Fuller v. Williams

264 P. 77, 125 Kan. 154, 1928 Kan. LEXIS 294
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedFebruary 11, 1928
DocketNo. 27,778
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 264 P. 77 (Fuller v. Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fuller v. Williams, 264 P. 77, 125 Kan. 154, 1928 Kan. LEXIS 294 (kan 1928).

Opinions

[155]*155The opinion of the court was delivered by

Harvey, J.:

This is an action authorized by R. S. 22-223 to contest an order of the probate court of Waubaunsee county refusing to admit to probate the will of Andrew G. Carlson, deceased, the probate court having found that the deceased was of unsound mind and not capable of executing or attesting a will as testator at the time of making the alleged will, and was under restraint and undue influence, and that the purported will was neither executed nor attested in conformity to our statute. The plaintiffs in this action aré the devisees and legatees and the executor named in the instrument sought to be established as a will; the defendant is the sister and sole heir of the deceased. The pleadings present the issues of the soundness of mind of Andrew G. Carlson, whether he was under restraint or undue influence at the time the purported will was alleged to have been executed, and whether the purported will was executed and attested in the manner provided by law. The «ase was tried to the court, who, on request of counsel, made findings of fact and conclusions of law. Judgment was rendered for plaintiffs. The defendant has appealed.

Andrew G. Carlson was born in Sweden in 1867. In 1882 he and his sister went with their parents to a farm of 120 acres which their father purchased in Osage county. His sister married in 1895. Andrew never married. He remained at home and worked with his father. In 1897,. more land, 160 acres, was bought, in the name of Andrew, and in 1904 an additional 80 acres. Early in 1906 Andrew was treated for mental trouble for some time at a sanitarium at Kansas City. In July, 1906, he was adjudged insane, in the probate court of Osage county, and committed to the state hospital at Osawatomie for treatment, and was discharged as restored in May, 1908. His father died in December, 1906. In March, 1909, on a new complaint, he was again adjudged insane in the probate court of Osage county and committed to the state hospital at Osawatomie, and was discharged as restored in June, 1911. His mother died in August,, 1909. In November, 1911, he purchased the interest of his sister in the home place of 120 acres.

Sometime in 1911 he went to Eskridge, where he thereafter made his home. He worked at common labor — sometimes at odd jobs, and was a substitute mail carrier. At times he roomed or boarded where he worked, at times he batched; for three or four years prior to June, [156]*1561925, he had roomed, or roomed and boarded, with Mrs. M. J. Fuller. In 1923 he bought a lot in Eskridge; the price paid for this is not shown; it was appraised after his death at $300. While his earnings were not large, he was careful in his expenditures, inclined to be thrifty, and he had the rents from his farms.

In the early part of 1925, before his “business” activities began, he had Liberty bonds of the value of $2,000, a bank time certificate of deposit for $500 a note for $200, and a small sum in a checking account. By June 5 all this money had been spent, he had had an overdraft at the bank, which was very unusual for him, and had given a note to the bank for $400, secured by rent money to be received from his land, and most of this was spent. He had bought two lots, for which he paid $1,200, and on this he built a garage to hold one car, later enlarged to hold several, at a cost of about $1,000. This was appraised after his death at $1,000. He bought another lot for $250, and an interest in a party wall for $552. This was appraised after his death at $150. He stated his intention to build a three-story hotel on this lot, with a grocery store on the third floor, and a restaurant on the first floor where he would feed people all they wanted to eat for 25 cents; that he would draw trade from Topeka, and if people did not patronize him he would stable his horses in it. For this purpose he tried to borrow $10,000 to $13,000 from his banker, and from persons who sometimes made loans, but was unable to get it. He offered $4,000 for a building for which the owner asked $2,500. The owner refused to sell it to him because he thought he was mentally incompetent. He tried to buy a used automobile and offered the price of a new one, but the dealer refused to sell it to him because he thought he was incompetent. Notwithstanding that, he went to the bank and tried to borrow the money with which to purchase it, but was refused.

In hiring men to work for him, and buying some of the materials used, he seemed rather exceptionally shrewd and .careful, but his manner was such that some of those who worked for him, and some who sold him material, anticipating that he might be adjudged insane, or have a guardian appointed for him, required payment from him in advance, or at frequent intervals.

Covering the same time of these business activities his personal conduct about town changed radically. Prior to that, although regarded as rather eccentric, there had been nothing especially dis[157]*157turbing in his conduct, but in March, or early in April, 1925, he began to make speeches and to sing on the public streets. Sometimes his talk or song would be in Swedish, sometimes in English. At times he would attempt to preach; at others he was exceedingly profane, and at times his language was vulgar or obscene in the extreme. His voice was loud, he could be heard for some distance, and he frequently attracted attention by conduct of this character. Some of the boys of the village made fun of him, and he threatened them with physical injury; one of them he threatened to kill. At the post office, in the room used by the public, he bemeaned the father of one of the boys and made threats to him.

Many persons complained of his conduct to the mayor, and on April 10 he notified the county officers at Alma, and the county attorney, probate judge and sheriff went to Eskridge, where a number of the leading citizens of the town met at the office of the justice of the peace and discussed Carlson’s conduct and what should be done. As a result of this the city marshal, Mr. Zinn, swore to a complaint in lunacy, the probate judge issued a warrant, and Carlson was taken into custody and brought before the probate judge.

The officers thought of conducting a lunacy inquiry at that time, but the only active practicing lawyer in town, J. R. Moreland, was requested by the probate court to appear on behalf of Carlson at the hearing, and he declined to do so. Carlson was brought before the court that evening, but no formal hearing was held because of the inability to have an attorney represent him and because of a lack of five days’ notice to him provided by statute. He was interrogated, however, by the probate court and county attorney, and he talked and sang and preached for an hour or more. In these talks he would frequently state what he called “a biography of his life,” at which he would state that he was born on Tuesday at one o’clock a. m. July 25, 1870. How he got this day of the week and year 1870 in his mind in connection with his birth is unknown. His birth was recorded in the family Bible, which was in his possession and perhaps had been since the death of his parents, as July 25, 1867, which was Thursday and not Tuesday.

The result of his informal hearing was that the county officials thought perhaps he might quiet down, or prove at least harmless. He was permitted to go at liberty, but the probate judge instructed the sheriff to keep the lunacy warrant and in the event there should [158]*158be serious complaint’ later of his conduct to take him in custody.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
264 P. 77, 125 Kan. 154, 1928 Kan. LEXIS 294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fuller-v-williams-kan-1928.