Estate of Whalen

In this matter all the propositions of law are undisputed; the only question is as to two or three matters of fact. The applicant, Henrietta C. Whalen, claims that she entered upon the marriage state with the decedent in the city and county of San Francisco after a brief acquaintance—a year or more—without the sanction of any ecclesiastical ceremony, but after an agreement between them to live together as man and wife, followed by an immediate assumption of marital relations; and they continued to cohabit for several years, except at intervals when she went to the country on account of her health, being troubled with a neuralgic affection which was aggravated at seasons by the climate of San Francisco, according to her testimony. For years these two lived together in the northeast corner of Kearny and Jackson streets, and in other places, as man and wife, and held themselves out as such to others moving in the same limited social sphere; this is proved by the evidence of Mr. Thurston, Mr. Findley and Mrs. Taylor (or McCarthy as she is now) and her daughters and son. They are credible witnesses, and no matter how circumscribed their *204 social environment it is sufficient to…