Legal Opinion
Germain v. Baltes
Illinois Supreme Court
Decided January 22, 1885PublishedCited by 5 opinions
Writ of Error to the Circuit Court of St. Clair county; the Hon. Amos Watts, Judge, presiding. This was a bill in equity, by the heirs of Catharine Agnes Germain, to set aside the will of the latter, on the ground the testatrix was of unsound mind, and undue influence, and also on the ground that a devise of land to a religious corporation, of more than ten acres, is void. The circuit court refused to set aside the will or the devise in trust.
1Opinion of the CourtChief Justice Scholfield
The will of Catharine Agnes Germain is as follows:
“In the name of God, Amen. I, Catharine Agnes Germain, being infirm of body but of sound and disposing mind and memory, and being especially desirous to aid, as far as I can, in the erection and maintenance of an orphan asylum in the city of Belleville, in the State of Illinois, do make and ordain this my last will and testament. I give and bequeath and devise unto the Right-Reverend Peter Joseph Baltes, Roman Catholic Bishop of Alton, in his individual capacity, upon the trusts and for the uses and purposes hereinafter mentioned, all my real…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Baker v. CopenbargerIllinois Supreme Court · 1853
- Heuser v. HarrisIllinois Supreme Court · 1867
- St. Peter's Roman Catholic Congregation v. GermainIllinois Supreme Court · 1882
3Cited by5 opinions
- Hays v. HarrisWest Virginia Supreme Court · 1913
- Rine v. WagnerSupreme Court of Iowa · 1907
- Alden v. St. Peter's ParishIllinois Supreme Court · 1895
- Crerar v. WilliamsAppellate Court of Illinois · 1892
- Johnson v. PendarvisAppellate Court of Illinois · 1927