The Bitter Fight Over the Kenyon Estate
Second cousins challenge the will of a Seattle pioneer, alleging madness and manipulation by the family who cared for him.
The long-anticipated contest of the will of J. Gardner Kenyon, who died in this city on December 22, 1892, leaving an estate valued at a large sum, was commenced in the probate court yesterday by three of the dissatisfied heirs. Watson W. Moore, Lagsie W. Moore, and Josephine Moore, second cousins of the deceased, have asked the court to declare the will void, claiming Kenyon was not of sound mind and was under the undue influence of Wilmer and Mary C. Palmer, at whose house he died. The contestants also allege that Benjamin Kenyon, to whom the bulk of the estate was left, is an impostor. J. Gardner Kenyon was a pioneer who arrived in Seattle in 1871 after a life as a miner and lumberman in California.
“The court is asked to declare the will void for the reason that Kenyon was not sane and could not legally distribute his property.”
Estate battles are a timeless feature of Seattle's history, highlighting how wealth accumulation by early settlers often triggered complex litigation among extended family members. The suspicion of 'undue influence' by caregivers remains a common legal trope in probate disputes today.
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