Akscyn v. Second Nat. Bank
| Decision Date | 06 June 1916 |
| Citation | 98 A. 519 |
| Parties | AKSCYN et al. v. SECOND NAT. BANK. |
| Court | New Hampshire Supreme Court |
Exceptions from Superior Court, Hillsborough County; Kivel, Judge.
Bill in equity by Thomas Akscyn and others against the Second National Bank, in which defendant impleaded the Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester and the Lithuanian St. Cassimer Roman Catholic Church of Nashua. Decree, in accordance with the master's report, in favor of the Bishop, and plaintiffs excepted. Case discharged.
Bill in equity, filed September 22, 1910, by the plaintiff and 13 others in behalf of themselves as members of the Lithuanian St. Cassimer Roman Catholic Society of Nashua and of all other members who might wish to join as parties plaintiff, alleging the deposit by the society with the bank of the sum of $7,116.26, which the bank, though requested, refused to pay to the society. The bank by its answer admitted the deposit, brought the money into court, and asked that the Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester and the Lithuanian St. Cassimer Catholic Church in Nashua be required to implead as to the ownership of the money. An order of notice to the bishop was issued, who appeared and filed an answer, denying that the plaintiffs individually, or as a society, have any right to the money, and alleging that the money was raised by a committee for the purpose of paying off the debt upon certain church property formerly known as the Church of the Immaculate Conception in said Nashua; that a trust has been created, and that the fund is a trust fund belonging to the parish, raised and contributed under the laws and rules of the Roman Catholic religion. The plaintiffs filed a replication to the answer of the defendant bank, alleging that the money was raised upon the express condition that it should be used in the purchase of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the title of the church to be in the name of the St. Cassimer Roman Catholic Society; that later this society was informed that the title could not be in the name of the society, but must be in the name of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester, and asked that the money be returned to the society, discharged of all claims of the bishop. The case was heard by a master, who reported the facts and recommended a decree that the money is the property of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester, as a corporation sole in trust for the St. Cassimer Roman Catholic Society in Nashua, N. H., upon the condition that the church property, when paid for, should be held by the bishop in trust for the sole use of the society, following In the decree substantially the provisions of section 6, c. 232, Laws of 1901, by which it is provided that the bishop as a corporation sole shall be regarded as holding, in trust, the property of each parish. The court ordered a decree as recommended by the master, and the plaintiffs, Akscyn and others, members of the society, excepted.
The material facts reported by the master are as follows: Previous to January 12, 1908, the plaintiffs, who are Lithuanians, and several hundreds of their countrymen had been holding religious services as Roman Catholics in the basement of the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Temple street in Nashua. The church building was then occupied by a congregation of Irish Roman Catholics, who were erecting a new church building on Spring street. The legal title to the church buildings then and now is in the Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester, a corporation sole, in trust for the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Laws 1901, c. 232. The property was mortgaged to the Amoskeag Savings Bank to secure an indebtedness amounting to $22,500. As the Irish Catholics were soon to move to their new building, a meeting of the Lithuanian Catholics was called to consider the subject of getting church buildings for their use. At this meeting the plaintiffs and others organized themselves into an association, known as the St. Cassimer parish in Nashua. The Lithuanian priest told those present, numbering some 100 or 150, that as the new church would be finished in a short time, the old church could be bought for $22,500. He then explained in a general way the customs, usages, and the law relating to the holding of the property of Roman Catholic congregations in New Hampshire. The members present then decided to raise the money to buy the church, and some money was then raised...
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