Docket No. 2561.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
on behalf of
David J. Sherlock, individually and as Executrix of the Estates of William F. Colbert and Helena M. Colbert, Deceased, Mary J. Sherlock, and Estate of Mary Colbert, Deceased,
Claimants,
v.
GERMANY.
PARKER, Umpire, rendered the decision of the Commission.
This case is before the Umpire for decision on a certificate of the National Commissioners[a] certifying their disagreement.
It appears from the record herein that William F. Colbert, an American national through naturalization, then 47 years of age, and his wife, Helena M. Colbert, then about 51 years of age, were passengers on and were both lost with the Lusitania.
William F. Colbert was survived by his mother and by three brothers and two sisters. One of the sisters was married. The mother was then about 66 years of age and resided with her three other sons and unmarried daughter, the youngest of whom was 25 years of age, whose situations are not disclosed. William F. Colbert and his wife maintained a separate establishment, as did also his married sister. The mother died on or about October 10, 1921. No claim is put forward on behalf of Colbert’s brothers and sisters.
Helena M. Colbert was survived by a brother, David J. Sherlock, then 47 years of age, a sister, Mary J. Sherlock, then 43 years of age, both American nationals, and four nieces and one nephew, the children of a deceased brother. No claim is put forward on behalf of these nieces and nephew.
The deceased left wills, under each of which the claimant David J. Sherlock has qualified as executor. Both wills bore date of April 19, 1915. Mrs. Colbert bequeathed all her real property located in Ireland and all her personal property deposited in Ireland, “which real and personal property is a legacy from the estate of my aunt and her husband”, to William F. Colbert, her husband, David J. Sherlock, her brother, and Mary J. Sherlock, her sister, to each one-third. Her burial plot and her furniture and household effects she bequeathed to David J. and Mary J. Sherlock, and the remainder of her estate to her husband.
William F. Colbert bequeathed his entire estate to his wife or, if she should not survive him, then to his wife’s brother and sister, David J. and Mary J. Sherlock, to each one-half. He carried insurance to the amount of $1,000 on his life, payable to his estate, which sum has been paid to his executor. No provision was made by him either through insurance or by his will for his mother.
William F. Colbert had been employed for something over five years by an insurance company as an agent, from which position he resigned on April 26, 1915, to return to Ireland, his native land, where his wife had inherited property, both real and personal. The purpose of his trip and the probable length of his stay are only inferentially disclosed by the record. His earnings of 1910 to 1914, both inclusive, averaged $1,141.16 per annum. At the time of his resignation to go abroad he was “receiving a weekly salary of approximately $22.59”. The salary of David J. Sherlock exceeded that of the decedent and the earnings of Mary J. Sherlock were only slightly less than those of the decedent. There is no evidence that either David or Mary Sherlock was dependent upon the decedents or that the decedents ever contributed to their support. They inherited the entire estates of which the decedents died possessed.
There is a statement in the record that William F. Colbert “contributed a considerable portion of the amounts necessary” for the support of his mother, but the witness confesses her inability to state “what these amounts were”. When considered in the light of the fact that his mother resided with her three other sons and unmarried daughter and that decedent made no provision for his mother in the event of his death, this testimony is too flimsy to support an award on the claim put forward on behalf of the estate of that mother, who died in 1921.
The personal effects belonging to the decedents which were lost with them were of the value of $300. In the absence of testimony it will be assumed that the effects lost by each decedent were of equal value.
Applying the rules announced in the Lusitania Opinion and in the other decisions of this Commission to the facts in this case as disclosed by the record, the Commission decrees that under the Treaty of Berlin of August 25, 1921, and in accordance with its terms the Government of Germany is obligated to pay to the Government of the United States on behalf of (1) David J. Sherlock, Executor of the Estate of William F. Colbert, Deceased, the sum of one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) and (2) David J. Sherlock, Executor of the Estate of Helena M. Colbert, Deceased, the sum of one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00), with interest on each of said sums at the rate of five per cent per annum from May 7, 1915; and further decrees that the Government of Germany is not obligated to pay to the Government of the United States any amount on behalf of the claimants Mary J. Sherlock, David J. Sherlock individually, or the Estate of Mary Colbert, Deceased.
Done at Washington January 14, 1925.
EDWIN B. PARKER,
Umpire.
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[a] Dated December 22, 1924.
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