87 Neb. 548 | Neb. | 1910
This is a suit on a 2,000-dollar beneficiary certificate issued June 30, 1900, by defendant, a fraternal beneficiary association, to Frank W. Pringle for the benefit of his mother, the plaintiff. The certificate provides that it shall become null and void in the event of assured’s conviction of a felony. When he was a member of the association he was convicted of horse-stealing, and he died in the penitentiary September 6, 1901. The case wás tried without a jury, and the trial court held that assured’s conviction forfeited his certificate and membership. For
It thus appears by defendant’s own pleading that the certificate “was issued by the defendant in the regular course of its business in the state of Nebraska,” and that it was signed and delivered in Nebraska by the officers of the local camp. In certifying to the adoption of assured and in delivering the certificate the local officers acted under the by-laws of the association. Notwithstanding allegations to the effect that the certificate is an Illinois contract, the record therefore shows that it is a Nebraska contract, enforceable according to the laws of this state. Dolan v. Supreme Council Catholic Mutual Benefit Ass’n, 113 N. W. (Mich.) 10, 116 N. W. 383, 152 Mich. 266; Johnson v. Mutual Life Ins. Co., 180 Mass. 407, 63 L. R. A. 840, note 4. In this respect the issues and proofs are the same as on the former appeal.
The evidence on both trials was the same, except it was agreed at tiie second trial that the by-laws pleaded in the amended answer were duly filed in the office of the auditor of public accounts and published in defendant’s official paper. It was pleaded in the original answer that assured had knowledge of the by-laws, and that they were duly iiled'in the office of the auditor of public accounts. Plaintiff made no question on either trial as to the filing of the by-laws in the office of the auditor of public accounts. There is no material change in the issues or proofs, and the former holding is on this appeal the law of the case.
Affirmed.