The Parish Will Case, Argument of John K Porter, In Behalf of the..

1857. A Notable Nineteenth-Century Will Case Involving Codicils and Questions of Sanity [Trial]. [Parish Will Case]. Parish, Henry [1787-1856]. Porter, John K. [1819-1892]. Parish Will Case. Argument of John K. Porter, In Behalf of the Respondents in the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, January 10, 1862. Albany: Comstock & Cassidy, 1862. 98 pp. Octavo (8-3/4" x 5-1/2"; 22.2 x 14 cm). Stab-stitched pamphlet in printed wrappers, front wrapper detached. Light soiling and moderately edgewear to wrappers, moderate wear to spine ends, moderate toning to text, corners of some leaves dog-eared. $450. * Only edition. Henry Parish, a New York merchant, died in 1856 at age 69. He had made his will in 1842 but subsequently amended it with three codicils signed after he had suffered a paralyzing stroke in 1849. These codicils were contested by James and Daniel Parish, residuary devisees in the will, on the grounds of mental impairment. The New York Surrogate's Court (and subsequently, the state Court of Appeals) ultimately rejected their argument and upheld the codicils. This trial attracted a good deal of attention, and both legal teams were comprised of talented, prominent lawyers. Porter, a lawyer for the contestants, was a highly ranked member of the New York Bar and was involved in state politics. He went on to hold a seat on the New York Court of Appeals before returning to private practice; he was also one of the prosecutors of Charles Guiteau for the assassination of President James Garfield in 1881. Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law School (1909) II:1159.