Dunford v. Jackson's Ex'rs
Dunford v. Jackson's Ex'rs
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This is an appeal from a decree of the circuit court of Wythe county construing the will of George Jackson, deceased. The will provides for certain general pecuniary legacies to children and grandchildren, and a demonstrative legacy to the widow and to some of the children and -grandchildren of the testator, about which there is no contest. Therefore the contest over the will arises out of the following portions of the first and ninth clauses, to wit: ‘ ‘Clause 1st: I give and bequeath to my beloved wife the lands and appurtenances situated thereon on which I now reside, known as the ‘Home Tract, ’ and also a portion of the tract known as the ‘Porter Tract, ’ to be divided by a line commencing at the drawbars on the Grayson Sulphur Spring road on the east side, by a straight line to a hickory tree near the line fence; to be hers during her natural life? and at her death to be divided equally between my two sons, John S. and James M. Jackson. It is my wish that all of the personal property on my farm at the time of my death, including farming implements of all kinds, horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs shall be included in the devise to my wife and two sons, John S. and James M. Jackson.” “ Clause 9th. * * * It is my wish that my executors hereinafter named shall have full power to sell and convey what land I own on Brushy creek, in Carroll county, Ya., and the remainder of my Porter tract of land, near Ivanhoe furnace, and out of the proceeds of sale of same to pay over to my beloved wife the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars, to be hers absolutely, to dispose of in such
The only error assigned by appellants, which, if error, in the court below, could affect the interests of appellants is in construing the first clause of the will so as to give to the widow for life, with remainder to John S. and James M. Jackson, that portion of the Porter place on the east adjoining the home place, it being contended that there is nothing in the record to show any intention on the part of the testator to devise that portion of the Porter tract to the widow, and that, therefore, the court should have directed an issue, and called for proof, to ascertain what was the intention of the testator in this particular. As it is admitted in the record that the Porter tract of land adjoins the home place on the east and the lands of the Ivanhoe furnace on the west, we are of opinion that the plain meaning and intent of the first part of the fii'st clause of the will is that the home place, and that portion of the Porter place adjoining the home place and between the line indicated by the testator and the home place, is devised to the widow for life, with remainder in fee to John S. and James M. Jackson, and that by the latter part of this clause all the personal chattels on the home place, including grain harvested in the testator’s lifetime, household and kitchen furniture, hay, grain in barns and cribs, live stock of every description, farming utensils and implements of all kinds, are by the will bequeathed to the widow for her natural life, with remainder in absolute ownership to the said John S. and James M. Jackson. It is much more reasonable to construe the language of the will to mean that the testator’s widow takes the portion of the Porter tract adjoining the home place than that it was intended to give her the portion separated from the home
Reference
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