178 to 180, it was stated

"Mr. Morse not only said under oath that a will existed, he went to explain some of it's features." And also, "Legend has it Andrew had planned to sign over the form to his wife and before he could consummate such a horrifying, shamful depletion of his daughters birth right, Lizzie killed him."

Now, my question is How hard did they look for this will? It would have been a perfect motive to kill Andrew and Abby. I also understand that there was talk of changing the will to have some of the new features which was alot of stuff going to Abby. If Lizzie knew this, she might resort to murder. I mean she might be looking at it as these are my things, and dad is giving them to an outsider.

That's a good question, Snokks. I don't recall how thourogh a search for the will was done by the investigators but I often wonder if the "rolled-up" paper looking thing in the stove was the Will itself. Perhaps Lizzie burned it to keep "her" money safe. It would have been a sorry state for Lizzie if she had gone through the trouble of killing her Parents only to find in the Will a provision by Andrew that "in the event of the deaths of myself and wife, my entire estate will then go to my Aunt Elma", or whoever.

Perhaps there was a clause in the Will that would cut Lizzie out of any money and Lizzie found out about it and decided to take action.

-1bigsteve (o:

I can't say with any certainty how hard they looked for Andrew's will, but it seems they would have searched very thoroughly for one. Nowadays, the attorney who writes up the will, the author, and, quite often, the executor all get a copy of the will. I don't know how wills were handled back then, but I expect if an attorney drew up the will, he would advise the author to allow him (the attorney) to retain a copy. Andrew could have hand-written his own will, in which case there might not be multiple copies. I expect this would have been kept in a safe deposit box at the bank or in the safe at home.

Andrew's death was certainly no secret, so an attorney who may have written Andrew's will would have probably come forward with the information, even if he didn't have a copy of the document. At least the existence, if not the whereabouts, of a will would be established. This didn't happen, so if Andrew had a will at all, it was probably hand-written. The question is where to find it. Andrew would have kept a will someplace safe, but not secret. The idea behind a will is to carry out his last wishes and the harder it is to find, the less likely that is to happen. Andrew would probably have kept a will in a safe or safe deposit box. The executor named in the will would probably know where the will was, but if Abby was the executor, well...

Andrew may have written a will while Sarah was alive, but if the will mentioned her he may have destroyed it, especially if he wanted to include Abby. He may not have ever gotten around to writing a current will. If he did, it was kept somewhere only he or he and Abby knew about, so by being overly secretive, his last wishes were never known. If the will was known to a third party who destroyed it, then he was not secretive enough. I think Andrew would have been more careful.

There was not much reason for Andrew to have a will.

If he died first, which was the most likely circumstance, Abbie, Emma and Lizzie would each inherit 1/3. Abbie's portion, I believe (with the exception of the first $5,000) would revert to Emma and Lizzie upon Abbie's death.

If Abbie died before Andrew, Emma and Lizzie, unless there was a will saying different, would inherit the entire estate upon Andrew's death.

I imagine this is pretty much the way Andrew wanted it.

If both Cook and Jennings, the two men most trusted in his financial affairs did not know of a will then I have to assume there wasn't one.

However, this doesn't mean that Lizzie or Emma didn't think their father had a will

Good point, Harry. Perhaps Andrew threatened Lizzie and Emma, "I'm going to cut you girls out of my Will if you don't behave" without actually having a Will. Maybe Lizzie didn't know Andrew had no Will but took her Father at his word. Or maybe Lizzie and Emma didn't like the idea of sharing any part of Andrew's Estate with Abby.

Hmmm, the plot thickens...

-1bigsteve (o:

I agree, I don't think Andrew had a will. It would have made sense for Abby to also have a will if Andrew had one which left her anything. I expect they would have had them drawn up at the same time. No will was found for Abby, either.

Yooper @ Thu Dec 07, 2006 12:24 pm wrote:I agree, I don't think Andrew had a will. It would have made sense for Abby to also have a will if Andrew had one which left her anything. I expect they would have had them drawn up at the same time. No will was found for Abby, either.

As far as I know, the Common Law hasn't changed much regards to wills. The Lawyer making a will would keep a copy. A will can be changed at any time, it doesn't become effective until death. Any will is revoked by making a new will.

A holographic will was legal in California, per "Perry Mason". It must be made entirely in the person't handwriting with the date etc. Not all states have this feature. Also from that author, if a will has been destroyed by someone, it can still become effective if its contents are known. [One of the educational items from Erle Stanley Gardner's novels.]

I just wonder what was the purpose of Uncle John saying Andy had made a will when there was no known will available? Witnesses are advised to answer a question and NOT VOLUNTEER any information, as far as I know.

It just seems to me that the kind of man Andrew was, he would have had a will. He was a very shrewd man,very maticulas with details. That not having a will wouldn't be like him. Seems that would have been right up his alley, making sure who gets what at the time of his death.

Yes, a person would think so, Snokks. Maybe with all the tension that was going on close to the time of the murders Andrew suddenly decided to draw up a Will and perhaps Lizzie didn't like that idea or heard who or what her Dad planned on putting in it and didn't like that either. It could have been the contents of the Will that triggered the murders and maybe that rolled paper in the stove was Andrew's new Will?

-1bigsteve (o:

RayS: "I wonder what was the purpose of Uncle John saying Andy had made a will when there was no known will available?"


Maybe John knew Andrew had recently made a Will because they had talked about it on the eve of the killings. Maybe that Will ended up in the stove with a little help from Lizzie? Maybe Lizzie was thinking, "OK, kill the folk's and burn the Will and I'm home free. The money is mine." Hmmm...

-1bigsteve (o:

1bigsteve @ Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:38 am wrote:Yes, a person would think so, Snokks. Maybe with all the tension that was going on close to the time of the murders Andrew suddenly decided to draw up a Will and perhaps Lizzie didn't like that idea or heard who or what her Dad planned on putting in it and didn't like that either. It could have been the contents of the Will that triggered the murders and maybe that rolled paper in the stove was Andrew's new Will?
-1bigsteve (o:

Merely writing something on paper is NOT a legal will. It must be witnessed and notarized to be perfectly legal, as far as I know. Calif allowed a holographic will, but I doubt if Mass did. More freedoms out west.
The big importance of a will is selecting an administrator. Else a court-appointed lawyer could live large on his fees to the estate. THAT is one big reason for a regular will. A local bank charges 1.2% or so to administer a will. Paying debts, cancelling magazines, and dividing the money.
YOU NEVER WANT TO DIE WITHOUT A WILL UNLESS ALL YOU HAVE IS YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY AND PENSION, WHICH TERMINATES UPON DEATH!!!
I can't emphasize this enough. Anytime you drive on the highway could be your last hour. Yes, you don't like to think about it.
PS My Mom and Dad had their will made by a lawyer for $35 (via Senior Citizens Club). Else it might cost $100. Not a lot given the problems a lack will pose. Does your state escheat any person's property w/o a will?
PS In some states a person's property may be taken by the state w/o a will. This is called escheatment. Ditto unclaimed good like a bank account.

I believe everyone here is aware of how to execute a will.

John Morse might have been aware of a will Andrew had while Sarah was alive.

RayS @ Sat Dec 09, 2006 5:30 am wrote:

1bigsteve @ Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:38 am wrote:Yes, a person would think so, Snokks. Maybe with all the tension that was going on close to the time of the murders Andrew suddenly decided to draw up a Will and perhaps Lizzie didn't like that idea or heard who or what her Dad planned on putting in it and didn't like that either. It could have been the contents of the Will that triggered the murders and maybe that rolled paper in the stove was Andrew's new Will?
-1bigsteve (o:

Merely writing something on paper is NOT a legal will. It must be witnessed and notarized to be perfectly legal, as far as I know. Calif allowed a holographic will, but I doubt if Mass did. More freedoms out west.
The big importance of a will is selecting an administrator. Else a court-appointed lawyer could live large on his fees to the estate. THAT is one big reason for a regular will. A local bank charges 1.2% or so to administer a will. Paying debts, cancelling magazines, and dividing the money.
YOU NEVER WANT TO DIE WITHOUT A WILL UNLESS ALL YOU HAVE IS YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY AND PENSION, WHICH TERMINATES UPON DEATH!!!
I can't emphasize this enough. Anytime you drive on the highway could be your last hour. Yes, you don't like to think about it.
PS My Mom and Dad had their will made by a lawyer for $35 (via Senior Citizens Club). Else it might cost $100. Not a lot given the problems a lack will pose. Does your state escheat any person's property w/o a will?
PS In some states a person's property may be taken by the state w/o a will. This is called escheatment. Ditto unclaimed good like a bank account.

Thanks for the information RayS, I guess I'm one of those people who just haven't gotten around to it yet, guess I better do something about it!

Yooper @ Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:49 pm wrote:John Morse might have been aware of a will Andrew had while Sarah was alive.

THEN it would have been operative until a new will was made. IMO

RayS @ Fri Dec 08, 2006 4:29 pm wrote:

Yooper @ Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:49 pm wrote:John Morse might have been aware of a will Andrew had while Sarah was alive.

THEN it would have been operative until a new will was made. IMO

Not if all copies were destroyed. If Andrew died intestate after Sarah without having remarried, Lizzie and Emma would have been the beneficiaries by default. There's nothing which says that once you have a will, you must always have a will.

Yooper @ Fri Dec 08, 2006 6:03 pm wrote:

RayS @ Fri Dec 08, 2006 4:29 pm wrote:

Yooper @ Fri Dec 08, 2006 1:49 pm wrote:John Morse might have been aware of a will Andrew had while Sarah was alive.

THEN it would have been operative until a new will was made. IMO

Not if all copies were destroyed. If Andrew died intestate after Sarah without having remarried, Lizzie and Emma would have been the beneficiaries by default. There's nothing which says that once you have a will, you must always have a will.

WHERE are you getting your legal knowledge from? This site?

My comments were based on what I know. An old will, unless revoked by a new will, will be the legal will. That's why the wording in any will says "this revokes all prior wills".

You can look it up instead of being so contrary. You'll learn more that way.

But they never found any will. So where was the first will? And then the one that was suposed to replace it.

snokkums @ Sun Dec 10, 2006 8:12 am wrote:But they never found any will. So where was the first will? And then the one that was suposed to replace it.

I'm thinking that maybe Andrew destroyed his first Will himself after making the new Will and that new Will was destroyed by Lizzie in the stove on the morning of the murders. That's only my guess anyway.

-1bigsteve (o:

Unless Jennings made the will and surpressed it at Lizzie or Emma's request, because it would have been bad for Lizzie. God knows they paid him a fortune, $25,000.00...... Maybe its still in the safe at that Law firm which refuses to release those papers............or he destroyed his copy.


Who Knows,


StevenB

StevenB @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 5:56 am wrote:Unless Jennings made the will and surpressed it at Lizzie or Emma's request, because it would have been bad for Lizzie. God knows they paid him a fortune, $25,000.00...... Maybe its still in the safe at that Law firm which refuses to release those papers............or he destroyed his copy.


Who Knows,


StevenB

wow, could they have done that? Could any surviving member of the family request that it be released? Wouldn't that be a real eye opener!!!

If there are documents hidden away in a safe somewhere, I don't think we are done with this case yet!

-1bigsteve (o:

Wouldn't that be exciting! It's possible, there could be all kinds of things still hidden away, yet to be found!

StevenB, I think you mean Robinson, not Jennings, who charged Lizzie the then astronomical fee of $25,000. To put it context it was roughly twice what they paid for Maplecroft.

Just think if it was Lizzie who did the deeds, Andrew's money so carefully accumulated and preserved, paid for her defense. The whirring sound you hear at the Borden plot is Andrew still spinning in his grave.

Harry @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 8:02 am wrote:StevenB, I think you mean Robinson, not Jennings, who charged Lizzie the then astronomical fee of $25,000. To put it context it was roughly twice what they paid for Maplecroft.

Just think if it was Lizzie who did the deeds, Andrew's money so carefully accumulated and preserved, paid for her defense. The whirring sound you hear at the Borden plot is Andrew still spinning in his grave.

Hi Harry! I'm surprised he didn't sit up and point his finger, and say "my money shant pay for it!!!"

Harry @ Sun Dec 10, 2006 2:02 pm wrote:
Just think if it was Lizzie who did the deeds, Andrew's money so carefully accumulated and preserved, paid for her defense. The whirring sound you hear at the Borden plot is Andrew still spinning in his grave.

Harry that is one of the funniest quotes I've read on the forum in a long time. What's more is it's probably true.

I would LOVE for those documents to finally come to light. I think there may be information contained there which could shed some new light on the case.

Can you believe that Lawyer Jennings would suppress a will in order to help a murderess? I don't think so. No proof for this assertion was given.

Unless a will is properly made and witnessed, it doesn't exist. Anyone can write something on a piece of paper, but under state law it is just a memoir.

State laws regarding Last Wills and Testament vary from one state to the next. Unless the Will is in compliance for that particular state, it would be invalid. For instance, the minimum age requirement to have a will drawn up varies, in Georgia it is 14 years old and in Massachusettes it is 18 years old.

I just pulled out my will from 1972 and noticed it was signed by two witnesses. I think, had there been a will drawn up by an attorney and witnessed and notarized, under the circumstances, someone would have come forward during the high profile months before the trial began to tell of it.

Somewhere I have read that Andrew mentioned settling the amount of $25,000 on each daughter and the remainder to his spouse. Now, Kat and Harry- I know you will know where that came from? Seems funny, if that conversation was true as that is the amount paid to Robinson for her defense

Shelley @ Sun Dec 10, 2006 5:40 pm wrote:I just pulled out my will from 1972 and noticed it was signed by two witnesses. I think, had there been a will drawn up by an attorney and witnessed and notarized, under the circumstances, someone would have come forward during the high profile months before the trial began to tell of it.

Somewhere I have read that Andrew mentioned settling the amount of $25,000 on each daughter and the remainder to his spouse. Now, Kat and Harry- I know you will know where that came from? Seems funny, if that conversation was true as that is the amount paid to Robinson for her defense

That appeared in the newspapers from an unidentified out-of-town official. This is from the Aug. 18th, New Bedford Evening Standard:

"... Early in the case, too, the Government employed Officers John C. Parker and Frank Hathaway of this city, who have been busy on the Dartmouth end of the case, and are still engaged on it. They have held frequent interviews with occupants of the William Davis cottage on the Smith Mills road, and have supplied many missing links. John V. Morse visited at the cottage, and I am informed that both Miss Emma and Miss Lizzie had been there, and consulted their uncle on business, though I haven't talked with Parker or Hathaway recently and don't know just what discoveries they made. The assumption on which the State has been proceeding, however, is that the daughters Miss Emma and Miss Lizzie learned of their father's intention through their uncle. It is presumed that the latter was on very intimate terms with Mr. Borden, at least certain members of the family convey that impression, and it was understood that the will would give the girls $25,000 apiece, and that the residue of the estate would go to Mrs. Borden. Mr. Borden knew of course that the daughters and particularly Miss Lizzie, were not on the best of terms with his wife, and their relations were not becoming any more pleasant as time went on. ..."

It is also mentioned in the phony Trickey/McHenry newspaper article of October 1892:

"... Mr. George Sisson, among other important statements, will swear that less than a month before the murder Mr. Borden told him he had made a will, in which he had given Emma and Lizzie $25,000 each, which was more than he would have allowed them had it not been for his wife's intercessions. ..."

Jennings investigated this Sisson and could find no record of him.

That's it! Thanks, Harry. Well, I could well-believe Emma might have sounded out her Uncle Morse. She seemed to have a genuine fondness for her "Dear Uncle" as she put it. I would have thought that Morse knew Lizzie's ways enough to have been very careful what he said to her about Abby though. Interesting to read the part about Abby asking Andrew to provide more of a settlement. That I might have a hard time swallowing- unless she thought it would satisfy them and they would be nicer to her. False hope.

1bigsteve @ Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:38 am wrote:Yes, a person would think so, Snokks. Maybe with all the tension that was going on close to the time of the murders Andrew suddenly decided to draw up a Will and perhaps Lizzie didn't like that idea or heard who or what her Dad planned on putting in it and didn't like that either. It could have been the contents of the Will that triggered the murders and maybe that rolled paper in the stove was Andrew's new Will?

-1bigsteve (o:

Yes, maybe that's the reason the will was never found. It was burned. It would suggest the reason the will was never found. And I can understand way he wrote a new one. Everone in that house was on the war path. Everyone hated each other.

The Witness Statements, Aug. 7, William H. Medley, p. 30:

(Question.) “Mr. Cook, have you any reason to believe Mr. Borden had, or had not, made a will?”
(Answer) “I do not think Mr. Borden had made a will, unless it has been made recently. I will tell
you how I know. He came to my office one day when I was writing, and waited until I finished, when I
told him I was just writing a will. He said “Charles, do you know that is something I have never done
yet, but I must attend to it.”

This implies that Andrew had not made a will at all, and it is the most direct statement I can find with respect to Andrew writing a will.

The more I have considered that mysterious cylindrical-shaped thing in the woodstove, the more I believe it may have either been something Andrew tossed in there from the post office as he passed through the kitchen on his way up to his room, whatever it was he had been looking at by the light of the diningroom window when he first arrived home, or something he tossed in that had been stored upstairs on his way back down when he passed through the kitchen. I think had it truly been an important document, or a will he would have locked it up in his safe when he went upstairs. With no will in the safe, and no will on his body, no attorney stepping forward or witnesses- I don't think Andrew had gotten around to the will -making yet. Funny how some people savvy about money can be such procrastinators about practical things.

But, is there any more to it? Did Mr. Cook say how long before the murders that conversation took place? Sounded like Andrew was, from that time on, going to see to it that he did. So now the question is>>>Did Andrew have enough time to attend to it, before he was murdered?

shakiboo @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 10:40 am wrote:But, is there any more to it? Did Mr. Cook say how long before the murders that conversation took place? Sounded like Andrew was, from that time on, going to see to it that he did. So now the question is>>>Did Andrew have enough time to attend to it, before he was murdered?

The only reference to "when" from Mr. Cook is the term "recently", and recency would make the probability of recall greater for an attorney or witnesses to the will. He may well have had time to do it, but why did no one remember? I would venture a guess that Mr. Cook himself would be a likely candidate as a witness to Andrew's will if he had made one.

Cook is a good choice. Also, there would have been a clerk or typist in the office who would had to have typed up the document, or a receptionist who would have recalled Andrew coming in- so there's a possibility of two more people who , along with a witness (I think a will needed 2 actually) an attorney, and possibly a notary, who might have known about a will. All the more reason to suppose there was no will. I am not sure of client confidentiality in 1892, but I would suspect a double homicide would override such an agreement.

Also, Mr. Cook was writing a will himself when the topic came up in discussion with Andrew.

Maybe Andrew was overheard talking to Abby about it and Lizzie knew then that it was now or never. I would bet the possibility of a will definately had something to do with the murder.

The possibility of a will which potentially would disfavor someone would certainly motivate a murder, especially if the inheritance was the only way out of an intolerable condition.

Yooper @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:26 pm wrote:The possibility of a will which potentially would disfavor someone would certainly motivate a murder, especially if the inheritance was the only way out of an intolerable condition.

Is there any documentary proof for a will? Only Uncle John's statement, one that has no corroboration.

No one need respond to this posting.

there really doesn't have to be documented proof of his acually having made one, Mr. Cook's testimony clearly says that Andrew was going to attend to it. That knowledge alone could have been motive enough for the murders.

There could've been threats made my Andrew to the effect of, "After I'm gone you two ungrateful daughters of mine will not receive one more dime of my money!" He could've tried to threaten them with this to maybe try to keep them in line at times. Somehow this to me fits with what I believe was Andrew's character. Then maybe he began to talk about actually making a will. He was getting up there in years. People his age due tend to start wanting to put their affairs in order. And as concerned as Andrew was with his fortune I cannot see him NOT having a will to dictate what happened to it upon his demise. To me it doesn't make sense that he would be so concerned with maintaining it in life, then wouldn't care what happened to it after his death. I can't see that. I am also sure there had been some talk somewhere about who would get what. You think Lizzie could stand not knowing that?

RayS @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:10 pm wrote:

Yooper @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:26 pm wrote:The possibility of a will which potentially would disfavor someone would certainly motivate a murder, especially if the inheritance was the only way out of an intolerable condition.

Is there any documentary proof for a will? Only Uncle John's statement, one that has no corroboration.

No one need respond to this posting.

Documentary proof for the POSSIBILITY of a will? My post will suffice for that!

Mr. Cook's information was not testimony. We don't know what he told officials in private. He asked to be interviewed privately.

As for witnesses, in my experience, I was asked to wait after my own appointment with my attorney in order to witness a document.
I did not need to know what document or who the people were.
I witnessed strangers signing a document, and saw their IDs matched the names on the document.
I would never remember their names to this day.
If a need arose for me to verify who it was, they would either have to find me or put out some kind of bulletin and the only way I would remember would be by the date. The date I have knowledge of- because I had an appointment there that day.
The secretary or paralegal or clerk in the office, I think, was one of the witnesses. Just personal info on witnessing Shelley's will.

As for Uncle John, he says at the inquest:
105
Q. Did he ever talk with you about a will?
A. Yes Sir, he has.
Q. When was the last time?
A. Somewhere within a year.
Q. When you were there at the house?
A. No Sir, I think we were outside at the time.
106
Q. What was the talk?
A. He said he thought he should make some bequests outside to charitable purposes. He did not say any more either one way or the other.
Q. Did he say he had made a will?
A. He did not say .
Q. He did not say whether he had or not?
A. Whether he had or had not.
Q. Did he talk as though he was intending to make a will?
A. I judged from that that he was intending to, I drew my conclusions that he had not, but was thinking of it.
Q. Did he mention the bequests outside he thought he should make?
A. He did not.
Q. How came he to be speaking about it?
A. Common conversation, I suppose, same as about his land. Before he bought the Birch land, I was down there with him. He says lets go up Main street. We went up. He says “here is a piece of property, dont say anything about it, I have got a chance to buy. What is your opinion about it”? I asked what it could be bought for. I dont know as he told me direct, but about. I says “I think it is good property in the heart of the city. The city will be coming towards it all the time. I believe it will be a good investment.” Several months afterwards, one Sunday, he says “John, I did as you told me to”. I says “what is that,” I forgot all about it. “I bought that Birch land.”
Q. I wish you would recall the conversation about the will as explicitly as you have this.
A. That is all he said about the will, he thought of making some bequests out, you know, for charitable purposes. His farm over there, he was talking about the Old Ladies Home, “I dont know but I would give them this, if they would take it.”
Q. Was that the same talk?
A. I dont think it was the same time.
Q. Did he talk to you any other time about a will?
A. I think that is all.
Q. That is the first and last time?
A. Years ago, out West at my place one time, he said he had a will; 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.
Q. Did he tell you anything about the contents of the will?
A. He did not.

Early in the year Andrew had witnessed Southard Miller's will (who was pretty elderly wasn't he, for the times?)- that might have gotten him thinking.

Yooper @ Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:00 am wrote:

RayS @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:10 pm wrote:

Yooper @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:26 pm wrote:The possibility of a will which potentially would disfavor someone would certainly motivate a murder, especially if the inheritance was the only way out of an intolerable condition.

Is there any documentary proof for a will? Only Uncle John's statement, one that has no corroboration.

No one need respond to this posting.

Documentary proof for the POSSIBILITY of a will? My post will suffice for that!

I believe a will is made when it is properly signed and witnessed.
Therefore the non-existence of a will says it was never made.

Uncle John's testimony: "He said he thought he should make some bequests outside to charitable purposes. He did not say any more either one way or the other" was challenged by Arnold Brown on the well known fact that Andy never made any known bequests to charitable organizations.

Does anyone disagree?

RayS @ Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:39 am wrote:

Yooper @ Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:00 am wrote:

RayS @ Mon Dec 11, 2006 2:10 pm wrote: Is there any documentary proof for a will? Only Uncle John's statement, one that has no corroboration.

No one need respond to this posting.

Documentary proof for the POSSIBILITY of a will? My post will suffice for that!

I believe a will is made when it is properly signed and witnessed.
Therefore the non-existence of a will says it was never made.

The point responded to dealt with the possibility of a will.

Actually, Andrew could have said that to Uncle John maybe assuming the news would get back to the girls. For all we know Andrew might have used JVM's visits to pass on info to the girls- maybe because he didn't want to tell them directly but wanted them to know or even to wonder- or maybe to bypass Abbie- she may have also had an unfavorable reaction to news such as this.
Or it could have been by way of a threat, which was mentioned above- we also don't know who the dear friend was who counseled the girls to ask for property once the part of the Fourth Street house was settled on Abbie.

Anyway, we can't discount that Andrew was thinking of finally making a charitable donation- that's not something anyone can prove.