Weeks v. . Cornwell
New York Court of Appeals
Appeal from order of the General Term of the Supreme Court, in the first judicial department, made May 4, 1886, denying a motion for a new trial, made pursuant to section 1001 of the Code of Civil Procedure, after entry of an interlocutory judgment. This action was for partition. Jacob Weeks died in the city of Mew York on the 9th day of September, 1881, leaving a widow, a will, a large amount of real and personal property and no descendants.
Read the full summary
Appeal from order of the General Term of the Supreme Court, in the first judicial department, made May 4, 1886, denying a motion for a new trial, made pursuant to section 1001 of the Code of Civil Procedure, after entry of an interlocutory judgment. This action was for partition. Jacob Weeks died in the city of Mew York on the 9th day of September, 1881, leaving a widow, a will, a large amount of real and personal property and no descendants. ITis widow died on the 7th day of April, 1882; both he and she were, at death, upwards of eighty years old. In his will, which was dated May 9, 1881, he…
1Opinion of the CourtEarl, J.
This appeal imposes upon us the difficult duty of construing the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth clauses of this will. These clauses were drawn with great unskillfulness and carelessness, and thus their meaning is very obscure and uncertain. As they concern and attempt to dispose of a very large amount of property, they must have been the subject of some deliberation, and the testator evidently had some meaning which is embodied, however inaptly, in the language used. What that meaning is, it is for us to ascertain, if we can. If it is unaseertainable, the case is the same as if no attempt had…
2Cited by34 opinions
- Robinson v. . MartinNew York Court of Appeals · 1910
- Stratton v. C. H. Nichols Lumber Co.Washington Supreme Court · 1905
- People v. ByrdIllinois Supreme Court · 1911
- Flynn v. HolmanSupreme Court of Iowa · 1903
- Meyer v. . CahenNew York Court of Appeals · 1888
29 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.