4 Iowa 180 | Iowa | 1856
As the argument for the appellants, is chiefly based on the alleged incapacity of the Methodist Episcopal Church to take the estate devised, we shall, in the first place, briefly examine that question. It is claimed that the devise is void, and that the estate descended to the heirs, not for the want of, or uncertainty as to the, beneficiaries ; nor because the object of the charity was unlawful; but because the church, not being incorporated, is incapable of taking the trust as a society.
The authorities maintaining this doctrine, are of high respectability. Among those, in which it has been held that such a devise is void, may be mentioned, The Baptist Association v. Hart's Exrs., 4 Wheaton, 1, and King v. Rundle, 15 Barb. 139. In the first-named case, the bequest was “ to the Baptist Association that for ordinary meets in Philadelphia, to be a perpetual fund for the education of youths of the Baptist denomination who shall appear promising for the ministry.” The bequest was held, not only to be void at law, but one that could not be sustained by virtue of those rules by which a court of chancery, exercising its ordinary powers, is governed. 'In King v. Rundle, charitable bequests were made to several religious bodies, and the remainder devised to the Protestant Episcopal Society, for certain purposes. The bequests to the religious bodies, and the remainder over, were held void. The distinction must be borne in mind, however, as to the power of the chancellor to enforce a charitable trust, which was either illegal, or void for indefiniteness, or vague generality, and such as are only void at law, but which will be protected and enforced in equity. In M'Cord v. Ochiltree, 8 Blackford, 16, the bequest was to “the Theological Seminary at South Hanover, in the state of Indiana, all the remainder of my estate, to continue a permanent fund, and the interest tó be applied
The case of Burr's Exrs. v. Smith, 7 Vermont, 241, was a bilkin Chancery by the executors of the testator, in which the different 2>arties claiming legacies under the will of Joseph Burr, were brought before the court, in order to the .determination of the question, whether legacies to certain charitable associations, to wit: The American Bible Society, the American Colonization Society, the American Tract Society, and others of like character, should be paid. The legacies were all to the treasurers for the time being, of voluntary associations unincorjjorated. The will was sustained,' and the legacies ordered to be paid. The court say: “ Societies, or bodies of men unincorporated, have ever been considered at common law, capable of receiving gifts or legacies, to be a2Dplied to charitable uses,” and “ the want of a charter of incorporation, was no impediment to a body of men, changing from time to time, from receiving and distributing, according to the intent of the donor, money or other property, given or granted, for a charitable use.” In the same case, we find a reference to the opinion of Judge Baldwin, in the case of Magill v. Brown, decided in the United States Circuit Court for Pennsylvania, upon the subject of charitable uses, arising under the will of Sarah Zane. We do not find any full re2)ort of the case, but it is referred to, and its substance stated, in so many instances, that we think we are justified in citing it, without any apprehension
Our conclusion from these authorities is, that as a portion of the property devised in this instance, was intended by the testator, to be a perpetual fund, for raising the sums directed to be applied annually to the support of the missions of said church, and for the payment of the minister on said Winchester Circuit, so much thereof as may be sufficient for these purposes, must be administered by trustees ; and the church, as a society unincorporated, could not execute the trust. But what is given for immediate expenditure, in erecting and finishing the church building, contemplated by the testator, would be a good devise to, and might be taken by, the church, in its own name. And, if no other direction were given by the will, there could be no valid objections, to decreeing the money to be paid to the one who ordinarily receives and keeps the funds of the church, or to its treasurer for the time being. Burr v. Smith, 7 Vermont, 311; Walker v. Childs, Ambler, 524.
We next advert to the will of the decedent, in order to ascertain in whom the legal title of the estate devised, is vested by that instrument. In arriving at a true construe
If the language used by the testator in the several clauses of his will, is such as to give to the M. E. Church, and to the trustees, the defendants, respectively the fee simple title to the land, so far as the claims are irreconcilable, the latter must prevail — the first deed, and the last will, being always entitled to take place. 2 Boper on Legacies, 328 ; Preston on Legacies, 236; Sims v. Doughty, 5 Ves. 248; Doe v. Leicester, 2 Saunton, 109. In Boyd v. Talbott, 12 Ohio, 212, the will of Boyd gave all his estate, real and personal, and all moneys and proceeds arising from the same, and all moneys remaining after the payment of debts, to his wife, for the support of herself and family. He directed what remained of his property, after his wife’s death, to be divided among his children by his executors. He further directs his executors to lease the premises, and after paying the ground rents and taxes, to pay the proceeds to his wife. The court say, in reference to the legal title: “ The first clause standing alone, would invest the wife with the title. But the power to lease, in the clause last cited, coupled with the burden of paying taxes and ground rents, implies a larger interest than a mere naked power. The intention of the testator was, not to limit an estate to the wife, but an interest in the proceeds. The title of the land, then, is found in the executors of Boyd.” To the same purport, is the case of How v. Fuller, &c., 19 Ohio, 51. We are of opinion, therefore, that the trustees named in the will, took the legal title to the real estate devised, to the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The position assumed by the complainants, that if an estate is devised to a church or society incapable of taking the legal title, the devise is void, and the estate so devised descends to the heirs, unincumbered, cannot receive our sanction. The property, in this instance, is given to a
In Bartlett v. Nye, 4 Metcalf, 378, the testator had devised real estate to the American Bible Society. The heirs claimed the estate, on the ground that the devise was void, the society being unincorporated. It was held by the court, that a valid trust having been created by the will, the heir will become the trustee of those for whose use the donation is intended, and may be compelled by a court of equity, to execute the trust. Wherever a person, by will, gives property, and points out the object, the property, and the way in which it shall go, a trust is created, unless he shows clearly that his devise as expressed, is to be controlled by the trustee, and that he shall have an option to defeat it. Inglis v. Trustees of the Sailors’ Snug Harbor, 3 Peters, 112; 2 Vesey, Jr. 335. And the court might, upon well established principles of equity, have added, that when such a trust is created, a court of equity will support and enforce it, ev§n if the donor had appointed no trustee, and had let the prop
The case of Stone v. Griffin, 3 Vermont, 400, was an action of ejectment for lands, and in its chief features bears a strong resemblance to the present case. The testator devised to the Methodist Episcopal Church, in Charlotte: “A fourth part of his real estate, the interest of which is to be appropriated for the support and payment of the constant preaching of the gospel in Charlotte, by the ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church or Society, the principal or original stock to be kept whole, and unexpended, and the interest thereof only, annually appropriated and expended as aforesaid.” He further provided for the expenditure of the surplus, if any, in erecting a meeting-house, and purchasing books for the society; and in case of the extinction of the said Church or Society, the interest was to be placed at the disposal of the Annual Conference within whose bounds the said town of Charlotte might be comprised. He appointed seven persons agents and trustees, who were to receive, possess, improve, and take charge of said real estate, for the use and benefit of said Church in Charlotte, subject to the rules and discipline of the Methodist Church. The one-fourth of the real estate was set off according to the will, by the Court of Probate,' to the trustees for the church, and they took
"We therefore think, that in no event, except upon the entire failure of the cestui que trust, would the complainants in this case, the heirs at law of the testator, be entitled to claim the estate devised by him for the charitable purposes mentioned in his will; and especially can they not come into a court of chancery, to have the devise declared void, and their claim to the estate made good. It belongs peculiarly to a court of equity to enforce a trust, recognized by the law of the land. And where the trust is for a definite object, and is sustained in point of law, there is no reason why the court, instead of declaring it void, and setting it aside, should not carry it into effect according to the benevolent intentions of the testator. The answer of the defendants, in order to show the nature of the charitable use intended to be established by the testator, and its consistency with the laws and public policy, as well as the capacity of the church to take the estate devised to it, sets forth fully and at length, the constitution and organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, its nature, objects, and purposes. "We are satisfied, from the exposition given, that it should receive !the protection of the court, in securing it in the en
The judgment of the District Court on the demurrer, is affirmed.