Eby's Appeal
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Appeal from the Orphans’- Court of Cumberland county. This was an appeal by Benjamin Eby and others, children of Samuel Eby, deceased, from the decree of the Orphans’ Court in the matter of the estate of Christian Wisler, deceased.
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Appeal from the Orphans’- Court of Cumberland county. This was an appeal by Benjamin Eby and others, children of Samuel Eby, deceased, from the decree of the Orphans’ Court in the matter of the estate of Christian Wisler, deceased. On the 11th of April 1864, Benjamin Eby, Elizabeth Eberly, and Barbara Kurtz presented their petition to the Orphans’ Court, setting forth that they were the children of Samuel Eby, deceased, who was the uncle of Christian Wisler, deceased; that Christian Wisler died 1st May 1862, leaving a widow, Maria Wisler, no issue, but collateral heirs and distributees, viz.:…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, by
Thompson, J.
The general rule of construction requires that where the word “ heir” is used in a will, it is to be understood in its legal and technical sense, unless there be something to show that it is used in a more enlarged and popular sense: Porter’s Appeal, 9 Wright 201.
*314Applying this rule to the case in hand, we must believe that the testator, when he said that after the death of his wife all his estate “ shall go to and descend upon those persons who may be my heirs and distributees according to the law of the land,” he meant his heirs in the…
2Cited by3 opinions
- Webb's EstateSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1915
- Beck's EstateSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1909
- Brooks v. ParksMichigan Supreme Court · 1915