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Mrs. Laura Ellison Brown, widow of the late Justice George H. Brown, died on March 9, 1942m at the age of 93, leaving an estate valued at more than $300,000. One hundred thousand dollars of this was designated for the construction and equipment of a public library, with the residue, after all legacies were pad, to be converted into a trust fund for the maintenance of the library. In April, 1943, it took a Beaufort County jury less than ten minutes to decide that the will of Mrs. Laura Ellison Brown was executed according to law and that Mrs. Brown was in sound mind when the will was made in August 1919, and when codicils were added in July 1941, and in January, 1942. Mrs. Hattie Ellison Rodgers, a niece of Mrs. Brown, had been willed $6000. She refused the bequest and filed a caveat claiming that Mrs. Brown was of unsound mind when her will was made and that she had been unduly influenced to will such a large sum to the City of Washington for a library. |
