Talk:Mechanics Monument

Tangential probate issue
There was a significant time period that elapsed between the reading of the will (1890) and the awarding of the commission to Tilden (c.1897). This was consumed by various heirs and beneficiaries contesting the will and its contents, some of which is touched on in the article itself. However, there was an additional probate issue which I did not add as it was fairly tangential to the sculpture. This can be dropped into the article later if it's relevant enough to include:

In August 1896, Judge Angelotti decided the $25,000 bequest was for "charitable use" and declared this legacy would be fully funded at the expense of the other charitable bequests left in Mervyn Donahue's will, which included several Catholic charities. Donahue's widow (Belle Wallace) had subsequently remarried and was known as Mrs. Belle W. Sprague. Mrs. Sprague reached an agreement with Archbishop Riordan to make up the losses (approximately $20,000) in the charitable distribution set aside by funding the fountain. After the 1896 decision, Sprague refused to pay and was sued by Riordan. Riordan won the subsequent case, but the suit continued to a jury trial in 1903 before being settled out-of-court for $16,000 paid by Sprague to Riordan.


 * Cheers, Mliu92 (talk) 18:57, 14 September 2017 (UTC)