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Clinton A. Sowers records of the proceedings against the estate of Henrietta E. Garrett
These volumes are the records of Clinton Sowers, Esq., who was appointed an examiner to the proceedings of the claims against the estate of Henrietta E. Garrett, held in the Orphan's Court of Philadelphia County. Garrett died a widow on Nov. 16, 1930. Her will provided for a bequest of $62,500...
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| Collection: | Clinton A. Sowers Records of the Proceedings Against the Estate of Henrietta E. Garrett |
| Collection Number: | 3370 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
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| Physical Description: |
88.0 Linear feet 88 linear feet, 1150 volumes |
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| Summary: |
These volumes are the records of Clinton Sowers, Esq., who was appointed an examiner to the proceedings of the claims against the estate of Henrietta E. Garrett, held in the Orphan's Court of Philadelphia County. Garrett died a widow on Nov. 16, 1930. Her will provided for a bequest of $62,500 to several individual and the surviving legatees were paid. However, the total value of Garrett's estate was more than $17 million. In 1931, the Commonwealth of PA filed a claim alleging that Garrett died without leaving next of kin surviving her and that the estate should pass to the Commonwealth by escheat. Because of the size of the estate the case received world-wide publicity and as a result numerous claims flooded the Master's office. Approximately 25,800 claims were made, coming from people in every state but Arizona and several foreign countries.
In 1936, a master and two examiners were appointed to exam and render a decision to these claims. These records document this 15 year proceeding. The Masters and the Examiners held approximately 2,000 hearings, at which the tesimony of more than 1100 witnesses was taken. More than 7700 exhibits were received in evidence. On December 18, 1950, the Master, Robert Brigham, issued his report on the case. He ruled that Henrietta E. Garrett left to survive her no husband, no children, no parents, no grandparents, no siblings, no nieces or nephews, and no aunts or uncles. Her nearest next of kin were Howard S. Kretschmar and Herman A. Kretschmar, maternal first cousins, and Johann Peter Christian Schafer I, a paternal first cousin.
This collection consists of the following volumes: Volume "A"-- bound copies of the hearing transcripts before the Orphans' Court of Philadelphia Co.--322 volumes (Vol. #285 is missing); Exhibit Books--67 volumes; Volume "D"-- transcripts of depositions--196 volumes (Vol. #71 missing); Volume "I" -- Investigations--163 volumes (Vol. #75 missing); Volume "K"--Kohler investigation -- 128 volumes (Vol. #125 missing); Volume "O"--abstracts of testimonies--21 volumes; Index of Exhibits (general and sup.1-11)--30 volumes; Index of Dates (general and sup.1-10) --43 volumes; Index, alphabetical--164 volumes; Master's Report--3 volumes; Adjudication--1 volume; Other various volumes, including copy of court record, Sowers deposition/report on Garrett's birthdate--13 volumes |