Ellis v. Wadleigh

Gardner Fletcher died December 6, 1923, leaving an estate appraised at $21,852.62 to his wife, Verbena Fletcher. Mrs. Fletcher, then about sixty-six or sixty-seven years of age, continued to live in the family home at Puyallup.

At her invitation and insistence, her sister, May Ellis, some two years her junior, came from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the early part of 1924, to live with her. The two sisters lived together for slightly more than sixteen years, with Miss Ellis picking berries and fruit, taking care of ducks and chickens, doing housework, and performing personal services for Mrs.…