261 Pa. 168 | Pa. | 1918
Opinion by
In 1893 the Supreme Council of the Home Circle, a Massachusetts corporation, hereafter called the Home Circle, issued a beneficiary certificate to George P. Huntington, which provided for the payment of $2,000 to the appellee, his widow, upon “satisfactory evidence” of his death. In April, 1906, when the certificate was in full force, the Home Circle entered into an agreement with the Supreme Commandery, United Order of the Golden Cross of the World, a Tennessee corporation, hereafter called the Golden Cross, for the consolidation of the two orders by merging the entire membership of the former into the latter. In November of the same year a bill in equity was filed by a number of the members of the Golden Cross, in the chancery court of Knox County, Tennessee, against the said order and the Home Circle, alleging that the Golden Cross had no right, under its charter or the laws of the State of Tennessee, to form the said merger or consolidation, and the prayer was for a
The precise question now under consideration was decided adversely to this appellant by the Supreme Court of Massachusetts in Timberlake v. Golden Cross, 208 Mass. 411. The situation of the plaintiffs there was exactly thát of the plaintiff here, and in holding that they could recover, the court said: “The plaintiffs were not parties or privies to the action brought by Knápp and others against the defendant in Tennessee, and are in no way bound by the decision made therein: Rothrock v. Dwelling House Ins. Co., 161 Mass. 423; Pennoyer v. Neff, 95 U. S. 714.” But it is urged that this is in.conflict with what was held in Supreme Council, Royal Arcanum v. Green, 237 U. S. 531. There is no conflict between the two cases. The Royal Arcanum, a beneficial association, of which Green was a member, had, under its by-laws, changed the rates of assessments. The order was a Massachusetts corporation, and some of its members filed a bill in that state to vacate the raised rates. The Massachusetts court held that they were proper. Subsequently Green instituted a proceeding In New York state, upon the same ground and upon the same facts, and" what was decided by the Supreme Court of the
When appellee’s husband was received by the Golden Cross as one of its members under the agreement of consolidation, it did not issue a new certificate to him. It merely assumed the liability of the Home Circle, with a slight modification, which is of no importance in this issue. A by-law of the Home Circle, adopted June 13, . 1898, provides that “no action at law or in equity in any court, shall be brought or maintained in any cause or claim arising o-ut of any membership, benefit certificate, or death of a member, unless such action is brought within one year from the time when such right of action accrues.” This action is based upon the certificate issued by the Home Circle and the agreement of consolidation, and the contention of the appellant is that there can be no recovery because it was not brought until two years, less one day, after the death of the holder of the certificate. Even if the appellee was bound by the said by
The assignments of error are overruled and the judgment is affirmed.