Source: https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Wheeler_v._Smith/Opinion_of_the_Court
Timestamp: 2019-07-23 16:47:56
Document Index: 7091152

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 979', '§ 979', '§ 1071', '§ 1160', '§ 1155', '§ 1', '§ 1156', '§ 6', '§ 1158', '§ 1', '§ 3', '§ 1', '§ 4', '§ 5', 'art, 33', '§ 3', '§ 2', '§ 14', '§ 8', '§ 979', '§ 979']

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Wheeler v. Smith/Opinion of the Court
< Wheeler v. Smith
Wheeler v. Smith
695536Wheeler v. Smith — Opinion of the Court
In this state of things Bennett died, leaving a will from which the following are extracts, viz.:--
Then followed several papers in the nature of codicils, one of which was as follows:--
The will, with seven codicils, was admitted to probate, on the 4th of May, 1839, and letters testamentary granted to Hugh Smith, Robert I. Taylor, and Phineas Janney, named as executors is the will. At the same time were filed the following release and receipt:--
'Whereas, Charles Bennett, Esq., late of Alexandria, deceased, by his last will and testament, after bequeathing sundry pecuniary legacies, devised as follows:-'The residue of my estate is left in trust of Hugh Smith, Robert I. Taylor, and Phineas Janney, for such purposes as they consider promise to be most beneficial to the town and trade of Alexandria; if any difficulty occurs in construing as to any of my bequests, R. I. Taylor is specially charged to give the said construction'; and in a codicil to his said will expresses himself as follows:-'Now, in the inclosure, I leave the residue of my estate, after paying all my bequests and appropriations, to some disposition thereof which my executors may consider as promising most to benefit the town and trade of Alexandria. Now, I leave the same entirely to their disposition of it, in such manner as appears to them promises to yield the greatest good.' And whereas the validity of the said devise and bequest has been controverted by William Wheeler, now of Chester County, in the State of Pennsylvania, claiming to be the nephew and sole heir of the said Charles Bennett. Now the said executors, taking on themselves the burden of the execution of the said will, and of the trusts aforesaid, and the said William Wheeler, to avoid the delay and expense of litigation, and finally to settle and adjust all doubts and difficulties which might arise on the effect of the said will, so as to leave the said executors to execute the same without delay or impediment, have agreed on the following terms of compromise.
The circumstances under which the above release was executed are thus stated in the bill of the complainant, Wheeler:--
Mr. Mason contended,--
2 Story's Equity, title Trusts, § 979, a; Ibid. § 979, b; Stubbs v. Sargon, 2 Keen, 255; Ommanney v. Butcher, 1 Turner & Russell, 260, 270, 271; 2 Story's Equity, §§ 1071, 1072, 1073, 1156, 1157, 1183, 1197, a; Wood v. Cox, 2 Mylne & Craig, 684; S.C.., 1 Keen, 317; Fowler v. Garlike, 1 Russ. & Mylne, 232; Gallego v. Attorney-General, 3 Leigh, 450; Morice v. Bishop of Durham, 10 Vesey, 542; Attorney-General ex relat. of the Inhabitants of Clapham v. Hower, 2 Vern. 387; Parish of Great Creaton, 1 Ch. Ca. 134.
2 Story's Equity, § 1160, containing an enumeration of the charitable uses recognized by the statute; Ibid. § 1155; 2 Roper on Legacies, by White, c. 19, § 1, pp. 111, 112; Morice v. Bishop of Durham, 9 Vesey, 399; S.C.., 10 Vesey, 522; Brown v. Yeall, 7 Vesey, 50, note (a); Moggridge v. Thackwell, 7 Vesey, 36; Attorney-General v. Bowyer, 3 Vesey, 714, 726; Coxe v. Bassett, 3 Vesey, 155; 2 Story's Equity, §§ 1156, 1157; Ommanney v. Butcher, 1 Turn. & Russ. 260, 270; 2 Roper on Legacies, by White, c. 19, § 6, pp. 215, 222; Vesey v. Jamson, 1 Sim. & Stu. 69; Williams v. Kershaw, cited in 1 Keen, 232; Ellis v. Selby, 1 Mylne & Craig, 286, 298, 299; also James v. Allen, 3 Merivale, 17, cited in Ellis v. Selby; 2 Story's Equity, §§ 1158, 1183; Trustees of Baptist Association v. Hart's Executors, 4 Wheat. 1, 33, 39, 43, 44, 45; Stubbs v. Sargon, 2 Keen, 255; Fowler v. Garlike, 1 Russ. & Mylne, 232.
The question, then, is, What was the law of Virginia on this subject, on the 27th of February, 1801? The answer is:--
Vidal v. Girard's Executors, 2 How. 127, does not touch the question before this court, which is, What was the law of Virginia on the 27th of February, 1801? That was a question as to what was the law of Pennsylvania. And it was decided that, in Pennsylvania, a corporation capable of taking and having corporate powers over the subject of education could lawfully take and apply a bequest for the erection of a great free school, the pupils to be white males, between six and ten years old, &c., &c. In page 192, Judge Story says,-'There are two circumstances which materially distinguish that case [Baptist Assoc. v. Hart's Ex'rs] from the one now before the court. The first is, that it arose under the law of Virginia, in which the statute of 43d Elizabeth has been expressly and entirely abolished by the legislature,' &c. And in the same page (192) he says, that it has been decided by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 'that the conservative principles of the statute of Elizabeth have ever been in force in Pennsylvania, by common usage and constitutional recognition.' And again he says (p. 197),-'The case, then, according to our judgment, is completely closed in by the principles and authorities already mentioned, and is that of a valid charity in Pennsylvania.'
Mr. Mason then referred to the following acts and cases;--
2 Rob. 302, 303, note. Law of Virginia entitled 'An Act concerning the estate of Martin Dawson, deceased, and for other purposes.' Session Acts, 1840-41, p. 52. Literary Fund v. Dawson, 10 Leigh, 147. Law of Virginia entitled 'An Act concerning conveyances or devises of places of public worship.' Session Acts, 1841-42, p. 60. Act concerning religious freedom, 1787. Glebe lands, &c., 1802. Act concerning devises for schools, &c. Session Acts of 1839. Janney's Executors v. Latane, 4 Leigh,
On the part of the appellees it was contended,--
1. That it creates a valid trust, having,-1st. The residuum as its subject-matter; 2d. The executors, as trustees, certainly defined and competent to take; and 3d. A beneficiary certainly defined and competent to take, the Corporation of Alexandria.
2 U.S. Stat. at Large, Feb. 25, 1804, §§ 1, 2, 3, 5, May 13, 1826, § 3, May 20, § 1; Pr. Man. Co. of the Berks and Dauphin T. P. Co. v. Myers, 6 Serg. & Rawle, 12, 17; Road Co. v. Creeger, 5 Har. & Johns. 122, 124; 1 Monroe, 175; 10 Co. 122, b; Attorney-Gen. v. Mayor of Rye, 7 Taunt. 546, 550; Owen, 35; First Parish v. Cole, 3 Pick. 232, 237, 240; 2 Lomax's Dig. 208, § 4; Culpeper Man. and Agr. Soc. v. Diggs, 6 Rand. 165; 3 Lomax's Dig. 150, § 5; Angell on Corp. 77, 78, 150; 1 Jarman on Wills, 330, 331; 2 Stat. at Large, 255-257; 4 Stat. at Large, 162, 164, 177; Hobart, 33; 10 Mass. 360; 10 N. H. 123; 1 Hoffm. 205; Duke, 380, 381.
2 and 4 U.S. Stat. at Large, Feb. 25, 1804, § 3, May 13, 1826, §§ 2, 3; 3 Lomax's Dig. 12, § 14; 2 Thomas's Coke, 184, 185, note 2; 1 Lomax's Dig. 577, § 8; 1 Drury & Warren, 258, 294.
But first,--
If that part in the drama was filled, what other part could the corporation perform? The part of beneficiaries,-of persons to receive and enjoy the bounty of the testator? That were absurd.
And how would the court relieve itself from this difficulty? Why, simply by referring to one of its cannons, laid down by Judge Story in his Equity Jurisprudence, § 979, a,-'Courts of equity carry trusts into effect only when they are of a certain and definite character.' And to another cannon laid down by the same jurist, in § 979, b, that when such uncertain and indefinite trust is created by a will, the property passes to the next of kin or heir at law.
So in the case of Morice v. Bishop of Durham, 10 Ves. 542, the Lord Chancellor said,-'It was the intention of the testatrix to create a trust; and the object, being too indefinite, has failed. The consequence of law is, that the trustee takes the property upon trust, to dispose of it as the law will dispose of it. I think, therefore, the decree is right.' The Master of the Rolls had decreed a distribution of the trust fund among the next of kin.
Mr. Cooke then examined how far the release was binding upon Wheeler, and commented on the following circumstances:--
9. That plaintiff, 'having no distinct or settled views of the legal question thus suddenly forced upon him, or time to form any,-fevered by a rapid journey,-his spirits depressed by the recent death of his last kinsman, to whom he had been tenderly attached,-and flurried and confused by the magnitude of the question he was called on to decide, and the necessity of deciding it at once,-felt himself wholly overpowered, and strongly inclined to succumb to the views so forcibly presented to him. And these views were, moreover, recommended to his favorable consideration by the offer, so tempting to a man in his situation, of a large sum of money without delay or further trouble.'
This controversy arises under the last will and testament of Charles Bennett, late of Alexandria. After making a number of specific bequests, the testator declares,-'The residue of my estate is left in trust of Hugh Smith, Robert I. Taylor, and Phineas Janney, for such purposes as they consider promises to to be most beneficial to the town and trade of Alexandria. If any difficulty occurs in construction as to any of my bequests, R. I. Taylor is especially charged to give said construction.' Smith, Taylor, and Janney were appointed executors.
In a codicil the testator declares,-'Now in the inclosure I leave the residue of my estate, after paying all bequests and appropriations, to some disposition thereof which my executors may consider as promising most to benefit the town and trade of Alexandria. Now I leave the same entirely to their disposition of it, in such manner as appears to them promises to yield the greatest good.'
Some of the principles applicable to this case were considered by this court, in the Baptist Association v. Hart's Ex'rs, 4 Wheat. 1. Hart, a citizen of Virginia, made his will, which contained the following bequest:-'Item, what shall remain of my military certificates at the time of my decease, both principal and interest, I give and bequeathe to the Baptist Association that for ordinary meet at Philadelphia annually, which I allow to be a perpetual fund for the education of youths of the Baptist denomination, who shall appear promising for the ministry, always giving a preference to the descendants of my father's family.' In that case, the court held that 'charitable bequests, where no legal interest is vested, and which are too vague to be claimed by those for whom the beneficial interest was intended, cannot be established by a court of equity, either exercising its ordinary jurisdiction, or enforcing the prerogative of the king as parens patrioe, independent of the statute 43d Elizabeth.' And it was said the statute of 43d Elizabeth had been repealed in Virginia.
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Last edited on 19 December 2017, at 06:45