[37] 2 R. S. 60.
[38] Civil Code, 1289-90.
[39] Code, lib. 6, tit. 21.
[40] Leathers v. Greenacre, 53 Maine 561.
[41] 2 Curteis 339.
[42] 4 Bradf. 154.
[43] Such a will is valid in California, Louisiana, Tennessee, and North Carolina. In the case of Clarke v. Ransome, decided in the Supreme Court, California, October, 1875, the following document was on this ground held to be testamentary in its character:
“Dear Old Nance:—I wish to give you my watch, two shawls, and also $5,000.
Your old friend, E. A. Gordon.”
It appeared in evidence that for some years Mrs. Gordon and Miss Ransome, who was the person meant by “dear old Nance,” had been on terms of intimacy. Mrs. Gordon had previously executed a will, by which she had devised to her brother the whole of the estate, with the exception of several specific legacies, one of which was to Miss Ransome for $1,000. It further appeared that after the will had been duly made and executed, Mrs. Gordon desired to make a further provision for Miss Ransome, and for that purpose drew up, wholly in her own handwriting, and delivered to Miss Ransome, the paper above propounded as a will. The court held that this paper should be admitted to probate as a testamentary instrument; but against this Chief Justice Wallace gave a dissenting opinion, on the ground that the paper was the mere expression of a wish, and was not intended by the decedent to operate as a will.