Hitch v. Patten
Supreme Court of Delaware
Error to Superior Court, Sussex County. Ejectment by Spencer Hitch, John H. Hitch, Mary Collison, and Arcadia Postles, against Wellington Patten. The following will of Spencer Hitch, Sr., was admitted to probate, February 21, A. D. 1797 : Sussex County, State of Delaware.
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Error to Superior Court, Sussex County. Ejectment by Spencer Hitch, John H. Hitch, Mary Collison, and Arcadia Postles, against Wellington Patten. The following will of Spencer Hitch, Sr., was admitted to probate, February 21, A. D. 1797 : Sussex County, State of Delaware. In the name of God, Amen, this fifth day of February, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, I, Spencer Hitch, of the County and State afsd., being in a very low state of body, but of perfect mind and memory, and in my proper senses, thanks be to God, and calling to mind the mortality of my body, and knowing that it is…
1Opinion of the Court
Comegys, C. J.,
charged the jury as follows :
• “ This case presents one of those questions very difficult to deal with in controversies about title to land, as many of such grow out of the ignorance of men who either will draw their own wills and testaments, or employ some one to do it pretending to knowledge of such business, but having none, or very little. The question is the old one of the effect of other parts of a will to interpret the language of a testator which, taken by itself, would need no interpretation at all. It is a well-established rule of law that a devise to one of a certain…
2Cases cited10 opinions
- Metcalf v. First Parish in FraminghamMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1880
- Wright v. Denn Ex Rel. PageSupreme Court of the United States · 1825
- Shelton v. AlcoxSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1836
- Jackson ex dem. Decker v. MerrillNew York Supreme Court · 1810
- Cook v. HolmesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1814
5 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.
3Cited by2 opinions
- Truitt v. FaheySuperior Court of Delaware · 1902
- Thomas v. GatesCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit · 1929