Jane Lathrop Stanford Papers

San Francisco, Cal., February 29th, 1908.

The undersigned, Executors of the Last Will and Testament of Jane L. Stanford, deceased, do hereby acknowledge the receipt from The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University of the following personal property purchased from said Board of Trustees, to-wit:

Two Hundred and Thirty-eight (238) 5% First Mortgage Bonds of the Northern Railway Company of California, due 1938, with coupons due April 1st, 1908, and thereafter, attached, the numbers of said bonds being as follows: 1021 to 1026, both inclusive, 1139 to 1140, both inclusive, 1266 to 1319, both inclusive, 1383 to 1424, both inclusive, 1481 to 1483, both inclusive, 1532 to 1564, both inclusive, 1601 to 1649, both inclusive, 2438 to 2450, both inclusive, 2843 to 2853, both inclusive, and 2611 to 2635, both inclusive.

Charles G. Lathrop

T. G. Crothers

Timothy Hopkins

Executors of the Last Will and Testament of Jane L. Stanford, deceased.

T. G. Crothers Geo. E. Crothers

LAW OFFICES OF

CROTHERS & CROTHERS

MILLS BUILDING

Telephone, Main 798

SAN FRANCISCO, Cal. Sept. 2, 1902.

Chas. G. Lathrop, Esq.,

819 Market Street, City.

Dear Mr. Lathrop;-

Kindly find enclosed herewith a copy of the form of University lease recently printed with a typewritten clause inserted covering the objection to granting leases to fraternities and student associations, which we discussed with Mrs. Stanford some time ago. Though as I have already stated to you, I think that University has full jurisdiction over all students and fraternities wherever they may reside. I think it would be just as well to incorporate this clause in the leases that there may be on hesitancy on the part of the University to hold each member of a fraternity responsible for the conduct of all.

In justice to the fraternities, I must state that I make this suggestion without having ever heard of any breach of discipline in a fraternity at the University.

Yours very truly,

G. E. Crothers

The Daily Palo Alto, Monday, March 6, 1905

Mrs. Stanford's estate valued at over five million dollars

Relatives and Faithful Attendants Are Remembered in Will.

The last will of Mrs. Jane Lathrop Stanford was filed for probate in San Jose Saturday afternoon. The will in general fulfills the expectations of those who have been awaiting its probation. The value of the estate as disclosed by the contents of the will is between five and six million dollars. Of this, $3,125,000 is bequeathed outright to relatives, charitable institutions and members of the Stanford household. The residue is left to the University. The relatives of Senator Stanford were not rewarded at all, as expected by many, and several other close friends of Mrs. Stanford were not made beneficiaries. The instrument was drawn July 28, 1903, by Wilson & Wilson of San Francisco. Charles Gardner Lathrop, Russell J. Wilson, Timothy Hopkins, Joseph D. Grant, Whitelaw Reid and T. G. Crothers are named as executors, to serve without bonds. The full text of the will follows:

Provisions of the will.

In the name of God, Amen: I, Jane Lathrop Stanford of the county of Santa Clara, State of California, widow of Leland Stanford, deceased, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, and mindful of the uncertainty of life, do make, publish and declare this to be my last will and testament, in manner following, that is to say:

Two-Million-Dollar Trust Fund.

I

I give and bequeath to the Union Trust Company of San Francisco, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of California the sum of two million ($2,000,000) dollars, to have and to hold the same in trust for the following uses and purposes, that is to say:

(a) I authorize, empower and direct said trustee to invest said sum of two million ($2,000,000) dollars in first-class bonds, or other securities, as it may deem best, and to pay over, at regular intervals, the net income arising from one million dollars thereof to my brother, Ariel Lathrop of Albany, New York, for and during the term of his natural life, and upon his death (as he has no children or descendants) this trust shall cease and determine as to one-half of said trust property, that is to say, as to the one million dollars thereof, and the said sum of the property in which it may be invested shall belong to and be delivered to his relatives as follows, viz: One-half thereof to his brother Charles Gardner Lathrop, and the other one-half thereof to the descendants of his deceased brother, Daniel Shields Lathrop, in the proportions of one-third to his daughter, Jennie L. Lawton; and one-third to his daughter, Amy Gardner Hansen; and the remaining one-third in equal shares to Daniel S. Gunning and Amy L. Gunning, the children of Christine L. Gunning the deceased daughter of Daniel Shields Lathrop, deceased.

(b) To pay over at regular intervals to my niece, the said Jennie L. Lawton, the full one-third of the net income arising from one million dollars, the other one-half of said trust fund for and during the term of her natural life, and upon her death this trust shall cease, and determine as to one-third of said one million dollars, and the said one-third of said one million dollars shall belong to and be delivered to the child or children of said Jennie L. Lawton.

(c) To pay over at regular intervals to my niece, the said Amy L Hansen, the full one-third of the net income arising from said one million dollars, being one-half of said trust fund, for and during the term of her natural life, and upon her death this trust shall cease, and determine as to one-third of said one million dollars, and the said one-third of said one million dollars shall belong to and be delivered to the child or children of said Amy L. Hansen.

(d) To pay over, one-half to each at regular intervals, to said Daniel S. Gunning and Amy L. Gunning, the children of my deceased niece, Christine L. Gunning, one-third of the net income arising from said one million dollars, the said one-half of said trust property, until such time as the younger of the two shall reach the age of twenty-five years, at which time this trust shall cease and determine as to one-third of said one million dollars, the one-half of said trust property, and the said one third shall belong to and be delivered to said Daniel S. and Amy L. Gunning, absolutely and in their own right, share and share alike, and free from all trusts; provided, however, that if either should die before the younger attains the age of twenty-five years, this trust shall cease and determine as to one-half of said one-third of a million dollars, and that proportion of the trust property shall belong to and be delivered to the children of the one so dying, or if there be no such children, then to the other; and the trust shall thereafter continue as to the other one-half of said one-third of a million dollars until the survivor reaches the age of twenty-five years, at which time the trust as to the remainder of said one-third of a million dollars shall cease and determine and the property shall belong to and be delivered to said survivor, but if said survivor dies before attaining such age of twenty-five years this trust shall then cease and determine and the trust property shall belong to and be delivered to his or her children, or if there be none such, then to his or her heirs at law.

One Million for C. G. Lathrop.

II

I give and bequeath to my brother Charles Gardner Lathrop, the sum of one million ($1,000,000) dollars.

III

I give and bequeath to Miss Bertha Berner, secretary and devoted friend to me through nineteen years of trial and sorrow, the sum of fifteen thousand ($15,000) dollars.

IV

To the following faithful and devoted servants, Mrs. Charles Robertson, housekeeper for fourteen years; to Charles Wooster, coachman for over forty years; to Edward Largely, valet to my husband for twelve years; to John Kelly, gardener and caretaker of our home in Sacramento, Cal., corner Eighth and N streets, in our service for forty-one years; to Ah Wing, servant for twenty years, — to each and every one I give and bequeath the sum of one thousand ($1,000) dollars.

Many Bequests to Charities.

V

I give and bequeath to the Old Ladies' Home in Albany, State of New York, of which Mrs. General Frederick Townsend is, or was, president, the sum of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars.

VI

I give and bequeath to the Protestant Orphan Asylum of Albany, State of New York, of which my dear father was treasurer for twenty-five years or more, and of which General John P. Rathbone was president, the sum of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars.

VII

I give and bequeath to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of San Francisco, California, of which my deceased brother, Henry C. Lathrop, was a member, that the society may bear him in loving memory, and for the benefit of the poor and needy of that organization, the sum of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars.

VIII

I give and bequeath to the Hospital for Children and Training School for Nurses, at No. 3700 California Street, San Francisco, California, of which Mrs. W. B. Harrington is president, the sum of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars.

IX

I give and bequeath to the California Woman's Hospital, at No. 3118 Sacramento street, San Francisco, California, of which John Bermingham is president, the sum of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars.

X

I give and bequeath to the Sisters of the Holy Family, for the benefit of the children under their care, their convent being at No. 890 Hayes Street, in San Francisco, California, the sum of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars.

XI

I give and bequeath to the Hebrew Home for the Aged Disabled, at No. 507 Lombard street, San Francisco, California, of which Samuel Polack is president, the sum of ten thousand ($10,000) dollars.

XII

I give and bequeath to the trustees of the House of Benevolence, at Eleventh and Martha streets, San Jose, California, the sum of five thousand ($5,000) dollars.

XIII

I give and bequeath to the Sheltering Arms Society at First and Humboldt streets, San Jose, Cal-

ifornia, the sum of five thousand ($5,000) dollars.

XIV

I give and bequeath to the College of Notre Dame, corner of Santa Clara and Santa Teresa streets, San Jose, California, in recognition and memory of the kindnesses shown to me and those I love by the sisters in charge of the same, the sum of five thousand ($5,000) dollars.

XV

I give and bequeath to the San Jose Sanitarium and Home, on Race street, near San Jose, California, the sum of five thousand ($5,000) dollars.

XVI

I give and bequeath to the San Francisco Protestant Orphan Asylum Society, Haight Street, between Laguna and Buchanan streets, San Francisco, California, of which Mrs. William Alvord was formerly president, the sum of five thousand ($5,000) dollars.

XVII

I give and bequeath to the Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum, N street south, between Eighteenth and Twentieth streets, San Francisco, California, under charge of the Sisters of Charity, the sum of five thousand ($5,000) dollars.

XVIII

I give and bequeath to the Armitage Orphanage of San Francisco, with orphanage at San Mateo, California, and of which Mrs. Austin Tubbs is president, the sum of five thousand ($5,000) dollars.

XIX

I hereby direct and it is my will that each and all of the bequests made in the foregoing paragraphs be and the same are hereby modified and changed so that in case my estate shall to any large extent consist of bonds, as it does at present, the said bequests may in whole or in part, at the discretion and option of my executors, be paid partly in such bonds and partly in money, each bond of the par value of one thousand dollars being taken and considered as the equivalent in value of one thousand dollars in money, and bonds of the par value of five hundred dollars as the equivalent in value of five hundred dollars in money. Since executing former wills, a kind Providence has brought about more favorable conditions in the affairs of the estate left me by my beloved husband, and for this reason I have greatly enlarged my gifts to the Leland Stanford Junior University, and I now feel justified in enlarging, as I have done in this will, my bequests to my relatives and friends and different charities, which have been ever dear to my heart.

Wardrobes and Plate.

XX

All my wardrobe and wearing apparel, all household linen in my city and country homes, and all toilet articles of my own, my dear husband's and son's, Leland Stanford Junior, I direct shall be distributed by my brother, Charles Gardner Lathrop, according to his best judgment, between himself and his daughter, Jennie Stanford Lathrop. The wardrobes of my dear son, Leland Stanford Junior, and of my beloved husband I give to my brother, Charles Gardner Lathrop, knowing he will carry out my wishes in regard thereto, and I also give and bequeath to my said brother all such silver plate as is not mentioned as having already been given to the trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, and by them to be placed in the museum connected with said university.

XXI

All silver in the house, corner of Powell and California streets, San Francisco, California, and in my country home on the Palo Alto farm, Santa Clara county, all the Elkington silver dinner set and ornaments, gold-plated service, dinner plates, gold Russian spoons, salt cellars, egg cups, special gifts of affection from my husband, and other silver are designated already in a deed of gift to the trustees; also all works of art, paintings, curios, china of rare quality, photographs, rare old furniture, vases, clocks, statues of all kinds, marbles, bronzes, mosaics of all kinds, marble busts, already given to the trustees from my home at Palo Alto farm and San Francisco, also included and to be placed in the museum as aforesaid named, and I hereby confirm the gift of the articles mentioned in this paragraph.

XXII

All the rest, residue and remainder of my property and estate, of every kind and nature and wheresoever situated, not hereinbefore disposed of, I give, devise and bequeath to the board of trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University as founded and endowed by my husband and myself by our joint grant of November 11, 1885, recorded in the county of Santa Clara, in liber 83 of deeds, at page 25 et seq., and confirmed by grants dated December 9, 1901, to have and to hold to the said trustees and to their successors forever as an integral part of the endowment of the said unversity, upon the trust that the principal thereof shall forever remain intact, and that the rents, issues and profits thereof shall be devoted to the maintenance of said university for the uses and purposes and upon the trusts in said grant and to which the endowment made by the said grant is devoted.

I desire and again request of the board of trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University that they shall, as soon as possible, place and safely preserve in the museum of the university all articles which I have given them from my houses mentioned, only excepting what is given to my brother Charles G. Lathrop. All the books in my homes, all periodicals, all things suitable for a library, I desire the trustees to place, as soon as possible, in the new library building connected with the university. The ivory painted breastpin, surrounded with small brilliants, picture of my son, and one of the same of my mother, and another with large diamonds surrounding it of my husband, I desire shall be placed and carefully preserved in one of the cases in the memorial room of my husband in the Stanford museum building.

XXIII

I nominate and appoint my brother, Charles G. Lathrop, and my friends, Russell J. Wilson of San Francisco, Timothy Hopkins of Menlo Park, Joseph D. Grant of San Francisco, Whitelaw Reid of New York, and T. G. Crothers of San Francisco, to be the executors of this my will. No bonds shall be required of them, either upon qualification as executors or for the performance of any of the trusts of this will, either as executors or otherwise.

Positions for C. G. Lathrop.

XXIV

It is my solemn wish and desire that my dear brother, Charles G. Lathrop, who has been unsurpassed in his devotion and loyalty to me through my trials and sorrows during the past ten years, and devoted to all the interests left me by my dear husband, should be retained in the board of directors of the Pacific Improvement Company as long as my estate retains any interest therein.

I hereby request that the board of trustees of the university shall retain my brother, Charles G. Lathrop, as treasurer of and business manager for the board of trustees, he to receive annually the salary of twelve thousand ($12,000) dollars each year, and I trust for my sake my dear brother will be willing to retain the position and accept the compensation named.

Will Must Be Respected.

XXV

Of the large estate comitted to the hands of my husband and myself I have made what I consider the wisest and most just disposition, and the disposition most in accordance with the cherished wishes long entertained by my husband and myself, and I shall greatly deplore any attempt to disturb it; and if any devisee or legatee under the above-written will, or any person who, if I died intestate, would be entitled to any part of my estate, should either directly or indirectly attempt to oppose or set aside the probate of this will, or to impair, invalidate or set aside its provisions, or to set aside or avoid, or to have declared void, null or ineffectual any transfer or grant made or attempted to be made by my husband or myself to said trustees of said university, then and in that case I give and bequeath to such person or persons the sum of one hundred ($100) dollars, and no more, in lieu of any other share or interest under the will or in my estate; and I expressly declare and provide that to take any part directly or indirectly in such an attempt shall be held and conclusively deemed to be an election by the person or persons doing so to take the said one hundred ($100) dollars, and no more, in lieu of all interest in my estate, and all the rest of the interest that would otherwise have gone to such person or persons by devise or inheritance shall pass under the residuary clause of the said will.

XXVI

I hereby revoke all former wills by me at any time made.

XXVII

I wish thus publicly to acknowledge my great gratitude to an all-wise, loving, Heavenly Father for His sustaining grace through the past ten years of bereavement, trial and disappointments. In all I have leaned hard on this Great Comforter and found rest and peace. I have no doubt about a future life beyond this: a fair land where no more tears will be shed and no more partings had.

To this, my last will and testament, I have on this 28th day of July, A.D. 1903, in the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, set my hand and seal in triplicate.

Jane Lathrop Stanford. [SEAL]

The foregoing instrument, consisting of twenty-one pages, including this page, was on the day and date thereof, at the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, signed by the above-named Jane Lathrop Stanford, and by her published and declared to be her last will and testament in our presence, and we thereupon, at her request, and in her presence, and in the presence of each other, hereunto subscribe our names as subscribing witnesses, with our respective places of residence.

Mountford S. Wilson San Francisco, Cal.; Robert G. Hooker, San Francico, Cal. Charles H. Lovell, Oakland, Cal.; T. F. Draper, San Francisco, Cal.

Certain Jewelry to Be Sold.

San Francisco, Cal., August 10, 1904. — I hereby make this my codical to the foregoing will. I have bought a necklace of Oriental pearls, consisting of six rows of strings. Five strings are joined together by a large antique clasp of diamonds, one string is single and has a clasp of diamonds with an emerald center. I have also three chains for the neck composed of small seed pearls. I direct that all be sold by my executors and also my private car "Stanford" be sold by them; also all of my other jewels heretofore given by me to the trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University be sold by them, and that the proceeds of all such sales be turned over to said trustees to be held and used by the said trustees for said university upon the trusts referred to in the foregoing will.

Jane L. Stanford

Communication.

Editor Daily Palo Alto:

It is the sentiment of a large number of the students that we ought to do something more than offer resolutions to show our sorrow at the death of Mrs. Stanford. However heartfelt these may be, there should be something to show that we, as students of Stanford University, feel the loss to be a personal one requiring some symbol of mourning such as is customary in like circumsances. To suspend all social functions and general student activities planned for this month is proper and fitting but inadequate. It is suggested that the men wear black ties and the women black ribbons for the rest of the semester. Some general token of mourning of that nature would express as well as anything could the grief of the whole student body. If the Executive Committee of the student body approved of this idea, they might take steps toward carrying it out.

A Senior.

State to Send Representatives.

Sacramento, March 6. — The State Legislature to-day decided to send six representatives to attend the funeral of Mrs. Stanford. Three members of the Senate and three of the Assembly will go to Stanford University on the day of the funeral. Assemblymen Waste of Berkeley and Atkinson of San Francisco have already been appointed members of the delegaion, and the other members will be named within a short time.