158 S.W. 170 | Tex. App. | 1913
Appellee sued appellant for $1,000 alleged to be due on a certificate of insurance issued by appellant. It was alleged that appellant "is a fraternal and beneficial association duly licensed to do business in the state of Texas and incorporated under and by virtue of the laws of the state of Nebraska, and has complied with the laws of the state of Texas in appointing the Commissioner of Insurance of the state of Texas as the person on whom process may be served in any suit in which such association may be a party, and plaintiff represents that Hon. B. L. Gill is Commissioner of the Department of Insurance and Banking and resides at Austin, in Travis county, Tex., and upon whom service is prayed to be had." It was further alleged that appellee was the wife of Richard Ruedrich, who became a member of appellant's association, and a certificate was issued to him for $1,000, payable to appellee upon the death of her said husband; that on or about November, 1901, he mysteriously disappeared, and that she has heard nothing of him since that time; that he had paid all his dues and was in good standing in said association when he disappeared. Appellant filed a general demurrer and general denial. The cause was tried by the court and resulted in a judgment for appellee in the sum of $1,000.
Appellant did not, by sworn plea, deny its corporate existence as alleged in the petition, and cannot be heard to raise that question in this court, as is sought to be done through the first assignment of error. The statute is plain that an answer setting up "that the plaintiff or the defendant, alleged in the petition to be duly incorporated, is not duly incorporated as alleged" must be verified by affidavit. Article 1906, subd. 7, R.S. 1911. Unless such verified plea be filed, it is not necessary to prove the existence of the corporation. Willis v. Smith,
No objection was made in the trial court to the manner of proving the loss of the certificate and its contents, and appellant cannot raise that question in this court. The evidence showed that Paul Ruedrich was a member of appellant's association and had paid his dues, and that he had a certificate for $1,000, which was lost or misplaced. Appellee testified: "The last time I saw my husband was the 6th day of November, 1901. At that time he was a member of the Woodmen of the World. I have not his certificate of membership. At the time my husband left he was a member in good standing in this order of the Woodmen of the World. My husband was insured for $1,000 in the Woodmen of the World." She testified that some of her husband's papers were lost and she could not find the certificate, but that she had seen it and that it was for $1,000. Alf. Hartmann swore: "Mr. Ruedrich joined the Woodmen of the World when he was very young. These amounts on these receipts would indicate that he was insured for $1,000." Receipts for dues were put in evidence. The evidence was sufficient, and the second, third, and fourth assignments of error are not sustained.
The evidence showed that Richard Ruedrich, being sick, left his home and family, consisting of a wife and five children, in Guadalupe county, on November 6, 1901, stating that he was going to consult a doctor and would be back that night or the next day. He was never afterwards seen by his family. He was shown to be kind and affectionate and fond of his wife and children. Search was made for him, but nothing was ever known of what became of him, unless a decomposed body, found in San Antonio a few months after he left home, was his.
It is provided in article 5707, R.S. 1911: "Any person absenting himself beyond sea or elsewhere for seven years successively shall be presumed to be dead, in any cause wherein his death may come in question, unless proof be made that he was alive within that time."
In the case of State v. Teulon,
Under the common-law rule it was necessary to show that the absent one had not been heard from by his relatives or friends for seven years, but under the statute mere proof of absence of one from his home, beyond the sea or elsewhere, for seven successive years raises a presumption of death, which can be destroyed by proof of the existence of the absent one within that time. In the case of French v. McGinnis,
The facts in this case do not show that Richard Ruedrich left his family to go to another state or another county or town to reside, but he left with the expressed intention of returning on that or the following day. He did not return, and no one testifies to seeing him afterwards, nor was he ever heard from again. These facts easily distinguish this case from such cases as Ross v. Blount,
The man, Richard Ruedrich, loved his home, his wife, his children, his domestic relations were of the most pleasant character, and no reason was shown for his abandonment of his home and his family, and all the circumstances point to the conclusion that if living he would have returned to them as he promised to do. It is not necessary in order to raise this presumption that the removal should be beyond the seas or even to another state, but if he leaves his home and is gone for seven years, and there is no proof that he was living during that time, it will be presumed he is dead. Jones on Evidence, § 61. The presumption is based on the knowledge that persons will not ordinarily abandon a pleasant home and loved ones, and never communicate with them for a long period. Such conduct is uncommon and abnormal, and when it occurs will form a sufficient basis for the presumption that death has occurred. Appellee went beyond what is required in the statute and proved not only that her husband had disappeared but that she had sought for him and had others to do so, and had never heard a word of or from him. He passed out of his home and out of his family and social relations as completely as man ever did who had entered his grave. Rumors of him dead, not of him living, had come to his waiting wife and children, and a body, thought by an acquaintance to be Ruedrich's, was found, but which, on account of decomposition, could not be identified. The evidence meets the rule and raises the presumption that Richard Ruedrich died some time during the seven years after he left his home.
The judgment is affirmed. *173