West v. Iowa Seventh Day Adventist Ass'n

194 Iowa 390
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedSeptember 23, 1922
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 194 Iowa 390 (West v. Iowa Seventh Day Adventist Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
West v. Iowa Seventh Day Adventist Ass'n, 194 Iowa 390 (iowa 1922).

Opinion

ARthue, J.—

I. On March. 1, 1918, Amanda Smith executed, as a gift to the Iowa Seventh Day Adventist Association, Incorporated, deeds to two pieces of property located in Charles City, Iowa. On June 27, 1919, Amanda Smith died intestate, at the age of 70 years. She was a widow, and left surviving her, as her only heirs at law, plaintiffs in this action, Hubert West and Leora Warner. The property conveyed to the association was worth approximately $2,500. She had other real estate, money, and other personal property, which she did not convey, worth about $3,000.

■ This action was brought to set aside the deeds to the association, and for a decree establishing ownership by inheritance in plaintiffs.

From her childhood until within a few years of her death, Amanda Smith had been a member of the Methodist Church. During the last five or six years of her life, she was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. .Plaintiffs claim that Amanda Smith had become, at the time of the execution of the deeds in question, entirely under the influence of defendant, and particularly of the officers of the Iowa conference of defendant association and the local minister of the church, and was governed entirely by said minister and officers; that said minister and officers unduly influenced Amanda Smith to deed the two pieces of property to said association; that, at the time of the execution of the deeds, Amanda Smith had not mental capacity to understand or comprehend the nature and consequence of the execution of said deeds; that, at and prior to said time, she was in such a weakened mental condition that she became insane on religion, and especially the religion preached and practiced by the defendant association; and that her weakened mind was overcome and influenced by the officers of defendant association and its ministers to such an extent that she was induced to execute the deeds in question; that the deeds were without consideration, and were for the financial use of said association, and were procured by undue influence by the officers and ministers of said association.

[392]*392The defendant answered, averring thaf, at the time Amanda Smith executed the deeds in question, she was a person of sound mind, and comprehended and understood the nature of her act; and defendant specifically denied that she was unduly influenced to execute the deeds.

Upon the issues thus joined, the cause was tried. The court made findings of fact and conclusions of law in substance as follows:

That there existed between Amanda Smith and her pastor, Rev. F. W. Meyers, of the Seventh Day Adventist Church at Charles City, Iowa, at and prior to the execution of the deeds in question, the relation of parishioner and pastor, and that there also existed between Amanda Smith and Rev. A. R. Ogden, the president of the defendant corporation, at said time, and Meta Meyers, wife of said Rev. W. F. Meyers, the relation of spiritual advisers to said Amanda Smith; that, because of said relations and the peculiar religious notion of Amanda Smith in relation to what she deemed her religious duty, as being commanded by the Lord to convey said real estate, and why she must do so, said parties, or some of them, obtained and held influence over said Amanda Smith, at and prior to the time in question, whereby she was deprived of or did not possess the power to exercise a deliberate judgment in the matter; that, by virtue of such relations, the pastor and officers of said defendant church organization, or some of them, acquired influence over said Amanda Smith. The court held, as a matter of law, that, in the transactions under investigation, there was an undue exercise of such influence. The court decreed the deeds to be void, and set them aside, and quieted title to the property in plaintiffs, from which decree defendant appeals.

Involved in the case are the questions of the mental capacity of Amanda Smith to mate the deeds, and whether she was unduly influenced by the defendant, through its officers and ministers, to execute the deeds.

The record in this case is very voluminous. It would be impracticable to attempt to state the facts in detail, and it is not necessary to a decision of this case to do so.

II.' Amanda Smith had been a member of the Methodist church from childhood up to within five or six years of her [393]*393death, when she espoused the religion of the defendant association. Like most persons who change their religious faith, she became very intense in her devotion to her new affiliation. She had been married twice, and divorced from both husbands. While living with her first husband, she was a member of the Methodist church. The evidence is not clear whether he was a member of the church or not, but he was inclined to that faith. Her second husband was a Methodist, and they were living together when she joined the Adventist church; and this’ had something to do with their disagreement. He did not go with her into the Adventist church. Her children, the plaintiffs herein, are children of her first marriage. There were no children by the second marriage. There is considerable testimony concerning how she and her children got along. Some testimony tends to show that they were not entirely agreeable with each other, and that the children practically abandoned her in the last days of her life. Other testimony is to /the effect that there never was any serious difficulty between them. From an examination of the record, we conclude that the filial affection between the children and their mother was of good quality; that the children loved and revered their mother; and that her affection for them is not subject to criticism. Amanda Smith was rather stubborn, was’not very agreeable, and was quite determined in her ways. It is likely that the trouble between her and both of her husbands was largely occasioned by her rather intolerant disposition and unwillingness to concede very much. She was an industrious woman, a good housekeeper, clean and neat in every way, a good cook, and spread a good table. After she embraced the Adventist religion, she refrained from eating meat, and would not place it on her table for other folks to eat, but provided her table with plenty of other food. Likewise, after she espoused the Adventist faith, she kept Saturday, which she believed to be the Sabbath day of the Bible. Also, after she joined the Adventist church, she did not reverence Christmas, because, as she claimed, Christ was not born in December, but was born along in June or July, basing such belief on the fact that the shepherds were tending their sheep at the time, and that that greatest of all events since creation must have occurred in the summer time, and not in the winter. [394]*394She was controversial with her neighbors concerning the correct Sabbath day. She argued with them that Saturday was, in fact, the Sabbath day, instead of Sunday, as generally observed. She laid great stress upon her belief about this matter. She was very explicit, and laid great stress upon the tenets of faith of her church, and believed that the devotees of other churches were in error in their belief wherein they, differed from hers, and intimated that they would suffer on that account in the future.

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Bluebook (online)
194 Iowa 390, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/west-v-iowa-seventh-day-adventist-assn-iowa-1922.