Lewis v. Douglass

• Decision Date: 31 December 1884
• Parties: PHEBE L. LEWIS v. ALLEN S. DOUGLASS.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

14 R.I. 604

PHEBE L. LEWIS v. ALLEN S. DOUGLASS.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

December 31, 1884

Patent ambiguities in a will must be solved by construction, not by evidence.

Hence the declarations of a testator to the scrivener of the will are not admissible to explain conflicting provisions of the will itself.

Testamentary disposition as follows:

" 1. I give, devise, and bequeath to my wife P.... the privilege of the south half of the house, and also the south garden, and also the keeping of a cow the year round, and also all the household furniture, for her own personal benefit during her natural life or widowhood....

2. I give and bequeath to my wife P., after all my just debts and funeral charges are paid, all of my remaining property during her natural life and widowhood....

3. I … do appoint B. executor of my last will and testament, to dispose of all my real and personal property that I am possessed of at my decease, and what remains of that property to be divided equally between my three sons M., D., and B.

Held, that clause 2 did not cover the house and homestead estate mentioned in clause 1.

Held, further, that clause 3 was to be construed simply as a general residuary clause affecting property not disposed of in the preceding clauses.

PLAINTIFF'S petition for a new trial.

Thomas H. Peabody, for plaintiff.

Nathan F. Dixon, for defendant.

MATTESON J.

This was an action of trespass and ejectment to recover possession of a tract of land, situated partly in Hopkinton and partly in Exeter, being the homestead estate of Moses B. Lewis deceased. The writ was dated the 2d day of January, 1883. The defendant pleaded: first, freehold in himself; second, not guilty. The plaintiff joined issue on both pleas.

The plaintiff is the widow of Moses B. Lewis, and claimed title to the tract under his will. The portions of this will material to the present inquiry are the following, namely:

" 1. I give, devise, and bequeath to my wife Phebe L. Lewis the interest of twenty six hundred dollars in the First National Bank in Hopkinton, R.I., and also the privilege of the south half of the house, and also the south garden, and also the keeping of a cow the year round, and barn room for the cow, and also all the household furniture, for her own personal benefit during her natural life or widowhood.... Also the wood for one fire prepared for the stove. 2. I give and bequeath to my wife Phebe L. Lewis, after all

my just debts and funeral charges are paid, all of my remaining property during her natural life and widowhood.

3. I, Moses B. Lewis, do appoint Benjamin T. Lewis executor of my last will and testament, to dispose of all of my real and personal property that I am possessed of at my decease, and what remains of that property to be divided equally between my three sons, Moses D. Lewis, Daniel C. Lewis, and Benjamin T. Lewis."

The defendant claimed title to the tract sued for under a deed from the above named Moses D. Lewis and Benjamin T. Lewis, dated the 9th day of December, 1882. This deed reserved " for the use of Phebe L. Lewis, during the term of her natural life, the south half of the dwelling house on said premises, the south garden, and room in the barn to keep a cow, as provided in the last will and testament of said Moses B. Lewis, deceased," and also contained a covenant on the part of the defendant with the makers, and particularly with Benjamin T. Lewis, executor of said will, that he would furnish to Phebe L. Lewis, during her natural life, the fire wood sufficient for one fire, cut and split, and delivered at the door, ready for use, and would also furnish her, for the same time, the fodder and feed for keeping one cow, according to the provisions of said will.

At the trial, the plaintiff claimed, and put in evidence tending to prove, that she was in possession of all the premises described in the writ and declaration on the 16th day of December, 1882, and that on that date she was ejected therefrom and dispossessed thereof by the defendant, who had since been in the occupation and possession of the same, and had kept her out of the possession thereof. It also appeared in evidence, and was not disputed, that the testator at the execution of his will and at his death was the owner in fee of several farms, with houses, gardens, barns, and other buildings thereon. The plaintiff offered to prove by Stanton Austin, of Hopkinton, that he wrote the said last will and testament, at the request of the testator, on the day it was executed, namely, July 20, 1871, and also what the testator meant by the clause therein, as follows: " I give and bequeath to my wife Phebe L. Lewis, after all my just debts and funeral charges are paid, all of my remaining property during her natural life and widowhood," in the connection in which the same was used in said will, and also to prove by said witness that there was in reality no conflict in the provisions of said will, understanding them as the testator did, so far as the plaintiff was affected thereby; and also to explain by said witness the latent ambiguities in said provision of...