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8 Mass. 371

Hathorn v. King

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Decided November 15, 1811

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · decided 1811-11-15

This was an appeal from a decree of the Probate Court of this county, approving and allowing the last will of Mary Norris, deceased. — Among the reasons of appeal, one was, that the deceased was not of sane mind at the time of executing the will, and on this an issue was formed to the country. • On trial it appeared that the scrivener was called in at 11 o’clock in the morning of the 21st of March last, and received from the testatrix directions as to preparing her will.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1811-11-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 17 later decisions — most recently June 1943

17 state decisions — followed in 10 states

3018111820183018401850186018701880189019001910192019301940decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Per Curiam.

¶1The physicians may be inquired of, whether, from the circumstances of the patient, and the symptoms they observed, they are capable of forming an opinion of the soundness of her mind, and if so, whether they from * thence con-elude that her mind was sound or unsound; and in either case, they, must state the circumstances or symptoms from, which they draw their conclusions.

¶2After the examination was finished, the evidence was minutely summed up to the jury by Sedgwick, J., and the jury were instructed by him (Sewall and Parker, justices, expressly concurring) that if they should be of opinion, that the testatrix, at the time of dictating the will, had sufficient discretion for that purpose, and that, at the time of executing the will, she was able to recollect the particulars which she had so dictated, they might find their verdict that she was of sound and disposing mind and memory at the time of executing the will. — And they found accordingly; and the will was proved, approved, and allowed by the Court.

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