Armstrong v. Lear

[Lex Loci. Probate or Testamentary Paper.'] -A testamentary paper executed in a foreign country, even if executed so as to give it the effect of a last will and testament by the foreign law, cannot be made the foundation of a suit for a legacy in. the Courts of this country, until it has received prohate here, in the Court having the peculiar jurisdiction of the probate of wills and other testamentary matters.

■ APPEAL from the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia. The bill, filed on.the..Chanc,ery side of the Circuit Court, stated, that Thaddeus Kosciuszko, on the 5th of May, 1798, placed a fund in the hands of Thomas Jefferson, and executed a will, as follows : “ I, Thaddeus Kosciuszko; being just on my departure from America, do hereby declare and direct, that, should I make no other testamentary disposition óf my property in the United States, 1 hereby authorize my friend, Thomas Jefferson, to employ the whole thereof in purchasing negroes, from among his own, or any others, and giving them liberty in my name, in giving them an education in trade or otherwise, and in having them instructed for their new .condition in the duties of morality, which may make them good neighbours, good fathers or moders, husbands or wives, in their duty as citizens, teaching them to be defenders of their liberty and country, and of the good order of society, and in whatsoever may make them happy and useful. And I make the said Thomas Jefferson my executor of this. (Signed,) T. Kosciuszko. 5 May, 1798.” The bill further stated, that the said Kosciuszko, about the 18th of June, 1806, being then domiciled in Paris, executed a certain will or writing testamentary, as follows: “ Know all men by these presents, that I, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, formerly an officer of the United States of America, in their revolutionary war against Great Britain, and a native of Liloane, in Poland, at present residing at Paris, do hereby will and direct, that, at my decease, the sum of 3,704 dollars, current money bf the aforesaid United States, shall of right be possessed by, and delivered over to the full enjoyment and use of Kosciuszko Armstrong, the son of General John Armstrong, Minister Plenipotentiary of the said States at Paris; for the security and performance •whereof, Í do hereby instruct and authorize my only lawful executor in the United States, Thomas Jefferson, President thereof, to reserve, in trust for that' special purpose, of the funds he already holds belonging to me, the aforesaid sum of 3,704 dollars in principal, to be paid by him, the said Thomas Jefferson, immediately after my decease, to him, the said Kosciuszko Armstrong, and in case of his death, to the use and benefit of his surviving brother. Given under my hand and seal, at Paris, this 28th day of June, Í806. “ (Signed,) Tháddeüs Kosciuszko. [Seal.]. In presence of ^Signed.) Chardes Carter. James M. Morris.» That the said testator, on the day of the date of said writing, signed and' sealed it in presence of two competent witnesses, who attested the same, and acknowledged it on the same day, as his act and deed, before Futwar Skipwith, commercial agent, and agent for prize causes for the said United States at Paris, and delivered it to the said John Armstrong. That the complainant is advised that the said paper is a last will and testament, and must operate as such, and revokes,pro tanto, the bequests and appropriation made in the will first mentioned. That General Kosciuszko died the 15th of October, 1817, leaving said testament unrevoked. That said Jefferson refused to take letters-testamentary under said will, and that the defendant was duly appointed administrator with the will annexed; that the eState has come to his hands, and that he has been often re- . quested to pay to complainant the 3,704 dollars aforesaid, with interest, and refuses to pay until an order or decree of this Court in the premises. The oill prayed for a discovery of the funds in defendant’s hands, and whether the said writiug made at Paris is authentic, and payment of said legacy with interest, and for general relief. The answer of the defendant admitted that he was administrator with the will annexed of General Kosciuszko, and that the instrument mentioned in complainant’s bill, and exhibited with it, was executed and acknowledged as it purports to be, and that said Kosciuszko was at the time domiciled and resident at Paris; but submitted whether he was bound to pay said legacy upon an instrument so executed and acknowledged, inasmuch as Mr. Jefferson received a letter from General Kosciuszko dated as late as the 15th of September, 1817, in which he thus affirms his first will. “ After my death you know its invariable destination,” (speaking of this fund.) The answer admitted, that Mr. Jefferson renounced, and the defendant was appointed, administrator with the will annexed, as stated in the bill. The defendant admitted funds to have come to his hands to an , amount larger than stated in the bill. The answer further stated, thgt among the papers received by the defendant from Mr. Jefferson, is a letter from Mr. Política to said Jefferson, enclosing a despatch from the ViceRoi of Poland to him, by which it appears that the whole estate of said Kosciuszko may hereafter be claimed by a Major Es'tko, as the heir at law of said Kosciuszko 5 that there were also two letters from a Mr. Zeltnerto Mr. Jefferson, by which it appears that Kosciuszko had disposed of the greater part of his fortune in favour of the children and other relations of Zeltner. The cause was set down for a hearing in the Court below upon the bill and answer, and a pro forma decree dismissing the bill was entered by consent, and an appeal taken to this Court.