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Complaint in Equity

[This complaint is not dated but was probably filed about 1921 or 1922.]

   
Photographs of Jennie Edith Van Lear, only daughter of Ralph Leland Goodrich
The photograph on the left was taken at the Lovejoy Studio at 171 Front Street, Owego, NY
The photograph on the right was taken at the Dana Studio, Corner of 14th & 6th, NYC
 Ca. 1890-1895

     
Photographs of Sarah Jane Van Lear, only daughter of Jennie Goodrich Van Lear
Both photographs were taken at the Lovejoy Studio in Owego, NY.
The photograph on the left is dated 28 April 1902, taken when Sarah Jane was 14 months.

[click on each image to enlarge]

In the Pulaski Chancery Court

Edith Van Lear and Sarah Jane Van Lear, Plaintiffs

v.

Gordon N. Peay, as trustee under the will of Ralph L. Goodrich, deceased, Mary Fry, Helen De Groat, Frances Goodrich, Benjamin Goodrich, Fannie Van De Mark and Frederick G. Horton, Defendants.

Complaint in Equity.

Ralph L. Goodrich, who was the father of the plaintiff Edith Van Lear and the grandfather of the plaintiff Sarah Van Lear, departed this life on the 6th day of October, 1897, leaving a will, which was duly probated in the Probate Court of Pulaski County, Arkansas, where the said Ralph L. Goodrich resided at the time of his death. Said will is in words and figures as follows:

[Copy of Will]

Said Ralph L. Goodrich left a widow, whom he married after the execution of this will, and who resides upon his homestead. Outside of the said homestead, he left only his household furniture, which is in possession of his widow, and the East fifty feet of Lots Ten, Eleven, and Twelve in Block Two, and all of Lot Three in Block Nine, all in the City of Little Rock, in this County.

The said W. B. Worthen, one of the trustees in said will named, has departed this life, and the vacancy caused by his death has not been filled. The defendant, Gordon N. Peay, therefore remains the sole trustee.

The plaintiff, Edith Van Lear, is the said J[ennie] Edith Goodrich mentioned in the will; and the plaintiff Sarah Van Lear, is her daughter; and the two plaintiffs are the only heirs of the said Ralph L. Goodrich.

The plaintiffs are in destitute circumstances. The said Edith Van Lear is in bad health and unable to earn anything by her labor, so that their only means of support are the earnings of the said Sarah Van Lear as a stenographer in the town of Staunton , Virginia, where they reside. Said earnings amount to $80 per month, and are wholly inadequate for the support of the plaintiffs.

In pursuance of the directions in said will, the trustees therein borrowed from the W. B. Worthen Company, Bankers, of Little Rock , Arkansas , the sum of $12,000, with which they converted the said Lot 3 in Block 9 of this city into business property, on which the trustee collects rents.

The only other piece of property is the East 50 feet of Lots 10, 11 and 12, in Block 2 in said city, a tract of 50 by 150 feet on the Northeast corner of Markham and Scott Streets in said city, on which there is a one-story brick building. There came into the possession of the trustee no means with which to keep this building in repair and it has fallen into such a state of decay that it cannot be rented for any sum and no income whatever can be derived therefrom.

The carrying charges for said property are as follows: Taxes $1445.02; interest upon the $12,000 borrowed from W. B, Worthen Company, $780.00; fire insurance $155; making a total of $2410.02, to which should be added an estimated amount of $200 for expenses of repairs and the losses through vacancies, so that it will require about $2600 to carry said property, and the annual rentals amount only to $2016.

Unless something is done the entire property will be consumed by taxes, insurance charges, repairs and interest upon said loan, and the mortgage given to secure the said loan will be foreclosed and the property lost entirely to the plaintiffs and to all parties to this suit.

Augusta Griffing mentioned in said will has departed this life, leaving as her only heir the defendant, Mrs. Mary Fry, of Manhattan, Riley County, Kansas.

The said Stephen Goodrich mentioned in said will has departed this life, leaving as his heirs the defendants Mrs. Helen De Groat and Miss Frances Goodrich, both of Cortland, New York, Benjamin Goodrich, of Owego, New York, and Ralph Goodrich of 2931 John Street, Detroit, Michigan.

The said Sarah A. Goodrich, mentioned in said will, has departed this life without bodily heirs.

Mary C. Horton mentioned in the will has departed this life, leaving as her heirs the defendants Mrs. Fannie Van De Mark, of Newark Valley, New York, and Frederick G. Horton of Owego, New York.

Mary C. Goodrich Horton & her granddaughter, ca. 1920
[click on image to enlarge]

The premises considered, the plaintiffs pray, as the only means of saving anything out of the said property for the plaintiffs or for the defendants, that said property be sold and the proceeds applied, first, to the satisfaction of said mortgage to the W. B. Worthen Company, and that any fund remaining be established as a trust fund, primarily for the benefit of the plaintiffs, and secondarily for the benefit of the defendants; and for such other relief as may be deemed equitable.

[George B.] Rose, [Wilson E.] Hemingway, [Deaderick Harrell] Cantrell, & [James Fairfax] Loughborough