2 U.S.

286
2 Dall. 286
1 L.Ed. 384

Lawson, Appellant
v.
Morrison, et. al. Appellees
High Court of Errors and Appeals of Pennsylvania
July Session, 1792
1

Appeal from a sentence of the Register of Wills &c. and two justices of the
Common Pleas for the County of Cumberland. The case had been argued in
July 1789, (before the present organization of the Judiciary Department under
the existing Constitution) and afterwards in October 1792, by Bradford and
Ingersoll, for the appellant, and by Lewis for the appellees.

The facts, on which the appeal arose, were as follow: A written paper,
purporting to be the Will of Janet Morrison, dated the 19th of October 1775,
was exhibited for probate to the Register of Wills, &c. on the 19th of October
1786. A caveat was entered by the appellant against admitting it to be proved,
alledging that the testatrix had made a latter Will, which expressly revoked the
former will; and that the latter Will had not been cancelled, nor destroyed,
although it could not be found after her death. The Will of October 1775, was,
however, established, by the sentence of the Register's Court; from which
sentence the present appeal was brought; and new evidence was given in this
Court.

On the record and evidence, it appeared, that Janet Morrison had a Will written
before this of 1775, by Oliver Anderson, which former Will was duly executed.
The same scrivener wrote this Will. He afterwards wrote another Will in 1777,
and a fourth Will about the latter end of the year 1779. The testatrix destroyed
the first Will, when the Will of 1775 was executed, and also that of 1777 when
she executed the Will of 1779. In the last Will, the scrivener (who was a
witness) believes there were words revoking all former Wills, and that he had
usually inserted such a clause in all the Wills he wrote; and John Ray, a
subscribing witness to the Will of 1779, swears, that, when it was executed, the
testatrix declared it to be her last Will, and that she revoked all former Wills.
The legatees were generally the same, in the Wills of 1775 and 1779; but the

legacies were larger in the last, on account of the then depreciated state of the
paper bills of credit emitted by Congress. The Will of 1779 had been delivered
to the testatrix about ten days before her death, by a Mrs. Linn, whom she had
sent for it, to Oliver Anderson, who then had both Wills in his custody; but the
Will of 1779 has not been seen afterwards. James Lawson, the appellant, is the
eldest son of James Lawson, an only brother of the testatrix, who had no sister;
but her brother had two other sons, named Thomas and Francis, and no other
descendants. The testatrix had induced her nephew, James, to come from
Ireland to Pennsylvania, with his family, some years before her death, and
about a week before that event received them, with their effects, into her house,
and a few days after she had obtained the Will of 1779, from Oliver Anderson.
For some weeks before her death she expressed great kindness for the
appellant, and frequently said, 'all her estate must be his.' But when the Will of
1779 was executed, the one of 1775 was not cancelled; because the testatrix
was then out of humour with the appellant, and she was afraid lest the will of
1779 might get into his hands, or be lost; and, in such case, she desired Oliver
Anderson to produce the will of 1775, as he has deposed.
4

Upon this statement the question arose, whether the Will of 1779, (whose
contents did not appear, but from the deposition of Oliver Anderson) was a
revocation of the Will of 1775?

For the appellant, two propositions were stated, and the corresponding
authorities cited: 1st. That the Will of 1777, was a revocation of the Will of
1775, in act, as well as intention, either of which is sufficient. Moore 177. 3
Mod. 260. Dy. 143. Off. of Ex. 20. Swinb. 15. 525. Cowp. 90. God. Or. Leg.
51. 54. Cro. I. 115. 1 Roll. Abr. 614. 2 Eq. Abr. 771. 2nd. That the mere
cancelling of a latter Will, much less the mislaying or loss of a latter Will, is not
a revival of a former Will: The cancelling may be done with a view to die
intestate; and the mislaying may be accidental; and the Will of 1777, being in
writing, can only, by the act of Assembly, be annulled by writing. 3 Atk. 799.
Doug 36. Cowp. 49. 1 P Wm. 343. 345. 4 Burr. 2513. Loft. 465. 470. Pow.
Dev. 534. 535. 1 vol. Penn. L. (Dall. Edit.) p. 53. sect. 2. 6.

For the Appellees, the case was considered in various points of view. 1st. Does
the law of Pennsylvania permit the revocation of a Will by parol, or must it be
in writing? The act of Assembly declares that it shall be in writing. 1 Vol. Dall
Edit. p. 55. s. 2. 6. In England, it is true, a Will might have been altered by
parol; but it must have been express, not intentional, in the present, and not in
the future, tense. God. Or. Leg 51. 54. Swinb. 531. Cro. I. 115. The evidence
here is not positive; it is mere supposition, that the Will of 1777 in express
terms revoked all former Wills. 2nd. Is the act of making a subsequent Will

(even where its contents are unknown) sufficient in itself, as a revocation of a

former Will? The authorities directly disaffirm the position, where the
subsequent Will does not alter the whole disposition of the estate; and if the
same solemnities are necessary to revoke, which are required to make a Will,
there is not, in the present cases, proof by two witnesses of the contents of the
Will of 1777. Besides, the paper called a subsequent Will, does not appear to be
more than a codicil, as it is not proved that any Executors were constituted; and
both might, therefore, stand together. There is no proof that the latter Will
disposed of the personal estate differently, but only that it increased the
legacies. Perk. 179. God. Orph. Leg. 53. 12. 3, Cro. E. 721. Pow. Dev. 538.
Swinb. 532. Cro. E. 721. Cro. Car. 23. 4 1 Show. 537. 534. Salk. 592. Sho. P.
C. 149. Hardr. 375. Cowp. 87. 8. 3 Wil. 497. 2 Bl. Rep. 937. S. C. 3rdly. Does
the destruction of the latter, revive the former, Will? The intention of the party
is undoubtedly material upon this question. The testatrix sent for the Will; but
whether she cancelled it, with a view to die intestate, or James Lawson
destroyed it, with a view to claim the whole estate as heir at law, can only be
explained by the circumstances; and there is one circumstance that is strong
indeed, to shew that she never meant to give to him the whole; namely, that
James Lawson had arrived in Cumberland County before the making of the
latest Will, and yet she therein bequeathed to other persons, legacies to a
considerable amount. The cancelling of a latter Will, under circumstances less
forcible, has been deemed the revival of a former one. 4 Burr. 2512. 4thly. Is
there any difference between the revocation of a Will in Pennsylvania, and in
England, since the statute of frauds and perjuries? The doctrine in the act of
Assembly (1 vol. Dall. Edit. p. 640.) is the same as the doctrine in the statute,
29 Car. 2 c. 3 and the effect should be equally uniform.
7

For the appellant, in reply. All the cases cited by the opposite counsel, relate to
real estate in England, subsequent to the statute of frauds and perjuries. But our
position is, that a subsequent Will, or Testament, does, of itself, revoke all prior
Wills of personal estate. A latter Testament, says Swinb. 15 always infringes a
former one; but a codicil is different; and the distinction between a Testament
and Will is established in Cowp. 90. The present Will was not found (nor was
any other Will found) in the possession of the Testatrix; and the presumption,
therefore, is, that she cancelled the Will of 1777, with an intention to die
intestate.

Chew, President, delivered his opinion, in general terms, in affirmance of the

sentence of the Register's Court.

M'Kean, Chief Justice.

10

There has been no case or precedent cited, which comes up to this, in all its
parts; but there are several cases, which depended upon the same principle.

11

Before the statute of 29 Car. 2 ch. 3. Wills in England might be revoked by any
express words, without writing; and so it was in Pennsylvania, until altered by
positive law; but in England, since that statute, and in Pennsylvania, since the
act of Assembly, of the 4th of Anne, 'concerning the probates of written and
noncupative Wills, and for confirming devises of lands,' Wills of lands must be
revoked by writing, accompanied with solemnities similar to those necessary
for making the Wills. Here, latter Wills of lands, or a writing, revoking a
former Will, must be proved by two or more credible witnesses; and no
Testament, or Will in writing, for personal estate, can be revoked by words,
except the same be committed to writing and read to the testator, is allowed by
him, and proved by two witnesses at least. Besides these actual revocations,
there are other acts of the testator, which have always been considered as
revocations, because contrary to, or inconsistent with, the Will, and evidencing
an alteration of intention; as a deed in fee; or a lease for years to the same
devisee, to commence after the testator's death; a subsequent marriage and birth
of a child, cancelling, obliterating or destroying the Will, and such like. These
are termed, 'implied, constructive, or legal, revocations,' and still subsist as they
were before the act of Assembly, or the statute of frauds. Cro. I. 49. Carth. 81.
But all presumptive revocations may be encountered by evidence, and rebutted
by other circumstances. Cowp. 53. Doug. 37.

12

It has been often determined, that a Will, revoked by a subsequent Will, but not
cancelled, was re-established by the cancellation of the subsequent Will. 1
Show. 537. Show. P. C. 146. 1 Will. 345. 2 Vern. 741. S. C. Prec. Chan. 459. S.
C. 4. Burr. 2512. Cowp. 86. 92. Doug. 40. 2 Blackst. 937. 3 Mod. 204. Salk.
592. 3 Mod.

13

There are, however, some particular circumstances, in this case, besides the
general question.

14

It appears, that the appellant had lived in the neighbourhood of the testatrix
when she made the Will of 1779; that the legatees in that Will were chiefly the
same as in the present, but some legacies were larger, on account of the money
being then depreciated, and that Oliver Anderson was expressly requested by
the testatrix to take care of the Will of 1775, lest the case should get into the
hands of the appellant, or be lost. On the other hand, it does not appear what
became of the Will of 1779, after it was sent and delivered to the testatrix,
whether it was destroyed by her, or any other person, but it cannot be found. It

does not appear, wherein the Will of 1779 differed from the present one nor
what alteration was thereby made in particular, only that there were partial
alterations, and there were no executors named in it.
15

In this view of the case, I am of opinion, that the mere circumstance of making
the Will of 1779, is not virtually a revocation of the former, the contents being
unknown, and it not appearing to have been in esse at her death, but rather the
contrary, and that she had cancelled or destroyed it. No other person was
interested in its destruction, from any thing I can discover, except the appellant,
or his brothers, who were not in America; and charity will induce a
presumption, that she herself destroyed it. If this is the fact, the first Will is not
thereby revoked, as neither could be complete Wills, until the death of the
testatrix, and her destroying it had the same effect as if it had never existed,
unless it had been clearly proved, that she did it with an intention to die
intestate. Should a contrary opinion hold, to wit, that the first Will was revoked,
at the instant the second was executed, yet the cancelling of the second by the
Testatrix herself is a revival of the first, if undestroyed. Cowp. 92 Harwood v.
Goodright.

16

Here is a good subsisting Will properly attested: There is no way to defeat it,
but by proving it was revoked by another Will, subsisting at the death of the
Testatrix, or that she cancelled the latter Will, so revoking all former ones, with
a mind to die intestate. And as the appellant has failed in such proof, I concur
with the President, that the Will of 1775 must stand; and that the sentence of
the Register's Court be affirmed, with double costs.

17

The Court concurring, the sentence of the Register's Court was, accordingly,
affirmed, with double costs.*

See ant. p. 266 Boudinot et al. Executors against Bradford.