3 Keyes 550 | NY | 1867
This was an action of ejectment and tried by the court without a jury.
The following facts were foimd by the court:
In 1828, there was no house that had been dedicated to religious worship, and no. organized Christian denomination of any kind,' at the village of Fort Edward, in the county of Washington, and no stated preaching of the gospel nearer than Sandy Hill, about two miles distant. In that year, Bev. Julius Fields, residing at Glen’s Falls, the minister of the Methodist Episcopal church in charge of the Glen’s Falls and Sandy Hill stations, the latter station embracing Fort Edward,- did, in conjunction with members of the Methodist Episcopal church living at Fort Edward and its vicinity, go through with all the necessary steps for organizing and incorporating a religious society in Fort Edward by the name of “ The Methodist Episcopal Church of Fort Edward,” which was done in conformity with the discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States, and pursuant to the statute of the State of Hew York in such case made and provided, and said church became then duly incorporated.
That the certificate of proceedings was acknowledged before a justice of the peace of Washington county, and w;as forwarded at that time to the clerk’s office of said county for
At the meeting which was duly convened for that purpose in Fort Edward, in December, 1828, William Van Vo trick, Harry Forbes, Christopher Van. Deuzen, Laysel Bancroft and Thomas Scoville, communicants of the Methodist Episcopal church, were elected trustees of said church. On the 28th of April, 1829, Walter Rogers and his wife duly conveyed to the said Van Votrick, Forbes, Bancroft, Scoville and Van Deuzen, naming them trustees of “the Methodist Episcopal Church of Fort Edward, 'and their successors in office, parties of the second part, in .consideration of seventy-five dollars, the receipt whereof is therein acknowledged, and did grant, bargain, sell, alien, remise, release, convey, assure, enfeoff and confirm to the said parties of the second part, and to their successors in office, in trust, for the uses and, purposes thereinafter named and described, forever, the land described in the complaint, for the purpose of erecting a house or place of worship for the use of the Methodist Episcopal church; and in the further trust and confidence that the said church shall át all times enjoy the undisturbed right and privilege on these premises of the preaching of God’s holy wprd and the administration of the ordinances and the discipline of said- church according to its established usages and customs; with the single, pledge and understanding of the second part that, when the said house is not occupied by-the said Methodist church,'it shall b.e opened for the service of any other recognized Christian denomination.” The deed granted all the title of the party of the first part to the parties of the second part and their successors in office, for the purpose above named, forever, with covenants of quiet enjoyment and further assurance and general warranty. The deed was duly acknowledged and recorded in the clerk’s office of ■ Washington county, Vovember 1, 1831. Rogers was in possession of the premises at the time of said conveyance,- and owned the same in fee. Subsequently, in the years
Judgment was entered accordingly; and, on appeal to the General Term,- the same was affirmed, and the defendants now appeal to this court.
The appeal brings up for review the correctness of the judgment rendered in favor of the plaintiff, The Methodist Episcopal Church of Fort Edward, against the defendants. We are not. embarrassed by the question, discussed in the opinions of the learned judges of the fourth district. When this case was first before them, upon the report of a referee before whom the same had been tried, that referee reported as a fact, that "The Methodist Episcopal Church of Fort Edward ” was never incorporated, and never had a legal existence. The Supreme Court held, that the evidence did not authorize the referee to find this fact, and that court reversed the judgment of the referee and ordered a new trial. Upon the second trial the facts were found by the court as already detailed. We have now the fact found that said church, in of about the year 1828, was duly incorporated, pursuant to the statute of the State of Mew York in such case made and provided. The Methodist Episcopal church at- Fort Edward was, therefore, a legal corporation; and, being such, the grant of the land in dispute, made on the 28th day of April, 1829, by Walter Eogers and his wife, to the then trustees of the said church, for its use, vested the title of the lands in that corporation. 1 Bev. Stat. 727, § 47, declared, that every person who by virtue of any grant, assignment or devise, now is or hereafter shall be entitled to the actual possession of lands and receipt of the rents and profits thereof, shall be deemed to have a legal estate therein of the same quality and duration, and subject to the same conditions as his beneficial interest.
Upon the facts found by the referee the Methodist church corporation have never parted with the legal title to the lands in dispute so vested in them, and that corporation is therefore the proper party to maintain this' action.
These views are decisive of this case, and lead to an affirmance of the judgment of the Supreme. Court.
' All. concur.
Judgment affirmed.