Crabshaw,
and asked me to take the following case.
An old woman named Nancy Blake had recently died in Virginia, leaving a
large amount of property. This Nancy Blake had lived for over half a
century all alone, and almost entirely secluded. She had left neither
will nor near relatives, and the question was, who is her nearest of
kin? My visitor informed me that long ago he had known of the existence
of an eccentric woman in Virginia,--a great-aunt of his now deceased
wife. Nothing had been heard from her, however, for twenty-five years,
and it was supposed that she was dead; but he had just received
information that led him to believe in the identity of the old lady
Blake with the aforementioned great-aunt. If the relationship could be
established, then his daughter Cecilia would be the true heir. Her claim
had been brought to the attention of the court, and she bad been
informed that there was another claimant. Would I undertake the case?
After a long talk with Mr. Crabshaw, I decided that I would do so. I
agreed to call at his house the next day and have another talk with him,
and also meet his daughter, preparatory to my trip to Virginia.
Mr. Crabshaw, who, as I subsequently learned, was descended from an
English family which had been represented in this country for two
generations only, lived in the famous and once aristocratic quarter of
Boston known as West End.
Pages:
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138