BOUDINOT v. Bradford
Supreme Court of the United States
THIS was a feigned issue, directed by the Register, &c. of Philadelphia, to try, whether a Will dated the 27th April 1788, and republished on the 18th of October ensuing, in which the plaintiffs were named executors, was the last will of Win. Bradford, Esquire, the deceased brother of the defendant, who claimed as in a case of intestacy. In the course of the trial, the following points were ruled.
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THIS was a feigned issue, directed by the Register, &c. of Philadelphia, to try, whether a Will dated the 27th April 1788, and republished on the 18th of October ensuing, in which the plaintiffs were named executors, was the last will of Win. Bradford, Esquire, the deceased brother of the defendant, who claimed as in a case of intestacy. In the course of the trial, the following points were ruled. I. The execution of the Will having been proved, the defendant's counsel offered Dr. Rush as a witness, to testify, that the deceased, during his last illness, had said, that he had destroyed his…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court:
Whether Mr. Bradford made a second Will, and afterwards cancelled it, are matters of fact, to be substantially and satisfactorily proved to the Jury. Being so proved, another object is contemplated, which, likewise, assumes the nature of a fast, whether by cancelling the second Will, the deceased meant to revive the former instrument, or to the intestate; and we are at a loss to conceive how such a meaning (which it is unreasonable to expect to find in writing) should be ascertained, but by the testimony of witnesses. The evidence, indeed, will not go directly to destroy an…
2Cited by11 opinions
- Sheehan v. KearneyMississippi Supreme Court · 1903
- Pickens v. DavisMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1883
- Aldrich v. AldrichMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1913
- In re Valentine's WillWisconsin Supreme Court · 1896
- Lasier v. WrightIllinois Supreme Court · 1922
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