A Testamentary Tragedy: Jefferson and the Wills of General Kosciuszko

This is the story of General Thaddeus Kosciuszko, Polish patriot and one of the freedom-loving soldiers that came from Europe to aid the Thirteen Colonies in their struggle for independence. It is a story with a strong moral: the General left four wills and three estates in three different countries. Any lawyer can imagine what happened. Thomas Jefferson, then seventy-five, found that it was too much for him to handle and he refused to become the executor of Kosciuszko's American estate. The estates were not settled until forty years after the General's death.