Hetty_ The Genius and Madness of America's First Female Tycoon - Charles Slack [20]
The will, much longer than its predecessor, due mainly to the long list of beneficiaries now included, took some time to read. Sylvia nodded her head as Eliot read. When he was finished, the will was placed on a board and set across Sylvias lap. Although at times she had been too weak even to pick up a pen, Sylvia now was able to sign her name without assistance. She signed each page of the will separately, to avoid any charges later of pages being added in without her knowledge. Then, all the witnesses in the room signed. They included Eliot, Simpson Hart, and Dr. Jacob Bigelow, a prominent Boston physician whom Dr. Gordon had consulted regarding Sylvia’s condition.
The new will was certainly far more catholic in its dispersal of Aunt Sylvia’s estate. She took the opportunity to thank with money those who had cared for her and been her friends. She left money for indigent widows—including some who were strangers to her.
Sylvia left $10,000 each to New Bedford widows Hannah Mc-Cofftry, Hepsa Sherman, Sylvia H. Almy, and Phebe Allen and several other women who were relations or friends. One widow, Elizabeth A. Wood, received $20,000 in the will.
Fally Brownell, the beleaguered housekeeper, was to receive $3,000, on top of the generous gifts Sylvia had already given her to compensate for putting up with Hetty’s tirades. Electa Montague, the loyal nurse and confidante, was to receive $5,000 outright. Eliza Brown, the night nurse, was remembered with $3,000.
For those employees who didn’t get outright payments, Sylvia set up trusts of $10,000 each. The trusts would ensure an income, and ensure that the recipient didn’t waste all of the money foolishly. Aunt Sylvia apparently made the decisions based on her judgment of the personal responsibility of each recipient. Those receiving trusts included Frederick Brownell, her handyman (and husband of Fally), and Pardon Gray, her driver and livery keeper. “I supposed Miss Howland thought she did it all for the best, as I generally spent all the money I made,” Pardon Gray recalled years later. “And I finally concluded myself it was for the best.”
She left money to New Bedford for a variety of works. To an outside observer, this was a particularly enlightened document, compared with the earlier will that left everything to Hetty. Among her general bequests, Sylvia left $20,000 to the New Bedford Orphans’ Home and $50,000 in trust “to be divided among the poor, aged and infirm women of New Bedford.”
The will also called for a total of $200,000 in bequests to the city of New Bedford. These included $100,000 for the city treasury, to be used toward bringing water into the city, for manufacturing purposes. This bequest was particularly prescient, as it anticipated the importance of steam power. “I give this legacy to my city, because I believe that its prosperity depends much upon the establishment and encouragement of manufactures within the city.” The other $100,000 would be given to the city council, half “to promote liberal education” and the other half for enlargement of the New Bedford Free Public Library.
She also set aside large sums for certain individuals. Among these was Thomas Mandell, the partner in the whaling firm, manager of her money, and the designated executor of her will, who would receive $200,000. She provided $100,000 to Edward Robinson, whom she detested—a bequest most likely included to discourage Hetty’s father from trying to break the will. Sylvia, like any other objective observer in September 1863, would have assumed that the hearty, aggressive Robinson would outlive her. And Sylvia had always felt cowed by her brother-in-law. She also provided a $50,000 outright gift to each of the