Mason's Executors v. Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church

27 N.J. Eq. 47
CourtNew Jersey Court of Chancery
DecidedFebruary 15, 1876
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 27 N.J. Eq. 47 (Mason's Executors v. Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Court of Chancery primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mason's Executors v. Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 27 N.J. Eq. 47 (N.J. Ct. App. 1876).

Opinion

The Chancellor.

The bill seeks a construction of the will of Dr. William K. Mason, late of Tuckerton, in Burlington county. The will is dated March 16th, 1870. To it there are two codicils, one dated August 27th, 1872, and the other April 14th, 1874. The questions propounded arise upon the following items of the will and codicils: Eighth section of the will: I give and bequeath to the Sunday school of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Tuckerton, the sum of $150; to the Sunday school of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Bass River, the sum of $100, and to the Sunday school of the Presbyterian Church at Tuckerton, the sum of $100, to be placed at interest under bond and mortgage, so as that they may each receive annually the interest accruing thereon, for the purpose of procuring books for the said school each and every year.”

Tenth section of the will: I give and bequeath to the children of my deceased sister, Mary Ann Cook, viz.: William Montgomery, Sarah Hyflinger and Mary Ann Wright, and their heirs, the sum of $800, to be invested on real estate, and secured by bond and mortgage, and the interest accruing thereon to be collected annually, and to be equally divided between them forever.”

First item of the first codicil: “ I do hereby give and bequeath unto William Montgomery, the son -of my niece, Elizabeth Montgomery, deceased, my wearing apparel and $150 in cash, in full of all bequests to him.”

Eleventh item of the will: I give and bequeath to my sister, Sarah Whitaker, and her children, the sum of $1000, to be invested in real estate under bond and mortgage, and the interest to be collected and paid to them annually, and divided equally between them forever.”

Fourth item of the second codicil: “I give and bequeath to my sister, Sarah Whitaker, the additional sum of $300, in addition to what I have already bequeathed to her.”

Twelfth item of the will: “ I give and bequeath to the townships of Little Egg Harbor and Bass River, in trust, the sum of $500, to be invested in real estate under bond and [50]*50mortgage, for the use and benefit of the inhabitants of said townships, and the interest to be collected annually, and divided between said townships in proportion to the number of inhabitants in each, for the purpose of educating their poor orphan children; and in case the same shall not all be consumed or used for this purpose, the balance of said interest so to be appropriated annually to the poor widows of said township.”

Thirteenth item of the will: “ I give and bequeath unto the New Jersey State. Lunatic Asylum, the sum of $500, to be invested in real estate under bond and mortgage, and the interest to be collected annually, and to be appropriated annually under the superintendence and direction of Hr. Buttolph, the superintendent of said institution, and his successors in office forever, for the purchase of books and papers for the benefit of the unfortunate inmates of said institution.”

The question submitted on the eighth item of the will is, whether the moneys mentioned therein shall be paid, and if so, to whom? The bequests are to the Sunday schools of three churches. They are charities for the benefit of the children taught in those schools. ■ The schools are not incorporated bodies. They are organized adjuncts of the churches, and are part of the means of religious instruction therein. The churches to which they are attached are corporations. The objects and purposes which the testator intended to accomplish by the bequests are within the general scope of the purposes of the institution of those corporations, and the trusts relate to matters which will promote and aid their general purposes. Each church corporation will, therefore, (there being no trustee appointed by the will,) be appointed trustee to receive the money bequeathed to its Sunday school on the trust declared in the bequest, and will be required to administer the trust accordingly. Perry on Trusts, § 43.

The bequest of $800, made in the tenth item, to the children of the testator’s deceased sister, Mary Ann Cook, and their heirs, naming as such children, William Montgomery, Sarah Hyflinger and Mary Ann Wright, with direction that [51]*51the money he invested on bond and mortgage of real estate, and that the interest thereon “ be divided equally between ■them forever,” is a gift to the persons therein named as tenants in common, and there is, therefore, no survivorship. Hawkins on Wills 111, 112; Jarman on Wills 293, n., 295, n.; 2 Redfield on Wills 586; Bagwell v. Dry, 1 P. W. 700; Page v. Page, 2 P. W. 489; Owen v. Owen, 1 Atk. 494; Peat v. Chapman, 1 Ves., Sr., 542; Ackerman v. Burrows, 3 V. & B. 54; Downing v. Marshall, 23 N. Y. 366. The fact that the gift is to them and their heirs, would not limit their interest in the fund to a life estate, unless there were a clear expression of intention that, the gift to them should be only a life estate. 2 Redfield on Wills 385. There is no such expression. And under the bequest the legatees named are entitled to the fund itself. The gift of the $800 is absolute. The produce of the fund is given to them without limit as to time. There is no limitation over, or further disposition of the fund or interest. Gulick’s Ex’rs v. Gulick, 10 C. E. Green 324, and cases there cited. S. C., on appeal, post.

That bequest, so far as William Montgomery is concerned, was revoked by the first codicil, the first clause of which 'gives to him the testator’s wearing apparel and $150 in cash, u in full of all bequests to him.” This bequest in the codicil is not a cumulative legacy, but is substitutional. The testator had, by the will, given to William Montgomery, in addition to a share of the $800, his wearing apparel; and he had also given the residue of his estate, if any, to the children of his sister; Sarah Whitaker, and the children of his deceased sister, Mary Ann Cook, among whom he reckoned William Montgomery, as will have been seen by the $800' bequest. Montgomery, in fact, was not the child, but the grandchild of Mary Ann Cook. He was the son of her deceased daughter. That the testator intended the bequest in the codicil as a substitute for the bequest in Montgomery’s favor in the will, is evidenced by the fact that he had, in the will, as before stated, given his wearing apparel to Montgomery, and by the words used in the bequest, in the codicil, “ in full of all bequests to [52]*52him.” By the words “ in full,” the testator1 meant “ in lieu.”’ Where he intended to give a cumulative' legacy, he used appropriate and unequivocal language for the purpose,' as appears by the fourth item of the second codicil, in which he gives and bequeaths to his sister, Sarah Whitaker, “ the additional sum of $300, in addition ” to what he had already bequeathed to her.

The fact that the bequest to William Montgomery of a share of the $800 was. revoked, and that that share is not otherwise1 disposed of, will not give to Sarah Hyñinger and Mary Ann Wright the entire fund. Cresswel v. Cheslyn, 2 Eden 123; S. C., 6 Bro. P. C. 1. They are each entitled to one-third of' the $800. They have applied for payment of the fund to them. Their shares will, notwithstanding the direction for investment, be paid over to them.

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Bluebook (online)
27 N.J. Eq. 47, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/masons-executors-v-trustees-of-the-methodist-episcopal-church-njch-1876.