Lewis, the eldest surviving son of Christopher Blankenbaker, brought suit against his siblings because he thought he was entitled fully and wholly to the one-third of his father's estate that had been designated for his brother Ephraim who died intestate without heirs. The dates are important to know. The will was written in 1781 and Ephraim died in 1783.
The first court ruled for the defendants, that is, the siblings of Lewis. Ephraim's one-third interest was to be divided among his surviving siblings. Note that Christopher had left a life interest in the farm to his widow Christina. Until she died, the question had no relevance. She died in 1815 and this is when the lawsuits began.
Lewis was not satisfied with the ruling of the court. He appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court. They overturned the lower court decision and awarded Ephraim's one-third interest to Lewis.
Apparently, by their reasoning, the law of primogeniture still held. This was the right of the eldest son to the estate of his father, if the father has not specified otherwise. Thus, when Ephraim died, his interest reverted to the estate of his father which was in trust for the benefit of Christina. At this moment, when Ephraim died, Lewis acquired his interest but had to wait for Christina's life interest to expire.
Telling these events at this time of the year, one is reminded of the Dr. Suess' story, "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." However, the grinch relented and returned all that he taken. Lewis, though, kept the property he acquired.
One wonders what happened to family relationships after this. What price did Lewis and his siblings pay? Was it worth it? Wouldn't an attitude of peace and goodwill have served them better?
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.