Snell Chamber East

June 28, 1907 Clinton Register BIG ESTATE IS NOW TIED UP. Will of the Late Col. Thomas Snell Will Not Be Probated for Three Weeks. July 22 is the date set for filing the SNELL will in DeWitt county. The Register has not had opportunity to read its provisions, therefore cannot give them further than given by the Pantagraph Wednesday, which are as follows: "The will of Col. Snell is remarkable in that the entire estate is left in trust to the executor for a term of years which, without unusual proceeding, might be ninety or one hundred. If the strict letter of the will is followed it is quite within the range of possibility that every member of the present Snell family would be long dead before any division would be made or any part of the estate expended except the small and few yearly annuities that the terms of the will direct are to be paid. A summary of the amounts to be paid as annuities shows that less than $5,000 a year will be paid out of the immense estate, the income of which will reach many thousands. As stated in this paper of Tuesday, by the terms of Col. Snell's will, the entire estate is left in trust to the executor, Lincoln H. WELDON, and there is to be no division made until twenty years after the death of the youngest great-grandchild of the testator. The youngest great-grandchild, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. V. Dinsmore, is 6 years of age. The vast income from the property goes also into the hands of the executor, to be invested by him and to pass into the estate and assist in the growth of the fortune which was made by Col. Snell and which he has, by his last will and testament, kept as entirely to himself for the next many years as the law will allow. The heirs at law receive the following bequests: To Richard SNELL, the only surviving son of the testator, the body of the will, which was written in 1901, leaves $1,000 a year. By a codicil made three years later, this bequest is revoked and Richard Snell will receive the sum of $50 a year from his father's estate. The Children of Thomas Thornton SNELL are better favored. By the original will each grandchild—Mrs. W. V. DINSMORE, Thomas Thornton SNELL and Harry SNELL—are to receive the sum of $1,000 each yearly for the first five years following the death of the testator. After that they are to receive $3,000 a year each. At the death of any of the grandchildren the share of that one goes to the immediate descendants or is divided among the surviving grandchildren. The first codicil, dated 1904, gives absolutely to Thornton Snell 175 shares in the Elkhart bank and $6,000 in cash. These bank shares are worth $135 or $140 share. Harry Snell is given absolutely 200 shares in the Elkhart bank, which shares are of the same value. To Mrs. Lena Snell Dinsmore is given a half-section of land in DeWitt county. There are 320 acres, valued at $125 an acre. This is given absolutely to Mrs. Dinsmore. The testator made no provision in his will for Mrs. Hanna SNELL of this city. The sum of $1,000 a year is given her, "as per a contract holding with her." This contract was made at the death of Thomas Thornton Snell and in the settlement of his estate. Mrs. Snell at that time waived her widow's dower in some land near Saybrook, belonging to her husband and Col. Snell, with the understanding that she was to have $1,000 a year for her lifetime, this amounting to a fair rental of her share of the land. This remains with her under the will, but there was no further provision made for her. To a niece, Mabelle SNELL, of Kansas City, is left by the original will the sum of $400 annually. The first codicil raises the amount to $1,200 annually. These are absolutely all the bequests made and the trivial amounts given away thus, will make little inroad in the whole, which will increase greatly each year by reason of the large income. It is provided by the will that the executor build at once in the Clinton cemetery a suitable family vault to cost not less than $7,000 nor more than $10,000, and the executor is also instructed to erect some office buildings at Fort Dodge, Iowa, at a cost of $150,000. He owned a large amount of property, lots and lands near Fort Dodge. Other improvements in the way of tiling and improving of farm buildings are designated. The estate, which will foot up to a million and a half, is almost entirely in real estate. There was no cash on hand and the only personal property lies in the rent notes to the amount of $25,000, which are now due. The constantly increasing value of farm land, and the fact that the executor is given power to expend the income on such improvements and repairs that are necessary, will make the estate of immense value by the time the distribution under the will is made." It is said the heirs will contest the will and that suit for this purpose will be filed about the time the will is admitted to probate.