Judge: Disputed Estate Of Lincoln-Era Heir Must Stand
VERNON — Descendants of Gideon Welles, President Lincoln's
Navy secretary, must abide by a 1955 estate settlement despite their misgivings about how it was handled, a Superior Court judge has ruled.
Judge Samuel J. Sferrazza said "no useful purpose" would come from re-examining the estate of Ruth Trost Welles, whose husband was Gideon Welles' grandson.
Navy secretary, must abide by a 1955 estate settlement despite their misgivings about how it was handled, a Superior Court judge has ruled.Judge Samuel J. Sferrazza said "no useful purpose" would come from re-examining the estate of Ruth Trost Welles, whose husband was Gideon Welles' grandson.
The judge's ruling on Friday came after an October trial in Superior Court in Rockville that lasted less than two days. The Brainard side of the family had appealed a 2010 probate court decision to complete administration of the estate.
That decision was made after the Brainards' cousins — the Welleses and the Smiths — said historic property was never correctly inventoried and had been sold instead of being properly distributed.
Among the missing items are as many as 713 handwritten notes President Abraham Lincoln is believed to have written to Gideon Wells during the Civil War.
"It's
a sad day for the preservation of history," said Thomas Gideon Welles, the Civil War-era leader's great-great grandson. He testified during the trial about his memory of historic items from his grandmother's attic in Coventry that he said had been sold.
Robert Brainard declined to comment.
The judge noted that no "antiques, mementos or documents of historical importance and rarity" were included in the inventory submitted to the Coventry probate court in 1955. It listed several parcels of land, farm equipment, cattle, motor vehicles and $1,256.90 in a bank account, he said.
A supplemental inventory filed seven months later added a grand piano, proceeds from the sale of a dairy business, a mortgage and unspecified "personal effects" valued at $500, Sferrazza said.
The three heirs, Suzanne Welles Brainard, Ruth Welles Smith and Thomas G. Welles Sr., came up with a mutual distribution agreement to their satisfaction, Sferrazza wrote. The estate had been certified as "duly settled," the judge said.
The only procedural gap alleged is the absence of a final accounting, which Sferrazza said is not necessary.
The judge also cited a state statute that limits the timeframe to reopen an estate to 10 years.
"It is obvious to this court that all three children of Ruth M. T. Welles were satisfied with their legacies and the division of the unique set of personal effects of their famous forebear," the judge wrote. "There was no credible evidence adduced at the trial before this court that any one of the three coadministrators expressed discontent with the devolution of their mother's estate in the decades which followed her demise."
That decision was made after the Brainards' cousins — the Welleses and the Smiths — said historic property was never correctly inventoried and had been sold instead of being properly distributed.
Among the missing items are as many as 713 handwritten notes President Abraham Lincoln is believed to have written to Gideon Wells during the Civil War.
"It's
a sad day for the preservation of history," said Thomas Gideon Welles, the Civil War-era leader's great-great grandson. He testified during the trial about his memory of historic items from his grandmother's attic in Coventry that he said had been sold.Robert Brainard declined to comment.
The judge noted that no "antiques, mementos or documents
of historical importance and rarity" were included in the inventory submitted to the Coventry probate court in 1955. It listed several parcels of land, farm equipment, cattle, motor vehicles and $1,256.90 in a bank account, he said.A supplemental inventory filed seven months later added a grand piano, proceeds from the sale of a dairy business
, a mortgage and unspecified "personal effects" valued at $500, Sferrazza said.The three heirs, Suzanne Welles Brainard, Ruth Welles Smith and Thomas G. Welles Sr., came up with a mutual distribution agreement to their satisfaction, Sferrazza wrote. The estate had been certified as "duly settled," the judge said.
The only procedural gap alleged is the absence of a final accounting
, which Sferrazza said is not necessary.The judge also cited a state statute that limits the timeframe to reopen an estate to 10 years.
"It is obvious to this court that all three children of Ruth M. T. Welles were satisfied with their legacies and the division of the unique set of personal effects of their famous forebear," the judge wrote. "There was no credible evidence adduced at the trial before this court that any one of the three coadministrators expressed discontent with the devolution of their mother's estate in the decades which followed her demise."
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