Ancient, Curious, and Famous Wills

ANCIENT, CURIOUS AND FAMOUS WILLS

“A truce to jesting; let me have a confessor to confess me, and a notary to make my will.
BY VIRGIL M. HARRIS MEMBER OF THE SAINT LOUIS BAR, LECTURER ON WILLS IN THE SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LAW, TRUST OFFICER OF THE MERCANTILE TRUST COMPANY OF SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI, AND AUTHOR OF “THE TRUST COMPANY OF TO-DAY,” ETC.
“The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave, Await alike the inevitable hour: The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”
BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1911 Copyright, 1911, By Little, Brown, and Company. All rights reserved. Printed by C. H. Simonds &. Co. Boston, U. S. A. TO THE LATE HONORABLE JACOB KLEIN OF SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI WHOSE LONG AND USEFUL CAREER AT THE BAR AND WHOSE STERLING CHARACTER, LEARNING AND WISDOM ENTITLE HIS NAME TO A PLACE IN THE GALAXY OF GREAT AMERICAN LAWYERS THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED
“Let’s choose executors, and talk of wills; And yet not so,—for what can we bequeath, Save our deposed bodies to the ground?”
An addition to the fifteen millions of books of which the world is now possessed demands an explanation, if not an apology.
In my experience as a lecturer on the Law of Wills, and in the practical administration of estates controlled by wills, in which I have been engaged for many years, it has been a subject of surprise to me that no one in America has seriously undertaken the collection of curious and famous wills. It has occurred to me that I might discharge the duty which every lawyer owes to his profession by making such a collection. The subject is very comprehensive, and the material required has been obtained, in most instances, from the original records of Probate and Court Registers in various parts of the world, by exhaustive research in libraries at home and abroad, and by reference to magazine and newspaper files.
It has been my effort to select from this collection the wills which appeared most interesting and entertaining. I recognize quite fully the wisdom of Lord Coke’s remark, that