Delaware Reports (Volume 1); Containing Cases Decided in the Supreme Court (Excepting Appeals from the Chancellor) and the Superior Court and the Orphans Court of the State of Delaware (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: JOHN DOE, lessee of JAMES MARTIN vs. RICHARD ROE, casual ejector, and JAMES ROACH tenant in possession. SAME PLAINTIFF vs. ROE, and ISAAC WHITE tenant. A devise "to A. and her heirs forever, except tie should die viitbnut an heir born nf bar own bndyn then over to B. is an estate tail in A. with a vested remainder in B and nor a con"ingent fee with an exfcu'ory devise. The propriety of an ord T of the Orphans court directing a sale of lands for the payment of debts cannot be cr ntrnver;ed in any collateral proceeding. Under the old act of assembly the record of a deed was by the settled practice of the courts, permitted to be read in evidence, though such deed had not been recorded within a year from its.execution. Ejectments. The cases were tried together, depending on the same devise in the will of Mary Fergus. The devise was as follows: ? in fee, accompanied by a proviso that if he should die under age or without issue then over to B. in fee, there can be little difficulty at the present day either upon the obvious intent of the testator, or on well settled authority, in coming to a conclusion whether the estate given to A. is to be defeated on the happening of one of the events, or whether both must occur to deprive him of the estate?in other words?whether the word "or" is to be taken conjunctively or disjunctivelv. In construing wills the leading object to be sought for is the intention of the testator?this, when ascertained, is to prevail, unless it conflicts with some settled rule of law. In the devise above stated, who is the first ob- jert of the testator's bounty, and who in the first place does he mean to benefit unquestionably A. the first devisee. The second object is the children of A., for if he leaves children dying under age, B. gets not...