Johnny’s and
Alma’s wills

Johnny Harris made out his will on September 20, 1950, splitting his assets evenly between his wife Alma and niece Golda Davis Pollock. The gross value of his estate when he died on Dec. 6, 1953 was $28,081.99, the equivalent of about $728,000 in 2023. From this $3,743.28 was deducted in debts, including nearly $1,600 in funeral and travel expenses to take Johnny’s body back to Virginia for burial. His complete probate file can be downloaded below.

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When adjusted for inflation, Alma’s estate was more valuable than Johnny’s. It totalled $395,125, the equivalent of more than $824,000 today—almost $100,000 more in present-day dollars than Johnny’s. She had numerous accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, and savings bonds, plus shares in banks and mining, resource, and utility companies. The only real estate in her name was the Reco Hotel lots. There was no personal property of note other than her car and jewelry, including two rings (presumably one was the diamond cluster Johnny had given her on their 25th anniversary), worth an estimated $3,750. Her complete probate file can be downloaded below.

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