Family Lawsuit · 1890s

Mary Snell Stone — Adoption Dispute

Mary Snell Stone believed she was entitled to a share of her father’s estate. The court said she was not his daughter — not legally. She received nothing.

Mary Snell Stone was raised in the Snell household and knew no other family. She had grown up as Amos Snell’s daughter, had taken his name, and had every reason to believe she would share in his estate when he died. When the probate proceedings began in 1888, she filed her claim alongside her siblings.

The challenge came from within the family itself. Other heirs — or their legal representatives — raised the question of Mary’s legal status. The claim was that Mary had been adopted, not born to Amos and Henrietta Snell. Under Illinois inheritance law at the time, the rights of adopted children were not equivalent to those of biological heirs. An adopted child could be disinherited, or could be excluded from intestate succession, depending on the circumstances of the adoption and the specific legal instruments involved.

The court examined the evidence and ruled against Mary. Her claim to the estate was denied. She received no share of the properties, no portion of the remaining assets, and no compensation for the years she had spent as a member of the Snell household.

"She had grown up as his daughter. The law said otherwise."

The ruling was a stark illustration of how the law of the era treated adoption. Whatever the emotional reality of Mary’s relationship with her family, the legal reality was that she had no enforceable claim. The estate that might have provided for her went to others.