Rensselaer Journal, Volume 12, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 September 1902 — PROVIDES HOME FOR NEEDY SICK [ARTICLE]

PROVIDES HOME FOR NEEDY SICK

W, S. Stratton Leaves Bulk of His Fortune for Great Sanitarium. IS MONUMENT TO HIS FATHER Man Who Made His Millions by Lucky Mining Strike Names Trustees to Carry Out His Wishes Regarding Humanitarian Institution. The millions of dollars that Winfield Scott Stratton, when poverty stricken and in poor health, found in his famous Independence mine at Cripple Creek he has returned to the poor and the sick. The will of the miner who made the greatest strike in Colorado, which was filed for probate at Colorado Springs, gives $1,000,000 to build the Myron Stratton home for sick persons in that city, and practically all the rest of his vast estate, valued at nearly $20,000,000, is set aside to maintain the home. Stratton’s son, Harry Stratton of Toulon, 111., is given $50,000 on condition that he does not contest the will. Stratton was divorced fram his wife when the boy was born. Home for Consumptives. The Myron Stratton home is called in honor of the memory of Stratton’s father, an Indianian who taught his son the trade of carpenter. In it the consumptives of Colorado, the poor, the disabled and the aged may find a home. Years ago, when Stratton, fever stricken and without money, came to Colorado and was cared for by Tabor, then a millionaire, the idea of such a home came to him. Three years ago, while' in Europe, Stratton, made a multi-millionaire by the gold ledge he discovered in 1891, became seriously ill and for three months was in a hospital. Then he planned to establish a home in Colorado Springs and worked out the details of his plans, which he embodied in his will. Money to Revert to State. The will appoints Carl S. Chamberlain of Brooklyn, D. H. Rice of Colorado Springs and Tyson S. Dynes as executors, and the instrument is dated Aug. 5, 1902. The executors are oredered to dispose of all his holdings, properties, moneys, and credits, with a few exceptions, and from the money realized to set aside $1,000,000 for the erection of the buildings. The will states that in case any portion of the will is invalidated by any contest that may be brought, such part of the estate that is affected is to be given to the state of Colorado for the maintenance of its public charitable institutions. Safeguards Institution. The objects of the Myron Stratton home are specified to be “the erection of the home for persons physically unable to earn their livelihood, whether tnrough advanced age, physical debility or otherwise are handicapped.” The will expressly shuts out all those who by reason of disease, indecency or insanity would imperil the health and happiness of other inmates. The inmates are to be selected by the board of trustees from residents of El Paso county, in which Colorado Springs is located, after which residents of the state may be received. The will further provides that the active management be left to a board of trustees and that proper inspection of the institute be made under the law. The accounts of the home shall be supervised by the district court dr a board of inspectors, to be provided for in the laws of the institution. » In Oder to insure the maintenance ot the Myron Stratton home Mr. Stratton Instructed that the balance of the estate, not utilized in the establishment of the institution, be reinvested in good interest paying securities, the income of which is to be turned over to the trustees to be used according to their discretion in keeping up the home. Other Bequests. The will of Mr. Stratton gives the family homestead to Carl S. Chamberlain of Brooklyn, N. Y. The will gives E. W. Hamlin of Jeffersonville, Ind., $50,000; to a nephew, Harry B. Hamlin, $50,000; to Mrs. Jennie Cobb Stratton of San Jose, Cal., $50,000; to Mary Cobb Smith, a niece, $50,000; to Mrs. Lillian Skelton of St. Louis, $50,000; to Elma P. Chamberlain, Brooklyn, N. Y., $50,000; to Mrs. Clair Marie Baldack, $50,000; to C. S. Chamberlain, Brooklyn, N. Y., $50,000. The will further provides that $lO,000 be left to B. C. Logan of Indianapolis, Ind,, and to the trustees of the Colorado school for the deaf and blind in Colorado Springs $25,000 is given, to be expended in bettering the condition of the present school buildings.