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184 8 CHANGING OF THE GUARD D uring the last year of his life, Lee Wilson aggressively pursued every avenue open to him to save his company from bankruptcy, confident in his ability to maneuver in a world where the federal government assumed a new and intrusive role in the agricultural economy. Following a lifelong pattern of capitalizing on opportunities whenever they presented themselves, he embraced New Deal programs, expanded operations by purchasing the 7,700-acre McFerren plantation at a bargain, and reduced the company’s long-term indebtedness by buying up Lee Wilson & Company bonds for fifty cents on the dollar. In order to pursue the McFerren acquisition, he renegotiated his indebtedness with one of his largest lenders and artfully delayed payments to other creditors. The new plantation enhanced his profile at a time when image mattered most and enabled him to lay the groundwork for the continuing prosperity of his company.1 A week before he died, however, he drafted a last will and testament that undermined his son’s expectations of taking the helm. Wilson crafted that document in order to establish support for his young mistress, Helen May Vaughan, and to further secure her protection, he bypassed his son and named two of his trusted executives as co-executors. This change positioned one of those executives, Jim Crain, to march into the vacuum left by the founder’s death and seize control of the company. Crain, a rough-hewn farm manager from a modest background who recognized that his “main chance” was at hand, undermined Roy Wilson, the effete and pampered son of the founder, who suffered from recurring bouts of malaria and turned to alcohol as a palliative. Lee Wilson’s decision to name Jim Crain and Hy Wilson (no relation) as executors of his estate reflected at least two deeply personal preoccupations that concerned him the week before he died. He intended to provide for Helen in a manner that would prevent his family from interfering with her legacy, and he did not want to place her affairs in the hands of his son, whom he neither fully CHANGING OF THE GUARD 185 trusted nor believed sufficiently competent to discharge the responsibility. The carefully crafted will called into question the family’s assertion that the “pretty young divorcee” had unduly influenced him on his deathbed. Only one aspect of the document seemed ill considered. The will failed to acknowledge his wife’s dower rights, a serious omission. Most of the rest of the provisions of the will seemed entirely in keeping with Lee Wilson’s long-felt sentiments. No one questioned Wilson’s bequest to his two nieces, Dora Davies Merrill and Eva Davies Elkins, gifts that reflected his deep and abiding attachment to— and sense of responsibility for—the daughters of his sister Victoria. Neither did any party seek to overturn provisions he made for his African American manservant, Rufus Lawrence, to whom he left the use of a one-hundred-acre farm for his lifetime. The fact that he left nothing to his three children, arguing in the will “it is my belief that moneys heretofore expended by me to, for and in their behalf amount to fair, just and liberal treatment at my hands,” aroused no challenge. They held shares in the trust worth $330,000 each, which provided them with substantial income. Two other matters, however, required negotiation between the legatees: the bequest to Helen and an even larger bequest to the Wilson School District. Although the award to Helen fascinated the public and certainly caused the family great concern, the more problematic bequest involved the one made to the Wilson School District, a gift that reflected Wilson’s enduring interest in education. The will provided the school district with the income from 2,960 shares of stock held in various entities, including two Mississippi County banks, and awarded it the income from a little more than 1,200 acres of farmland located around the original Wilson homestead. More importantly, the will made the district the beneficiary of two thousand shares of the trust. By vesting the district with voting membership in the trust, Wilson not only gave it a stake worth approximately $330,000; he provided it with a role to play in the management of the company, a matter that had previously been strictly a family affair.2 Even as the attorneys for the various legatees addressed these questions...

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