249 Pa. 115 | Pa. | 1915
Opinion by
James White, a citizen of Clinton County in this State, died 5th March, 1855. By his last will, after giving to his widow, Olivia P., all of his furniture and household property absolutely, he directed that she should take, receive and enjoy the rents and income of all the remaining part of his estate, real and personal, so long as she remained his widow. Power was given the executors of the will, upon request of the widow to sell and dispose of any part of the estate, the proceeds of any such sale to be invested in real estate securities, the interest on the same to be paid to the widow during her life or widowhood, and upon the death of the widow the entire estate was given to an only son, Joseph Jackman White.. Certain provisions followed defining and determining the widow’s share in case of her remarriage, and making ultimate disposition of the estate in case of the death of the son before that of the widow, and the latter’s remarriage. The son died unmarried and intestate at Jamesville, Wisconsin, 26th December, 1882; the widow never remarried and died at Jamesville 21st November, 1910. At the death of the widow nothing remained of the estate of James White, her husband, but $5,000 secured by a mortgage on a certain property in Lock Haven, which had been, owned by James White, but which had been sold by his executor to one R. W. McCormick. The mortgage
Instead of deciding the issue raised by the pleadings, the learned judge of the Orphans’ Court addressed himself to a consideration of the will of James White, deceased, and arriving at the same conclusion with respect to its meaning and legal effect as led to the confirmation of the auditor’s report, namely, that the gift to Joseph Jackman White, through whom the petitioner claims, was contingent on conditions that had never been fulfilled, he accordingly directed a discharge of the rule, leaving the question of fraud in connection with the settlement of the account and the auditor’s report undecided. It is from this order and decree that the appeal has been taken and the assignments of error raise no other question than the correctness of the court’s ruling with respect to the proper construction of James White’s will. These assignments overlook the fact, or at least do not give it its legal effect, that the confirma