Bradfords v. Kents
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Common Pleas of Greene county. This was an action of dower unde nihil habet, brought by Jesse Kent and Hannah his wife, late widow of Henry Bradford, deceased, for the use of said Hannah, against Samuel Bradford and John Bradford, to recover her dower in two hundred acres of land in Whitely township.
Read the full summary
Error to the Common Pleas of Greene county. This was an action of dower unde nihil habet, brought by Jesse Kent and Hannah his wife, late widow of Henry Bradford, deceased, for the use of said Hannah, against Samuel Bradford and John Bradford, to recover her dower in two hundred acres of land in Whitely township. To a declaration in the usual form the defendant pleaded, first, that Henry Bradford was the owner of the land out of which the dower is claimed, and had died seised thereof, and that by his will he had devised certain property to said Hannah, in lieu tf dower, which she accepted.…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered at Philadelphia, by
Strong, J.
The first assignment of error presents the question whether a widow, electing not to take a devise, or a bequest under the will of her husband, can maintain a common law action against his devisees to recover dower out of the lands *477devised to them, of which he died seised and in possession. It is insisted by the plaintiffs in error that her remedy is exclusively in the Orphans’ Court. The argument is, not that any Act of Assembly has expressly taken away from the Courts of Common Pleas jurisdiction in such a case, but that a…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Leinaweaver v. StoeverSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1841
- Kelly v. MahanSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1799
3Cited by7 opinions
- Tolley v. PoteetWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1907
- Estate of CunninghamSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1890
- Cooley v. HoustonSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1911
- Daub's EstateSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1931
- Melot's EstateSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1911
2 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.