132 Ga. 452 | Ga. | 1909
Mary L. Black, in her own right and as guardian for her children, Kathleen and Elizabeth B. Black, filed a petition for partition against J. A. Nolan and Mattie E. Nolan. John T.‘Wilcox and Dannie C. Doane were made parties ,to the proceeding. The question at issue was as to the interest that Eliza R. Swift had
The will of John D. Swift, who died in 1841, in so far as is here material, was as follows: “Item 1. It is my will that my wife, ‘Mary Ann Swift, and my children, namely, Eudoxus S. Swift, Virginia A. Swift, John Augustin Swift, Eliza R. Swift, Caroline E. Swift, and Susan Young Swift, shall share an equal proportion of my estate, after my wife, Mary Ann Swift, and John A. Swift, Eliza R'. Swift, Caroline E. Swift, and Susan Young Swift shall have a sufficient sum of money or property out of my estate to make them equal to the amount willed Eudoxus S. Swift and Virginia Ann Swift by their grandfather, Major John Floyd, deceased, after said property shall be appraised, left Eudoxus S. Swift and Virginia Ann Swift by John Floyd, deceased; it being my desire to place them all on an equality. Item 2. It is my will that my wife remain on the place of residence where I now reside, during her life or widowhood, and, in case she marries, for .her to receive a child’s part.” The land mentioned in item 2 is that for which a partition was sought. The testator’s widow, who never remarried, lived on the land until about 1848, and her tenants thereafter occupied it until 1852, when she conveyed all her interest in the land to William H. Brooks. She died in 1907. The respondents claim under Mary Ann Swift, the widow of the testator, and his children mentioned in the first item of the will, other than Eliza R. Swift. Mary L. Black and her children, as descendants of Eliza R. Swift, claim only the share of Eliza R. in the land, and respondents do not claim this share, nor any part of the same. So the question is, did Eliza R., under the will of her father, John D. Swift, take .a one-sixth or a one-seventh interest in the land in question ? The answer to that question depends upon what interest the will gave to the widow in this land. It is quite clear from the first item of the will that the intention of the testator was that his widow and his six named children should each have an equal share or interest in his whole estate, after the widow and four named children should each receive therefrom an amount
The contention is made in behalf of the plaintiffs in error that several of the deeds under which defendants in error hold recognize the interest of each of the testator’s children in the land as-being a one-sixth, and that the deeds which placed the title in the defendants in error finally described their interest as -a five-sixths