Campbell v. Brown

• Decision Date: 25 June 1880
• Citation: 129 Mass. 23
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
• Parties: Newell R. Campbell v. Fanny M. Brown & others

129 Mass. 23

Newell R. Campbell v. Fanny M. Brown & others

Supreme Court of Massachusetts

June 25, 1880

Argued November 20, 1878

Suffolk.

Demurrer sustained; and the entry bill dismissed, with costs.

A Russ, (R. Lund with him,) for the defendants.

L Mason, for the plaintiff, cited Dyer v. Dyer, 2 Cox Ch. 92; Milner v. Harewood, 18 Ves. 258; Nesbitt v. Tredennick, 1 Ball & Beatty, 29, 46; Eyre v Dolphin, 2 Ball & Beatty, 290; Fox v Mackreth, 2 Bro. Ch. 400, and 2 Cox Ch. 320; Kendall v. Mann, 11 Allen 15; Glass v. Hulbert, 102 Mass. 24; Blodgett v. Hildreth, 103 Mass. 484; Jackson v. Stevens, 108 Mass. 94; McDonough v. O'Niel, 113 Mass. 92; Jenkins v. Eldredge, 3 Story 181; Green v. Winter, 1 Johns. Ch. 26; Miller v. Pearce, 6 W. & S. 97; In re Heager's executors, 15 S. & R. 65; Galbraith v. Elder, 8 Watts 81; Huson v. Wallace, 1 Rich. Eq. 1; Belcher v. Sanders, 34 Ala. 9.

Endicott, J. Colt & Morton, JJ., absent.

OPINION

Endicott

The plaintiff by his bill, which was filed May 31, 1875, seeks to establish his title to certain lands in Michigan, or to the proceeds of the sales thereof, on the ground that, by the conveyance of those lands, in 1859, from John Campbell to George N. Fletcher, James Campbell and William White, as copartners under the name of the "Thunder Bay Lumber Company," the interest conveyed to White, who was then guardian of the plaintiff, vested in him in trust for the plaintiff. To enforce this trust against the administrator and heirs at law of White is the object of this bill.

Thomas Campbell, the son of John Campbell and uncle of the plaintiff, died in 1857. At the time of his death he was supporting the plaintiff, then a child of tender years and an orphan, in the family of William White, who was his brother-in-law, having married his sister. The bill alleges that it was the intention of Thomas Campbell to make the plaintiff "the heir at law of one full half of all his property and estate;" that on his death-bed he gave direction that one half the same should be the property of the plaintiff; that the plaintiff's name should be changed from Newell Campbell Rogers to Newell Rogers Campbell, and that William White should be appointed his guardian. He also gave directions that the other half of his property, after providing for the suitable support and maintenance of his father and mother, should belong to his brothers and sisters. By reason of his sudden decease, he was unable to make a will.

No trust was created in favor of the plaintiff by these directions or declarations of Thomas Campbell on his death-bed; the allegations in the bill in relation to them clearly imply that they were oral, and, that fact appearing on the face of the bill, it may be taken advantage of by demurrer. Ahrend v. Odiorne, 118 Mass. 261, 268, and cases cited. As he died intestate and without issue, his father, John Campbell, became his sole heir at law, and all the property, both real and personal, vested in him, subject to the payment of debts. The property having thus come to him by law, he was under no obligation to pay over or convey any portion of it to the plaintiff, or to William White, his guardian. Nor could the plaintiff or White enforce such conveyance or payment against him or against the administrator of Thomas Campbell's estate. In no sense could property thus falling to the heir at law be said to be the property of the plaintiff, or that he had any interest, legal or equitable, therein. After the death of Thomas Campbell, White was appointed guardian of the plaintiff, and the plaintiff's name was changed to Campbell.

The estate of Thomas Campbell was settled by his administrator James Campbell, and the balance of the personal property, after paying debts and expenses, was paid over to John Campbell, as sole heir at law. Whether there was any other real estate besides the Michigan lands does not appear, but the bill alleges that, after the settlement of the estate, John Campbell, "being desirous of carrying into full effect the intentions and wishes of his deceased son in relation to the plaintiff," at the instance and suggestion of Fletcher, who was the owner of one undivided half of the lands in Michigan, the title to the whole standing in the name of Thomas Campbell alone, and also at the instance of White, who had been appointed guardian of the plaintiff, executed and delivered a deed of these lands to Fletcher, James Campbell and White, as copartners, by the name of the "Thunder Bay Lumber Company." It is alleged that neither Campbell nor White paid any consideration to John Campbell the grantor for this conveyance, and that it was not the intention of the parties that William White should take any title therein in his own right, but only in his representative capacity; and that he "never claimed any personal interest in said lands, but only as the guardian of the plaintiff, and as holding under said deed in trust for the use and benefit of the plaintiff." It is also alleged that James Campbell took nothing in his own right, but only in trust for his father, mother, and the brothers and sisters of Thomas Campbell. The deed is not before us, but it...