Johnson v. Morton
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
In error from the Common Pleas of Chester. April 12. Case stated. Morton died in 1820, having made a will as follows:— “First, it is my will that all my just debts and funéral expenses be fully paid by my executors herein appointed.
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In error from the Common Pleas of Chester. April 12. Case stated. Morton died in 1820, having made a will as follows:— “First, it is my will that all my just debts and funéral expenses be fully paid by my executors herein appointed. “ I devise and bequeath to my well-beloved wife Elizabeth Morton all this my plantation whereon I now dwell, with the improvements and appurtenances thereunto belonging (excepting such part as shall be hereafter mentioned), to-have and to hold during her natural life, and at her decease to descend to my three daughters, Mary, Phebe, and Lydia Morton, or the…
1Opinion of the CourtRogers, J.
It is the cardinal rule in the construction of wills, that the intention of the testator — to be collected from the whole instrument, or, as it is sometimes expressed, from its four corners — is to govern. But this must be the legal intention, to discover which, certain legal rules are firmly established, from which we are not at liberty now to depart. The rule is, as expressed by the Chief Justice in Steele v. Thompson, 14 S. & R. 88, that, when a devise is made in words, from which the law implies an estate for life, and no words of limitation are added, the devisee can take only an estate…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Morrison v. SempleSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1813
- Lessee of Hauer v. SheetzSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1807
- Holmes v. Lessee of HolmesSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1812
3Cited by11 opinions
- Chandler v. WoelpperSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1889
- Hood's EstateSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1936
- Metzgar EstateSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1959
- In re TwaddellDistrict Court, D. Delaware · 1901
- Bumm's EstateSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1931
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