Benson v. Custer

Two farms in the same township are involved in this suit: one of two hundred forty acres in Section 21; the other of one hundred sixty acres in Section 34. We shall hereafter refer to them merely by section numbers.

Both farms belonged to Matthew Custer, Sr. at the time of his death in 1927. He devised them to his son, John T. Custer, for life with remainder to John’s two children, plaintiff Helen Benson and Dr. M. L. Custer, now deceased, late of St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Custer is sometimes referred to in the record as Lee Custer, also known as Matthew L. Custer.

Upon the death of their…