Thy Will Be Undone

I said earlier that I had no evidence that Henry Chester was ever unkind to any of his own children. Well, now I do: he cut his eldest daughter, Mary Marchant, out of his will entirely.

As we know, Mary had died before her father, but she left at least one son, William Harvey Marchant. William thought the will unfair, so in November 1913 he filed suit in the Lake County superior court to contest it, seeking one-tenth of Henry Chester's estate — a good sum, since the estate totaled about $100,000 in real and personal property (and that's in 1913 dollars). According to the Hobart News, another plaintiff party to the suit was Martin Stroman, the son of Mrs. Etta Wood, who was the daughter of Henry Chester. This is the first I've heard of Henry's having a daughter named Etta, and I can find no mention of her in the census, Henry's biographical profile or any of the newspapers I've read thus far.

The News stated that Henry had made the will early in 1910. As we know, at that time he was already in failing health. William's suit alleged that the will was invalid because Henry had been "of unsound mind, and because the instrument was unduly executed and was procured by undue influence."

The suit was dismissed by the Lake County superior court on the grounds that the county circuit court (which had probated the will) had exclusive jurisdiction. William appealed that decision all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court, which in 1915 decided against him.

I don't know whether William ever got anything. On December 26, 1913, the Gazette announced: "The Henry Chester heirs on Wednesday satisfactorily closed the settlement of their remaining real estate interests and each received his and her respective share." That William was still appealing in 1915 suggests that the other heirs did not choose to allow him any part of the estate.

♦    ♦    ♦
Since Henry Chester's death, Chester news has been dominated by Jerome's antics. Let's look at what was going on among the more respectable Chesters.

In March 1911, the widowed Lovisa Nelson, who had been living in Chicago, rented a farm north of Ainsworth from her brother, Charles Chester. She moved her children there and operated the farm on shares. A couple years later, she bought out Charles' interest in the stock and equipment, thereafter operating the farm for herself and paying cash rent.

In the autumn of 1911, James Chester gave up farming. He rented out his farm, which sat along the county line north of Deep River; he sold off his livestock, wagons and farming equipment (along with 965 shocks of corn), and moved with his wife, Effie, to Water Street in Hobart. To the 1920 census taker, he would describe himself as a buyer and seller of stock (livestock, probably).

In May 1913, Charles and James bought out all the real estate holdings of their stepbrother John, consisting of 89 acres "east of the old homestead" as well as an interest in the original estate. I am not sure how John occupied himself after that. He apparently ran a feed mill at Ainsworth for a while, but Earl Blachly took over that in December. John also seems to have continued doing some farm work — in October he managed to get himself run over by a hay press, fortunately escaping without serious injury. ("John must have fallen asleep," joked the News. I have yet to account for the physical injuries described on John's World War I draft card.). John and Emma suffered a tragedy in September 1913 with the loss of their infant son, Otto.

Charles and Constance Chester continued farming. I get the impression that they were comfortable financially, and they seem to have recovered enough from the loss of their little daughter and infant son to be able to enjoy life. In August 1913 they set out in company with Sam Faulkner and his wife, Dr. Clara Faulkner, Mary Kipp and Bessie Banks on an extended auto tour to the east coast, Charles driving a Winton Six. Over three weeks they traveled to Niagara Falls, New York and other cities, and returned through the mountains of Pennsylvania — "a delightful trip."

Luella and Charles Olson remained in Fort Wayne, occasionally visiting back and forth with their Lake County relatives. Carrie and William Raschka were still pillars of the Ainsworth community.

And as for Mary E. Baird Chester, by November 1912 she had remarried. Her new husband was John A. McDaniel (or McDaniels; it appears both ways), and he is a mystery to me. I've not been able to find any record of the date or location of their marriage. Nor have I been able to find out where John came from or how they might have met.

Immediately after their marriage, they lived together in the old Chester house east of Ainsworth. In November 1913 they announced a public sale to be held there, at which they would sell "25 head of milch cows, a Holstein bull, 20 head of hogs, 10 head of work horses, 2,000 bushels of corn, about a hundred tons of baled hay, straw and fodder, farming tools and implements of every kind and nature, harnesses, gasoline engine, chickens and household and kitchen furniture." That sounded as if they intended to quit farming and move — and indeed, by August 1914 they were living on Devonshire Street in Hobart in a "large and commodious home."


(Click on image to enlarge)
Devonshire Street, from an undated postcard, but probably roughly the same era as the McDaniels' move. Image courtesy of the Hobart Historical Society.

Such was the description used by the Gazette in reporting on a lavish wedding hosted in the McDaniels' home in August 1914. The bride was a Chicago relative of Mary's, the groom an assistant manager in the Chicago office of the Heinz Pickle Co. The Rev. W.A. Howard of the Congregational Church officiated.

Miss Tillie Kucaba, chief operator at the telephone exchange, appeared at the piano and during her skillful execution of Mendelssohn's march the wedding party … proceeded to the large bay window of the front room, the contracting couple standing beneath a [huge] bell covered on top with lilies of the valley and beneath with carnations and red roses. … The bride was handsomely gowned in white crepe de chine with [tulle] veil and carried a shower [bouquet] of white roses and lilies of the valley. … After the hearty congratulations by the guests, the wedding party autoed to the Naumann studio where several sittings were made. … A sumptuous wedding dinner served in courses was greatly enjoyed …. The evening was passed in social enjoyments and singing and later by dancing. The hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. McDaniel seemed unbounded and they proved charming entertainers throughout. The festivities continued late into the night and most of the out of town guests remained over Sunday.

It sounds splendid (although perhaps we should bear in mind that among the guests as A.J. Smith, the Gazette's editor). It also sounds to me quite a contrast to the seemingly harried life Mary had been leading over the last few years — what with her husband's increasing irritability, her sons' misbehavior, and the daily pressures of managing a large farm household that included numerous hired workers, not to mention that deluge of bereavement during the spring of 1910. When I said, back in May, that Mary would find consolation in a second marriage, I was speaking conventionally, but perhaps it was truer than I suspected.



Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ "Additional Local News." Hobart Gazette 28 Mar. 1913; 9 May 1913; 26 Sept. 1913.
♦ "Big Wedding Celebration." Hobart Gazette 7 Aug. 1914.
♦ "Local Drifts." Hobart Gazette 3 Mar. 1911; 8 Mar. 1912; 26 Dec. 1913.
♦ "Marchant et al. v. Olson et al." The Northeastern Reporter, Volume 110. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1916.
♦ "Notice." Hobart Gazette 26 Dec. 1913.
♦ "Personal and Local Mention." Hobart News 14 Nov. 1912; 21 Aug. 1913; 9 Oct. 1913.
♦ "Public Sale." Hobart Gazette 27 Oct. 1911; 14 Nov. 1913.
♦ "Return From New York." Hobart Gazette 19 Sept. 1913.
♦ "The Henry Chester Estate Is In Court Once More." Hobart News 6 Nov. 1913.