Letters Were Threatening

LETTERS WERE THREATENING

That Executor Hemphill Received from Residuaries

PETITION WAS DENIED

For His Removal from the Executorship of the Starkweather Estate.

The petition of the Newberrys and LaDues, of Detroit, for the removal of Robert W. Hemphill from the executorship of the Mary Ann Starkweather estate was promptly settled, as far as the probate court is concerned, by Judge Watkins denying it Tuesday afternoon.

The fight against Mr. Hemphill is made by a certain portion of the twenty residuary legatees who want the estate closed up and the remainder divided.

Mr. Hemphill was the only witness sworn. He stated that the inventory of the estate showed that it consisted of about $128,000 worth of property. He testified that he had paid out about $150,000 in legacies, had $4,000 on hand and that their was $50,000 worth of property still unsold. He stated that he had not sold this real estate because the prices offered would mean its sacrifice, and that he had made every effort to dispose of it to advantage. All the specific legacies that remain unpaid are $7,000 going to the Deubel family in Ypsilanti and $3,000 to William E. Newberry's child.

The contention of the petitioners was that Mr. Hemphill was dilatory. They claimed that Judge Newkirk ordered the estate closed up last May, but no such order was ever entered upon the books.

"You knew that you had been ordered to close up the estate last May?" asked Attorney Eldridge.

"Well, no, I can't say that," was the reply. "I left such matters to my attorney, Judge Babbitt."

'"Then why did you apply for an extension of time?"

"Because I was receiving threatening letters from some of the residuary legatees and I thought I better be under the protection of the court," was the startling reply.

The attorneys did not go into the matter of who sent the threatening letters or what was threatened.