Lamb v. Lamb
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• ERROR to the common pleas of Centre county. David Lamb, James Brown and wife, and others, children of Samuel Lamb, deceased, againsl John Beck, executor of Samuel Lamb, deceased. This was an amicable action, to determine the legal construction of the will of Samuel Lamb, in which the following case was stated.
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• ERROR to the common pleas of Centre county. David Lamb, James Brown and wife, and others, children of Samuel Lamb, deceased, againsl John Beck, executor of Samuel Lamb, deceased. This was an amicable action, to determine the legal construction of the will of Samuel Lamb, in which the following case was stated. On the 5th day of June 1819, Samuel Lamb, of Walker township, Centre county, Pennsylvania, made his last will and testament, and died on or about the 7th day of September 1819. He provided as follows, viz: “ I give and bequeath to my daughter Mary, a feather bed and bedstead, and…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Huston, J.
The chancery books are full of very nice distinctions, as to what words give a vested legacy; and the amount of the whole seems to be, that scarcely any form of expression can be used on whieh alone reliance can be placed. The whole will is to be taken into consideration, and the intention of the testator is to be gathered from it; and if that can be discovered, every rule of construction is to give way to it. The intention governs, unless it contradicts some better doctrine of the law.
One of the rules is, that where there is no substantive…
2Cited by4 opinions
- Gilliland v. BredinSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1870
- Bowman's AppealSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1859
- Owen v. EatonMissouri Court of Appeals · 1894
- Brady's EstatePennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County · 1943