Case Name: THE EXECUTORS OF JACOB H. VOORHEES, DECEASED, v. THE EXECUTORS OF JOSEPH VOORHEES, DECEASED, AND OTHERS
Court: New Jersey Court of Chancery
Jurisdiction: New Jersey
Decision Date: 1847-12
Citations: 6 N.J. Eq. 511
Docket Number: 
Parties: THE EXECUTORS OF JACOB H. VOORHEES, DECEASED, v. THE EXECUTORS OF JOSEPH VOORHEES, DECEASED, AND OTHERS.
Judges: 
Reporter: New Jersey Equity Reports
Volume: 6
Pages: 511–514

Head Matter:
THE EXECUTORS OF JACOB H. VOORHEES, DECEASED, v. THE EXECUTORS OF JOSEPH VOORHEES, DECEASED, AND OTHERS.
A devise and bequest were made to “ The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America.’’ Such a society, lor the spread of the gospel, was organized and known by the above-stated name, at the date of the will, had its place of business in the city of New York, and its officers and board of directors ; and it was incorporated, under the above-stated name, before the death of the testator. Held good.
Oo the 23d of September, 1846, the executors of the will of" Jacob H. Voorhees, deceased, exhibited their bill, stating that Joseph Voorhees, deceased, late of Monmouth county, died on the 14th of September, 1845, leaving a will, dated November 15th, 1838, by which he ordered his executors to sell all his estate, real and personal, as soon after his death as they might think proper ¡ and directed them to disburse the money arising from the sale, and all other moneys that might belong to his estate, after paying debts, &c., as follows: giving $100 to the Episcopal fund of the diocese of New Jersey; $100 to the Sunday school that is or may be attached to Christ Church, Shrewsbury, to be funded, or appropriated to the best advantage for the said school, under the direction of the rector of the said church • $500 to the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America; and giving to his two children, Jacob H. Voorhees and Hannah Voorhees, all his remaining estate, as follows: One-half to the said Jacob IF., as follows t The money to he put at interest, or invested m real estate, and the proceeds or interest to be paid to the said Jacob H. during his life, and after his death the principal to go to his issue j and if he die leaving no children, or such children should die before they become twenty-one years of age, then the said estate to go to the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America; and the other half of his remaining estate, as afore ■said, to his daughter Hannah, as follows : (in the same way as to Jacob,) and on her death without leaving children, or if such' children die before'they become twenty-one, the said estate to go to the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America; and appointing Francis Smith and Nathaniel B. Holmes, both of the State of New York, executors of his will. The executors proved the will.
That the said Joseph Voorhees left but two children, viz., the said Jacob H. Voorhees and the said Hannah.
That the said Hannah has since married Thomas Morford, Jr.
That the said Jacob H. Voorhees died on the 8th of July, 1846, without issue, leaving the complainant Tabitha Voorliees his widow, and leaving a will by which he gave and devised all his estate to his said widow, and appointing the complainants executors of his will, and that they proved the same, and took upon themselves the burden, &c.
That the real estate of the said Joseph Voorhees, deceased, ■consisted of his homestead farm in Shrewsbury, Monmouth county, containing about 290 acres, and outlands situated principally in said county, containing 700 acres or more; and that the executors of the will of Joseph Voorhees have sold most of his real estate, and threaten to sell the balance.
The complainants say they are informed and believe that there is no such incorporation or society known by the name of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant. Episcopal Church in the United States of America; or that if there is such an incorporation or society, it is not empowered to take the said legacies or devises; and they submit that the said legacies and devises are of no legal validity, and should be declared void, and that- the same may be paid over to the complainants, as executors of the will of said Jacob H. Voorhees, and to the said Hannah Morford.
That the real and personal estate of the said Joseph Voorhees, deceased, is worth from $15,000 to $18,000, according to the best of the complainants’ information and belief; and that the whole of it is now in the hands or under the control of the said executors of the will of said Joseph Voorhees, deceased ; and that the said executors are residents of the State of New York.
The bill prays that the said legacies and devises to the pretended The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, may be declared to be void, and that the executors of the will of said Joseph Voorhees be decreed to pay over the same to the complainants and the said Hannah Morford ; and that they may come to an account with the complainants of the estate of the said Joseph Voorhees, deceased, in their hands, &o.
The executors of the will of Joseph Voorhees, deceased, to so much of the bill as relates to the devises and bequests in said will to and for the use of the society called therein “ The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America,” pleaded that the said estate, real and personal, devised and bequeathed by the said will was devised and bequeathed to them, as executors of the said will, in trust for public and charitable purposes, and that they, as such executors, were competent to take and execute such trust | that at the date of the said will, as well as at the death of said testator, there was an organized society referred to in said will, known by the name and description of “The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America,” and having its place of business in the city of New York, constituted for a certain specific, charitable, and public purpose, to wit, the spread and propagation of the gospei through domestic and foreign parts; which society, at the time of and long before the decease of the testator, had its officers and board of directors regularly appointed, to wit, at the city of New York; that the said society and its objects were well known to the testator, and had been long engaged in such objects, and annually received, by donations, public and private, large sums of money, which were appropriated, through its agents, to sueh public and charitable purposes as are before referred to; that the said society was competent in law to take such charities directly by devise or bequest, as well as to receive the benefit of such devises and bequests through the execution of a power or trust created by will or otherwise; that on the 13th of May, 1846, and before the death of Jacob H. Voorhees, the complainants’ testator, the said society was duly incorporated, under the name and description aforesaid, by an act of the legislature of the State of New York, and which said incorporation is competent in law to take by bequest and devise as aforesaid.
This plea was demurred to.
P. Vredenburgh, in support of the demurrer,
cited 4 Wheat. 27 ; 3 Peters 111.
W. L. Dayton, contra,
cited 9 Cranch 292; 20 Wend. 117; 3 Edw. 79; 7 Verm’t Rep. 241; 1 Hoff. Ch. Rep. 202; 6 Hill 407; the case of Sarah Zane’s will, decided by Judge Baldwin, cited from a pamphlet; the case of Gerard’s will, 7 John. Ch. 292.

Opinion:
The Chancellor.
The devise and bequest are to " The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America." Such a society for the spread of the gospel was organized, and known by the above-stated name, at the date of the will, had its place of business in the city of New York, and its officers and board of directors, and was incorporated, under the above-stated name, before the death of the testator.
. The question of the validity of bequests of this nature has been so fully discussed, and so elaborately examined, in the recent cases in this country, cited at the bar, that it is unnecessary for me to attempt an examination of the subject at large. The validity of such bequests can hardly be considered an open question in this country, at this day.
Demurrer overruled.