Name/Title
Last Will and TestamentEntry/Object ID
HHV 003.122Context
I Washington Irving of Sunnyside West Chester / County in the State of New York, make this my / last will and testament.
I declare my general intention to be to [dispose] / of all my estate so that it may be, as far as possible, / kept together, as a maintenance for my brother / Ebenezer and his family, to enable them to continue / to live in [^ with] the same style [^ degree of comfort] they have been accustomed / to have [^ enjoy] with me; for which the whole of my very, / moderate means is necessary. And I make this depo - / sition as a return for the early and [brotherly?] affection / shewn to me by my brother Ebenezer, when he, a man / of business with a family to provide for generously / shared his worldly advantages with me as mere lit / literary idler who could yield him little aid in / his commercial concerns; and I make it also in / consideration of the uniform affection and cherishing / care I have ever experienced from his daughters / who have indeed acted like daughter to me / and rendered my home for many years a / happy one.
[END OF PAGE 1]
First I give to my nephew Pierre Munro Irving / who for many years has managed my pecuniary concerns, / gratuitously Five thousand Dollars and I bequeath to / him the manuscript of my Life of Washington should / it not have been published before my decease; and I / leave it to do to his discretion to do with it what he / may think fit, for his own pecuniary benefit. And I / also bequeath to him all my letters, correspondence and / private memoranda which may aid him in preparing / a memoir of me, should he be inclined to writ eone /
All the rest of my personal estate, including any / other unpublished works that may be among my / papers I give to my brother Ebenezer for his life / and on his death to his daughter then surviving / him and unmarried. But I authorize and intend / that my said brother may use not only the income / but, if need be, the capital of my personal estate / in the maintaining and supporting of himself and / his daughters without accountability therefor.
[END OF PAGE 2]
I give all the residue of my estate, real and personal / to accompany the [devise] of Sunnyside to the same / persons for the like interests and subject to the like / contingencies andpower.
Third I authorize my executors to make sale of / or otherwise convert into money or productive funds / all my other lands and tenements wheresoever situated
Last. I appoint my brother Ebenezer Irving and / my nephew Pierre M. Irving executors of this my / will. I revoke all other and former wills.
In Witness whereof I have set my hand and seal / hereto this twenty eighth day of July in the year of / our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty
Signed and delivered by the
Testator as his last will and Washington Irving
Testament this 28th day
of July 1850 in presence
of us singing at the testators
request our names and places
of residence
James Law - Tarrytown, Westchester Co
Peter Caffrey, Sunnyside, Westchester Co.Collection
Irving Manuscript CollectionArchive Items Details
Title
Last Will and TestamentDescription
LegalCreator
Washington Irving (1783-1859)Date(s) of Creation
Jul 28, 1850Search Terms
Pierre Munro Irving, Ebenezer Irving, her daughters, James Law, Peter Caffrey, Sunnyside, Westchester County, Tarrytown, last will and testament, dispositions to family membersOther Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
Number Type
Former NumberOther Number
W 161
