Wilstach Estate

1 Pa. D. & C.2d 197, 1954 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 183
CourtPennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County
DecidedOctober 9, 1954
StatusPublished

This text of 1 Pa. D. & C.2d 197 (Wilstach Estate) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania Orphans' Court, Philadelphia County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wilstach Estate, 1 Pa. D. & C.2d 197, 1954 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 183 (Pa. Super. Ct. 1954).

Opinion

Klein, P. J.,

-Anna H. Wilstach died on February 26, 1892, leaving a will and seven codicils which were duly admitted to probate. The will was executed July 31, 1873, and provides, inter alia:

“Item. — One other equal fourth part thereof .(i.e. ■of the residue of her estate) unto the City of Philadelphia if accepted by the Fairmount Park Commissioners as now authorized by Act of Assembly, upon the conditions and for the purposes following, namely:

“To erect a secure Art Gallery in said Park for the exhibition of pictures and works in Fine Arts, on a plan similar to the new building for such exhibition at Dresden in Saxony, to be so built as to admit of extension with the increase of funds without impairing the harmony of the edifice or destruction of any portion of the. original building, but if there should be a suitable permanent building left in said Park after the Centennial celebration of 1876, in which pictures mentioned belqw may be received and preserved distinctly from other collections so as to be known as the ‘Wilstach Collection’ then the erection of another building may be omitted, and donations shall be accepted for said collection, and invited by the said Commissioners. To the said City, but to be under the custody and control of the said Fairmount Park Commissioners I also direct all my paintings, pictures and statuary including those of my late husband to be given and transferred to the said City for said purposes and placed in the ‘Wilstach Collection’. Their exhibition shall be public, under regulations to be established by the said Fairmount Park Commissioners, and as soon as practicable shall be gratuitous, and the opening thereof shall be as soon after my decease as a gallery can be provided for their reception.

“All the said fourth of said residuary estates hot expended in erecting such Hall of Art, and the whole [199]*199if no such Hall shall he required to he built out of said fund shall be kept invested in lawful investments by the said Fairmount Park Commissioners subject to the jurisdiction of the courts having control of testamentary trusts, and the income thereof shall be by them applied to the- purchase of pictures, paintings and statuary for said collection, always keeping in view the purpose of obtaining objects of the highest skill and beauty, that they may be the source of pleasure and the means of cultivation and refinement of the taste of the people, be pure in sentiment and never minister to vulgarity and vice.

“Provided however that if the principal should exceed the sum of One hundred thousand dollars, then the excess over that sum, may be used for the purchase of works of art. . . .”

In 1876, three years after the original will was executed, the Centennial Exposition was held in Philadelphia. Most of the buildings of the exposition were erected in Fairmount Park and were of a temporary nature. One of these buildings, however, Memorial Hall, was built as a permanent structure by the City of Philadelphia, whereupon testatrix made a seventh codicil to the will on March 7, 1890, in which she provided for the housing of the William P. Wilstach art collection therein. The codicil reads, inter alia, as follows:

“I give and bequeath to the City of Philadelphia, all my Paintings, Engravings, Statuary, Photographs, Books on Art, and catalogues of various Galleries in Europe & America. Also my Books denominated ‘Dresden Gallery/ containing engravings of the Paintings in the Dresden Galleries, in Dresden, Saxony, and all works of art owned by me at the time of my decease, in trust, nevertheless, to, for and upon the following uses, intents & purposes, To wit: To place the said paintings, Statuary, Photographs and [200]*200works of Art in the possession and under the control of the Commissioners of Fairmount Park, to be placed by them in Memorial Hall, in Fairmount Park, there to be preserved by them & taken care of & kept in good order, as the nucleus or foundation of an Art Gallery for the use and enjoyment of the people. The Collection to be kept together, and known and designated by the name of The W. P. Wilstach Collection’. And I direct my, Executors to transfer to the Commissioners of Fairmount Park, in like manner in Trust, the one other fourth part of the residue and remainder of the said estate and estates, which said sum shall be invested in good and lawful securities by the,said Commissioners of Fairmount Park. And the interest accruing therefrom shall be used for the maintenance of said Art Gallery, in keeping the same, in good order & condition, and providing of competent care-takers, as may be necessary to carry out, to its full and complete extent and meaning, the design I have, in view in making this devise and bequest for the founding and sustaining an Art Gallery in Fairmount Park for the use & enjoyment and benefit of the public. The balance of the income from said investment fund, not required for the proper care and maintenance of the Gallery, shall be used for the increasing of the collection, in such manner as the said Commissioners of Fairmount Park may deem best. The said Commissioners of Fair-mount Park to make rules and regulations in regard to the use & enjoyment of said collection as will best conduce to the end. intended.”

The assets presently accounted for were awarded to the present accountant by adjudication of this court, dated January 4, 1894, and schedule of distribution approved March 14, 1894. As appears from the terms and provisions of the will and codicil quoted above, the trust is a perpetual charitable trust and the occasion of the filing of the present account is stated to be [201]*201“to resolve questions as to petitioner’s authority to dispose of certain paintings”.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is listed in the statement of proposed' distribution as the only party in interest and notice of the audit is stated to have been given to Hon. Frank F. Truscott, Attorney General, as conservator of charitable trusts. Pursuant to section 10 of the Estates Act of April 24, 1947 P. L. 100, Mr. Truscott, Attorney General, by Irving N.' Kieif, Deputy Attorney General, entered an appearance for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

It appears from the statement of proposed distribution that collateral inheritance tax has been paid upon the entire estate and no claim for tax was made by the Commonwealth' at the audit.

Testatrix, at the time of her death, owned 158 paintings. The Commissioners of Fairmount Park, as trustees, have received as gifts, since testatrix’s death in 1892, 55 paintings and have purchased from time to time with income from investments 238 additional paintings.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has acted as custodian of the collection, under the control of the Commissioners of Fairmount Park, the trustees, continuously since Mrs. Wilstach’s death. The collection has been housed during this entire period in Memorial Hall. As the result of a decision made recently by the commissioners, Memorial Hall is being converted into a recreational building and is no longer available or suitable for exhibiting paintings and other art objects. The collection is, therefore, being transferred for custody and exhibition to the Philadelphia Museum of Art building. This building, as well as Memorial Hall, is owned by the City of Philadelphia and is located in Fairmount Park and it certainly seems clear that no valid objection can be made to the transfer of the collection. Testatrix’s choice of Memorial [202]

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Bluebook (online)
1 Pa. D. & C.2d 197, 1954 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 183, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilstach-estate-paorphctphilad-1954.