“I give, bequeath and devise unto my beloved wife, Anna Louisa, all my property and estate, real, personal and mixed of every description and wherever situated, and appoint her the sole executrix hereof without bond, surety or undertaking.
“In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of August, 1889.
“John J. Ingalls.”
Will of Washington Irving
Washington Irving died November 28, 1859.
The following is an abstract of his will, which was drawn by himself. It bears date the 3rd day of December, 1858, not quite a year before his death. He declared his general intention to be, to dispose of all his estate so that it might be, as far as possible, kept together as a maintenance for his brother Ebenezer and his daughters, who had been accustomed to reside with him, to enable them to live with the same degree of comfort and in the same respectable style they had been accustomed to under his roof.
He gives to his nephew, Pierre Munro Irving, the copyright of his “Life of Washington,” with the stereotype and electrotype plates which had been executed for the same, and the plates engraved for its illustration, together with the printed copies of the work that might have been stricken off, leaving him to do with the copyright, types, etc., what he might think proper for his pecuniary benefit. He bequeaths to him, also, all his letters and unpublished manuscripts.
All the rest of his personal estate, he gives to his brother Ebenezer for his life; and, on his death, to his daughters, then surviving him and unmarried. The will then proceeds:
“Second. I give and devise my land and dwelling house in Westchester County, which I have called ‘Sunnyside,’ to my brother, Ebenezer Irving, for his life. On his death, I give the same in fee to his daughters or daughter surviving him, and unmarried; trusting they will endeavor, as I have endeavored, to make this homestead a rallying point, where the various branches of the family connection may always be sure of a cordial welcome.
“I trust, also, they will never sell nor devise this particular property out of the family—though circumstances may render it expedient or necessary for them to rent it out or lease it for a term; but it is my wish that the last survivor of those to whom I thus bequeath my estate will, in turn, bequeath it entire to some meritorious member of the family bearing the family name, so that ‘Sunnyside’ may continue to be, as long as possible, an Irving homestead.