Smith v. Fenner
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Rhode Island
This was a real action, to recover an undivided seventh part of certain parcels of land, described in the declaration. The title of the plaintiff [Freelove Smith] was derived from Arthur Fenner, senior, who was her father, and grandfather of the defendant, and who died on the 28th Jan., 1788. The defendant claimed the property by title by descent from his father, the late Governor Arthur Fenner, who claimed it by a devise from his father, the said Arthur Fenner, senior,…
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This was a real action, to recover an undivided seventh part of certain parcels of land, described in the declaration. The title of the plaintiff [Freelove Smith] was derived from Arthur Fenner, senior, who was her father, and grandfather of the defendant, and who died on the 28th Jan., 1788. The defendant claimed the property by title by descent from his father, the late Governor Arthur Fenner, who claimed it by a devise from his father, the said Arthur Fenner, senior, under a will of the testator made in March, 1781, and proved 4th Feb., 1788. The will was attempted to be impeached, 1st, as…
1Opinion of the Court
BY THE COURT.
The declarations of the testator, made before and at the execution of the will, are admissible in evidence, to prove the point. And so declarations made after the execution of the will, if so near the time of the execution, as to be considered a part of the res gestae or necessarily connected with it. See Richards v. Dutch, 8 Mass. 507. But I shall not admit any other subsequent declarations of the testator, because *547such declarations are of the nature of hearsay, and have never been held admissible in any case, which is within my recollection. The nature of such evidence is…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Guild v. CranstonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1851
3Cited by12 opinions
- Waterman v. . WhitneyNew York Court of Appeals · 1854
- Kennedy's Heirs v. Kennedy's HeirsSupreme Court of Alabama · 1841
- Patterson v. HickeySupreme Court of Georgia · 1861
- Hoitt v. HoittSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1885
- Collagan v. BurnsSupreme Judicial Court of Maine · 1867
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