It ’s not strange for flush the great unwashed to lead part or all of their wealth to kin and protagonist . It ’s extremely rare , however , that citizenry leave estates and fortunes to complete strangers . Here are seven of those exceptional people .
1. An unnamed wealthy Brooklynite
A New York human being who died in 1919 was well - know for his " wealth and eccentricity , " and his will did not disappoint . Heleft these instructionsto the executor of his demesne : " I own seventy one yoke of pant . It is my desire that they be sold by auction bridge after my last and that the proceeds of the sales event shall be dish out to the deserving miserable of my parish . They must , however , be disposed of severally to unlike bidder , no unmarried individual being permitted to purchase more than one pair . " The orders were bear out as he wished . It was after bring out that hidden in each pair of pants was a framework pouch hold ten 100 - dollar bills . He get out his family nothing .
2. John White
When John White of Somerset , England , go bad at the long time of 96 , he left £ 40,000 to his nephew Richard , which Richard hive up in a trust fund for his own small fry . ( White had no children of his own and had never marry . ) But the interesting part involves the remaining £ 2,000,000 of White ’s fortune . The funds were leave to a identification number of churches , school and organizations in the area — none of which had ever heard of Mr. White , and had no idea why the money was left to them . White ’s kinsfolk took it in footstep , though : " He care to storm people,“his nephew said .
3. Charles Vance Millar
Canadian attorney Charles Vance Millar was known among friend as something of a hoaxer , so no one was particularly surprised to find that his will restrain a act of unusual legacy . The unmarried , childless Millar had three friends who hat each other , so he leave them a vacation home in Jamaica … but all three men had to last there together . He leave behind a identification number of anti - horse - racing activist each $ 25,000 Charles Frederick Worth of Ontario Jockey Club descent . But the substantial clincher was his will ’s tenth clause : The remainder of Millar ’s estate was to be liquidated ten days after the date of his demise , and the full value result to the Toronto woman who had borne the most tyke in that time . TheGreat Stork Derbywas famously contend by the Supreme Court of Canada , but it exist a decade of litigation and in 1936 , the $ 750,000 value of Millar ’s remaining assets were separate among 6 women . Four had delivered 9 children each , and two others received a smaller part out of judicature . In all , Millar ’s demesne supported 54 children .
4. Dr. Meszaros
In 1930 , anewspaper composition from Viennatells the story of a youthful Austrian actress who was awarded the entireness of a stranger ’s estate . Apparently , a man referred to only as Dr. Meszaros leave behind $ 50,000 to a woman key out Corin Ward . It seems the good doctor was in love with the woman but never had the courage to talk to her , and being unmarried and childless , left his lot to her instead .
5. Henri de la Salle
Again in 1930 , a young actress found herself suddenlywealthy courtesy of a stranger . Lillian Malrup was inform by letter that a friend of her deceased uncle — whom she had never met — had die in Paris and left her $ 700,000 . The only conditions of the bequest were that she limit aside $ 100,000 in a trust stock , and then apply the interestingness to facilitate impoverished college students . Ms. Malrup was surprised , of class — she said , " I scarcely bed of M. La Salle . My uncle had refer him in missive to me . "
6. Luis Carlos de Noronha Cabral da Camara
When Luis Carlos break at 42 , he was unmarried , childless , and had no hold up relative . But the Portuguese country did n’t retain his estate , as is accustomed in such cases , because Luis Carlos hadmade agreement 13 class to begin with : his 12 - elbow room flat in Lisbon , house in the Second Earl of Guilford of Portugal , car , and 25,000 euros were to be divide as among 70 citizenry whose names he take at random from a Lisbon phone al-Qur’an . Because it ’s rather strange to have a will in Portugal , many of Luis Carlos ' benefactors conceive they were being scammed .
7. Archibald McArthur
McArthur was a deep grapheme . He lived in Dodgeville , Wisconsin after the Civil War ; though he started out penniless , he shortly became a successful lawyer and gather a respectable luck . And just as dead , he adjudicate to take a personal vow of poverty — buy the farm were the snappy causa and fancy hats he ’d become famous for among Dodgeville house physician . He ease up away almost everything and hang out in the burial ground a lot . In 1922 , he bought a railcar and moved to Florida . When he died , his will expose that he had forget each of his remaining relatives $ 5 . The rest of his money ( estimated to be worth around $ 3 million today ) cash in one’s chips to a man he ’d once met on a park terrace . McArthur is something of a celebrity in Wisconsin , where he ’s usually just calledthe Dodgeville Hermit .
