Okay, I'm not going to be able to transcribe all the dozens of pages of this legal battle, certainly not today, but this is what I've got so far:
George and Eva are each claiming to be James' heir, and Eva has had to hand over the will she has in her possession, the one I mentioned. The authorities comment on it, but I'll need to transcribe their commentary to figure out exactly what they're saying. If I even can: there's so much legalese! And even knowing enough Latin to figure out what the words mean or at least to identify cognates doesn't tell me what that means in practical legal terms! Like knowing "habeas corpus" means "that you have the body" tells you nothing about what it *means*.
So there's that.
An unsigned and unaddressed letter that I'm reading as being from George to Oriane, based on context, complicates things even further, because it seems to bring in a new and unidentified cast of characters.
I have the honour of yours of the 6th. The affair of the servants must be finished, and the document left in the hands of Merthens, but without giving her any renunciation on my part (if it has not already been given). The document will probably never be of any use to her, since according to all appearances the succession of my cousin will never revert to me, because even if I had my grace to be able to succeed I can only do so after the death of the brother who is in good health although imbecile, and he is much younger than me. Merthens must fear something since she desires this renunciation so much; I know her capable of anything (except good) and I know that she had practiced and studied to counterfeit my brother's handwriting, I have seen her do it and sign his name to the point where it was mistaken for his [signature]. Mr. Weideman is a good man, he apologizes to me for having forgotten to put in his list some geographical maps and some plans, but he does not mention the stamps or the wallet. Motcho maintains what he said about the money in the two belts, and that Mr. Kelly and Etienne know it very well. I only mention it to distinguish Weideman if the fact is true as I believe.
I left two books in folio at Potsdam at my brother's, I would like to have them back; The History of Muntaner and The Commentaries of Dn. in Jacme Re d'Arago. Both in old Spanish. I would also like (as I wrote to Weideman) the swords garnished with copper to my brother, and three pairs of pistols.
Who is this cousin of George and what does the document that Eva has have to do with whether he will succeed to this cousin?
But anyway, George totally thinks she forged James' will! I had no idea George and Eva hated each other, this is totally new information. Archival research is amazing. Also, George and Oriane seem to be on pretty good terms, although it's not clear to me whether that means the two Keith branches got along well before the legal battle, or just a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
It's still not clear to me whether Oriane got a *bequest* from James or possibly Peter had just loaned him some money. On the one hand, not sure why Peter would be lending money to his presumably much richer cousin. On the other hand, there's the circumstantial evidence that Peter says in his memoirs that he and his wife never deny anyone a loan (you might want to deny people loans, Peter!) and in this same batch of documents, Oriane is still trying to chase down loans she and Peter had made to other people while he was alive. So it's possible her involvement in James' posthumous legal battle involves a loan repayment. It would probably help if I was more familiar with German law and the technical meanings of the Latin phrases used therein.
Plus I just remembered that one of the arguments I'm making in this essay/book/whatever is that rich people sometimes got into debt *more*, because debt was an investment in getting even richer. And the fact that Peter didn't get into debt more than he did sounds good from a modern perspective, but our standards were not contemporary standards.
But either way, even a loan would require some kind of ties between the families before James's death!
Oh, wait, I figured out the cousin thing! It all makes sense now. I had given up on the Eva/James/George/Oriane research for the night and gone looking for something else, and what should I find but that a completely different batch of Keith family papers contains stray letters from Oriane on this subject. One of them refers to the document concerning the succession of Lord Kilmore. That rang a bell, and thanks to my discussions with liriaen on Keith family genealogy, I knew of the Earl of Kintore branch of the Keith family. Sure enough, Wikipedia tells me that in 1758, the Earl of Kintore died, leaving his brother as his heir (it says nothing about him being intellectually impaired). When he died in 1761, the title *should* have passed to George, but he was an attainted Jacobite traitor. Ahhh, that all makes sense.
I also see another familiar name: the Earl of Kintore who died in 1758 married the daughter of Lady Grange!
Okay, it's all starting to come together. It just takes persistent deciphering. From a little more reading in the second batch, it looks like this:
Eva gets all the goods as long as she pays the sum to James' domestics that George has insisted on. She has no money of her own, and she can't sell James' goods as long as they're under seal (meaning the law hasn't decided who they belong to, so nobody can sell them off), so there's a lot of back and forth on where to get the money to pay the domestics, and whether the seal can be raised. Oriane says she's fine with raising the seal.
Oohhh! More research yields more findings. I looked up this Field Marshall Lewald, who turns out to be this guy. He retired from the army and moved to Berlin in 1759 and became the governor. That reminded me that back when we were looking through the Berlin address books, we found that the governor of Berlin lived in the governor's mansion (Katte's grandfather being one such example, and we think young Katte lived there after his mother died). So yeah, Eva, sorry, you gotta move out. :P Your late husband didn't own the house, and neither do you.
So: Did Eva forge the will, or was George just being super classist at her?
ETA: Okay, I keep saying I'm done, but I keep deciphering: I think Oriane is proposing that Eva turn over the family papers and in return, Oriane will consent to raise the seal so that Eva can start using/selling/whatever the inheritance she got. And in the family papers will be the document regarding the succession to the Earldom of Kintore that George wants so badly (even though he doesn't think he's realistically got a shot at it). Btw, in the comment above, I translated "Billet" as "note", but now that I know what it is, I'm translating it "document" in this comment.
ETA 2: Oh, "I have the honor of yours on the 6th" is shorthand for the most common way of opening a letter: "I have the honor of having received your letter sent on the 6th."
George was not in Prussia at the time (still in Neutchatel and then in Spain), so he had to deal with all of this from afar. Also, because of the Kintore issue, Fritz personally wrote to G2 to obtain a pardon for George (in 1759), which was granted insofar as that he could inherit the lands if not the title (I think?). He returned to Scotland for a while in 1761 or so, too. Also also, the person to handle this and all other Prussian affairs in London at the time? Dodo v. Knyphausen, Oriane's brother. Oh, and Andrew Mitchell was involved as well, speaking on George's behalf.
I also checked the George Keith bio I'd found ages ago, which vexed me by containing lots of primary source quotes but not actually sourcing any of them. :P Anyway, it says a) that James Keith wrote to Scottish relatives on behalf of his brother some months before his death (here), but it doesn't mention the content of his letter. Might have something to do with the document in question, might not. And b) only mentions Eva Merthens once, much earlier, when they just moved to Berlin. Which is here, but I'll just quote it in full, because it does mention some "friction" she allegedly caused:
At Berlin the brothers did not live under one roof. The Field-Marshal's handsome Finnish mistress, Eva Merthens, " qui menait un peu le bon Marechal," was always somewhat jealous of his affection for his brother and of the latter 's influence over him, and often caused friction. So the Earl Marischal's home with his menagerie went on as before.
This is quite obviously biased in George's direction (I suspect the unsourced quote in this might be from him somewhere), but seems to confirm that there were issues before James' death already, and that George might have mentioned them in letters or something. No mention of James' children (by the author, not by George) except for saying that he had no legitimate ones.
George was not in Prussia at the time (still in Neutchatel and then in Spain), so he had to deal with all of this from afar.
I had the impression he was in Neuchatel, so thank you for confirming.
Also, because of the Kintore issue, Fritz personally wrote to G2 to obtain a pardon for George (in 1759), which was granted insofar as that he could inherit the lands if not the title (I think?). He returned to Scotland for a while in 1761 or so, too.
Huh, for some reason I remembered this as being just post-Seven Years War. Ah, Wikipedia says "but despite brief return trips to Scotland in 1761 and 1763–64," I must have been thinking of the second one. Well, I need to shift this episode a few years earlier in my head, then.
Also also, the person to handle this and all other Prussian affairs in London at the time? Dodo v. Knyphausen, Oriane's brother.
You know, I spent much of yesterday reading about Dodo and his diplomatic activities in London, and I somehow still didn't make the connection when I switched to reading about James and George? Thank you for connecting the dots!
At Berlin the brothers did not live under one roof. The Field-Marshal's handsome Finnish mistress, Eva Merthens, " qui menait un peu le bon Marechal," was always somewhat jealous of his affection for his brother and of the latter 's influence over him, and often caused friction. So the Earl Marischal's home with his menagerie went on as before.
See, this sounds like a totally normal family situation to me. :D (My family doesn't feud, it just does splinter groups and total radio silence until death. Less drama, but same idea.)
No mention of James' children (by the author, not by George) except for saying that he had no legitimate ones.
If you *ever* find out *any* of their names or dates, please let me know!
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-02 01:02 am (UTC)George and Eva are each claiming to be James' heir, and Eva has had to hand over the will she has in her possession, the one I mentioned. The authorities comment on it, but I'll need to transcribe their commentary to figure out exactly what they're saying. If I even can: there's so much legalese! And even knowing enough Latin to figure out what the words mean or at least to identify cognates doesn't tell me what that means in practical legal terms! Like knowing "habeas corpus" means "that you have the body" tells you nothing about what it *means*.
So there's that.
An unsigned and unaddressed letter that I'm reading as being from George to Oriane, based on context, complicates things even further, because it seems to bring in a new and unidentified cast of characters.
I have the honour of yours of the 6th. The affair of the servants must be finished, and the document left in the hands of Merthens, but without giving her any renunciation on my part (if it has not already been given). The document will probably never be of any use to her, since according to all appearances the succession of my cousin will never revert to me, because even if I had my grace to be able to succeed I can only do so after the death of the brother who is in good health although imbecile, and he is much younger than me. Merthens must fear something since she desires this renunciation so much; I know her capable of anything (except good) and I know that she had practiced and studied to counterfeit my brother's handwriting, I have seen her do it and sign his name to the point where it was mistaken for his [signature]. Mr. Weideman is a good man, he apologizes to me for having forgotten to put in his list some geographical maps and some plans, but he does not mention the stamps or the wallet. Motcho maintains what he said about the money in the two belts, and that Mr. Kelly and Etienne know it very well. I only mention it to distinguish Weideman if the fact is true as I believe.
I left two books in folio at Potsdam at my brother's, I would like to have them back; The History of Muntaner and The Commentaries of Dn. in Jacme Re d'Arago. Both in old Spanish. I would also like (as I wrote to Weideman) the swords garnished with copper to my brother, and three pairs of pistols.
Who is this cousin of George and what does the document that Eva has have to do with whether he will succeed to this cousin?
But anyway, George totally thinks she forged James' will! I had no idea George and Eva hated each other, this is totally new information. Archival research is amazing. Also, George and Oriane seem to be on pretty good terms, although it's not clear to me whether that means the two Keith branches got along well before the legal battle, or just a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
It's still not clear to me whether Oriane got a *bequest* from James or possibly Peter had just loaned him some money. On the one hand, not sure why Peter would be lending money to his presumably much richer cousin. On the other hand, there's the circumstantial evidence that Peter says in his memoirs that he and his wife never deny anyone a loan (you might want to deny people loans, Peter!) and in this same batch of documents, Oriane is still trying to chase down loans she and Peter had made to other people while he was alive. So it's possible her involvement in James' posthumous legal battle involves a loan repayment. It would probably help if I was more familiar with German law and the technical meanings of the Latin phrases used therein.
Plus I just remembered that one of the arguments I'm making in this essay/book/whatever is that rich people sometimes got into debt *more*, because debt was an investment in getting even richer. And the fact that Peter didn't get into debt more than he did sounds good from a modern perspective, but our standards were not contemporary standards.
But either way, even a loan would require some kind of ties between the families before James's death!
Oh, wait, I figured out the cousin thing! It all makes sense now. I had given up on the Eva/James/George/Oriane research for the night and gone looking for something else, and what should I find but that a completely different batch of Keith family papers contains stray letters from Oriane on this subject. One of them refers to the document concerning the succession of Lord Kilmore. That rang a bell, and thanks to my discussions with
I also see another familiar name: the Earl of Kintore who died in 1758 married the daughter of Lady Grange!
Okay, it's all starting to come together. It just takes persistent deciphering. From a little more reading in the second batch, it looks like this:
Eva gets all the goods as long as she pays the sum to James' domestics that George has insisted on. She has no money of her own, and she can't sell James' goods as long as they're under seal (meaning the law hasn't decided who they belong to, so nobody can sell them off), so there's a lot of back and forth on where to get the money to pay the domestics, and whether the seal can be raised. Oriane says she's fine with raising the seal.
Oohhh! More research yields more findings. I looked up this Field Marshall Lewald, who turns out to be this guy. He retired from the army and moved to Berlin in 1759 and became the governor. That reminded me that back when we were looking through the Berlin address books, we found that the governor of Berlin lived in the governor's mansion (Katte's grandfather being one such example, and we think young Katte lived there after his mother died). So yeah, Eva, sorry, you gotta move out. :P Your late husband didn't own the house, and neither do you.
So: Did Eva forge the will, or was George just being super classist at her?
ETA: Okay, I keep saying I'm done, but I keep deciphering: I think Oriane is proposing that Eva turn over the family papers and in return, Oriane will consent to raise the seal so that Eva can start using/selling/whatever the inheritance she got. And in the family papers will be the document regarding the succession to the Earldom of Kintore that George wants so badly (even though he doesn't think he's realistically got a shot at it). Btw, in the comment above, I translated "Billet" as "note", but now that I know what it is, I'm translating it "document" in this comment.
ETA 2: Oh, "I have the honor of yours on the 6th" is shorthand for the most common way of opening a letter: "I have the honor of having received your letter sent on the 6th."
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-02 11:01 am (UTC)George was not in Prussia at the time (still in Neutchatel and then in Spain), so he had to deal with all of this from afar. Also, because of the Kintore issue, Fritz personally wrote to G2 to obtain a pardon for George (in 1759), which was granted insofar as that he could inherit the lands if not the title (I think?). He returned to Scotland for a while in 1761 or so, too. Also also, the person to handle this and all other Prussian affairs in London at the time? Dodo v. Knyphausen, Oriane's brother. Oh, and Andrew Mitchell was involved as well, speaking on George's behalf.
I also checked the George Keith bio I'd found ages ago, which vexed me by containing lots of primary source quotes but not actually sourcing any of them. :P Anyway, it says a) that James Keith wrote to Scottish relatives on behalf of his brother some months before his death (here), but it doesn't mention the content of his letter. Might have something to do with the document in question, might not.
And b) only mentions Eva Merthens once, much earlier, when they just moved to Berlin. Which is here, but I'll just quote it in full, because it does mention some "friction" she allegedly caused:
At Berlin the brothers did not live under one roof. The Field-Marshal's handsome Finnish mistress, Eva Merthens, " qui menait un peu le bon Marechal," was always somewhat jealous of his affection for his brother and of the latter 's influence over him, and often caused friction. So the Earl Marischal's home with his menagerie went on as before.
This is quite obviously biased in George's direction (I suspect the unsourced quote in this might be from him somewhere), but seems to confirm that there were issues before James' death already, and that George might have mentioned them in letters or something. No mention of James' children (by the author, not by George) except for saying that he had no legitimate ones.
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2024-09-02 06:45 pm (UTC)George was not in Prussia at the time (still in Neutchatel and then in Spain), so he had to deal with all of this from afar.
I had the impression he was in Neuchatel, so thank you for confirming.
Also, because of the Kintore issue, Fritz personally wrote to G2 to obtain a pardon for George (in 1759), which was granted insofar as that he could inherit the lands if not the title (I think?). He returned to Scotland for a while in 1761 or so, too.
Huh, for some reason I remembered this as being just post-Seven Years War. Ah, Wikipedia says "but despite brief return trips to Scotland in 1761 and 1763–64," I must have been thinking of the second one. Well, I need to shift this episode a few years earlier in my head, then.
Also also, the person to handle this and all other Prussian affairs in London at the time? Dodo v. Knyphausen, Oriane's brother.
You know, I spent much of yesterday reading about Dodo and his diplomatic activities in London, and I somehow still didn't make the connection when I switched to reading about James and George? Thank you for connecting the dots!
At Berlin the brothers did not live under one roof. The Field-Marshal's handsome Finnish mistress, Eva Merthens, " qui menait un peu le bon Marechal," was always somewhat jealous of his affection for his brother and of the latter 's influence over him, and often caused friction. So the Earl Marischal's home with his menagerie went on as before.
See, this sounds like a totally normal family situation to me. :D (My family doesn't feud, it just does splinter groups and total radio silence until death. Less drama, but same idea.)
No mention of James' children (by the author, not by George) except for saying that he had no legitimate ones.
If you *ever* find out *any* of their names or dates, please let me know!
Re: Keith family drama
Date: 2025-01-09 04:40 am (UTC)I know her capable of anything (except good)
OUCH.