Related commentaries – Vow

Keep Your Vows – Ecclesiastes 5:1 – 5:7

Harry Truman Cut One Grandnephew Out of His Will

The will of the late President Harry S. Truman raised some eyebrows when he left bequests of $500 each to fifteen of the sixteen grandnephews and grandnieces but only $5 to one, John Ross Truman of Boston. Contacted by newspapermen, the Truman grandnephew said the will was made at a time when he was studying for the Catholic priesthood, ruling out acceptance of any inheritance because of the vow of poverty. The young man later left his theological studies, earned a law degree, and is associated with the firm of noted criminal lawyer F. Lee Bailey. But Uncle Harry, a Baptist, never changed his will. (Encyclopedia of Illustrations #10706).