Hearing in probate court on a codicil to James Dixon's will

10/10/1888 |

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Harrison B. Freeman presided at a hearing this morning on the application of James W. Dixon for the probate of the codicil to the will of James Dixon.

More details

According to James W. Dixon’s application,

The original will of James Dixon bequeathed certain real estate that James Dixon then sold for $15,000, prior to his death.
Following James Dixon’s death, James W. Dixon filed a lawsuit through W. Eaton and S. F. Jones, his attorneys at the time, in order to break the will.
The suit was settled for $13,910, an amount that subsequently was increased to $15,000.
In 1886, Henry K. Morgan sent a copy of a codicil to James W. Dixon, in which James Dixon directed that James W. Dixon should have the use and benefit of the proceeds of the land that had been willed to him and that James Dixon had then sold.
James W. Dixon asserted that the $15,000 he received under the prior lawsuit had been given to him as an inducement to withdraw his suit and that, therefore, he is still entitled to $15,000 bequeathed him by the codicil.
Although the probate court accepted James Dixon’s will in 1873, James W. Dixon maintained that a law passed by the General Assembly in 1884 extended the time he had to contest the will.

According to the demurrer of Elizabeth Dixon and Clementine Dixon Welling,

The statute of limitation on probating a will, which was 10 years, had expired
The statute of limitation had expired prior to the enactment of the law passed by the General Assembly, and so did not apply in this case.
The codicil in question had been filed in probate court more than 10 years ago, a fact that James W. Dixon was aware of.
James W. Dixon offered no reason or excuse as to why he did not attempt to prove the codicil during the ten years it sat in the probate court.

Harrison B. Freemen adjourned the hearing and reserved his decision.

And then there's this

B. F. Watson represented James W. Dixon.
The firm of Hyde, Gross & Hyde represented Elizabeth L. Dixon and Clementine L. D. Welling.

The past recalled

James Dixon died on March 27, 1873.

The future foretold

Harrison Freeman will render his decision on December 7, 1888.

Neat little tidbit

James W. Dixon’s first attorneys, W. W. Eaton and S. F Jones, were likely William W. Eaton and definitely Samuel F. Jones:

William W. Eaton was, like James Dixon, a US Senator, but unlike Dixon, Eaton was a Democrat.
Samuel F. Jones was also a Democrat, and he was Dixon’s neighbor, living across the intersection of Sigourney and Farmington from him.

James W. Dixon’s attorney for this lawsuit, B. F. Watson, was from New York, which is where James W. Dixon currently resided.

For the record

James W. Dixon was James Dixon’s Elizabeth Dixon and Clementine Dixon Welling were James Dixon’s daughters, and James W. Dixon’s sisters.
Henry K. Morgan lived on Farmington Avenue, and although he was not related to P. Morgan, he lived in J. P. Morgan’s childhood home.

Sources

Unattributed. “James Dixon’s will,” Hartford Courant, October 11, 1888, page 8.

James Dixon

History

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