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Lower Court
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Wheaton- Fairbanks
France Bradies
Vs
David S. Yulee
This is an application for a certiorari upon an applicant of the attorneys of appellee, stating that the bill of exceptions in the case was prepared and signed in thru absence and without notice to them, one of them deposing that, "he has compared the evidence as set forth in the record with his [?] minutes of evidence and found important and material discrepancies and [?] which in the opinion of deponent render such record incomplete and unjust to his client the appellee, that the minutes of evidence him with presented to the court cautious according to the best of defendants knowledge and belief a correct statement of the evidence given by the witnesses who were produced and sworn on the trial in the [?] below. That the evidence of the two most important witnesses for [?], Doctors Weam and Peck have been reexamined by them respectively and certified on oath to be correct and that certain documentary evidence offered and read in evidence in the [?] below is not
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This case involved the attempt of one party, Francis Bridier, to "set up a certain paper writing, purporting to have been executed by Susan Murphy, deceased, and to establish the same as her last will and testament." David L. Yulee challenged the will, based on "want of mental capacity, and undue influence." Unfortunately, there are no other details with which to establish the basis for Yulee's claims.
In St. Johns County Circuit Court, the jury found the will held by Bridier to be "invalid and of no effect." Bridier pursued an appeal before the Florida Supreme Court based on charges that the circuit court had acted improperly during the trial.
One of the points of contention was the admission of testimony from a "Miss Striska." Striska apparently knew Murphy and was party to an earlier or alternate version of her will. In some circumstances this would have rendered her testimony inadmissible. However, the court found that since her testimony was corroborated by other witnesses her remarks did not mislead the jury.
The high court upheld the verdict rendered by the lower court and found in favor of Yulee.
What is most interesting about this case is the involvement of David L. Yulee, who was elected as Florida's first United States Senator in 1845 (also the first Jewish member of the U.S. Senate). Prior to that time he had practiced law in St. Augustine, served as a territorial representative to Congress, and was a delegate to the Florida constitutional convention of 1838.
Yulee owned a large sugar plantation on the Homosassa River north of Tampa and also invested in railroads. During the Civil War he served in the Confederate Congress, which after 1865 resulted in a nine-month imprisonment at Fort Pulaski in Georgia.
After his imprisonment, Yulee returned to Florida and again invested in railroads. He is credited with spurring the economic development of northeast Florida after the Civil War.
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Chicago Manual of Style
Florida Supreme Court. David L. Yulee v. Francis Bradier. 1861. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/260681>, accessed 25 December 2024.
MLA
Florida Supreme Court. David L. Yulee v. Francis Bradier. 1861. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. Accessed 25 Dec. 2024.<https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/260681>
AP Style Photo Citation
(State Archives of Florida/Florida Supreme Court)