Babcock v. Hebrews
| Decision Date | 04 January 1917 |
| Citation | 114 N.E. 712,225 Mass. 418 |
| Parties | BABCOCK v. LEOPOLD MORSE HOME FOR INFIRM HEBREWS AND ORPHANAGE. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Exceptions from Superior Court, Norfolk County; Philip J. O'Connell, Judge.
Action by Josiah Babcock against the Leopold Morse Home for Infirm Hebrews and Orphanage. Findings for plaintiff, and defendant excepts. Exceptions overruled.
Geo. Chandler Coit and Chas. S. Pierce, both of Boston, for plaintiff.
Lee M. Friedman and Swift, Friedman & Atherton, all of Boston, for defendant.
The plaintiff is the tax collector of the town of Milton. He brings this action to recover taxes assessed upon the defendant's real estate in that town for 1912, 1913 and 1914. The defendant is a charitable corporation entitled to an exemption from taxation under St. 1909, c. 490, pt. 1, § 5, for its ‘real estate owned and occupied’ by it or its officers for the purposes for which it was incorporated. But it is not entitled to exemption on any other ground. The defendant owned real estate which for several years prior to 1912 was adapted for and used as a home for aged and infirm and for children. The aged and infirm were gradually removed and for some time it was used for children only. Modern philanthropic methods tend toward providing homes for children in families rather than gathering them in a general home. The defendant was authorized by St. 1912, c. 113, to transfer the income of all its property to another charitable corporation working in the same field. That act was accepted, a decree of the court entered according to its terms, and the defendant has paid its income to the other corporation. The children were all removed from the defendant's home in March, 1912. The defendant voted to allow the Canterbury Street Home to have such of its furniture and household equipment as it wanted. Some has been taken and the rest left at the defendant's home in Milton. Since the children have been removed, a caretaker has resided in the house. The board of trustees of the defendant, in April, 1912, granted the request of the Hebrew Women's Sewing Association to use the premises for ‘Country Week’ for poor children. There was testimony to the effect that once at least in each of the years 1912, 1913 and 1914 meetings of the trustees or officers of the defendant had been held in the house, but the record books only showed records of meetings held in Boston. There was testimony from several witnesses that since March, 1912, the premises had been occupied only by the caretaker. The judge found that the real estate was not being used for...
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New England Forestry Found., Inc. v. Bd. of Assessors of Hawley
...Assessors of Boston v. Vincent Club, 351 Mass. 10, 14, 217 N.E.2d 757 (1966), quoting Babcock v. Leopold Morse Home for Infirm Hebrews & Orphanage, 225 Mass. 418, 421, 114 N.E. 712 (1917). The dominant use of the property must be “such as to contribute immediately to the promotion of the ch......
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Boston Symphony Orchestra, Inc. v. Board of Assessors of City of Boston
... ... It signifies an active appropriation to the ... immediate uses of the charitable cause for which the owner ... was organized.’ Babcock v. Leopold Morse Home for ... Infirm Hebrews & Orphanage, 225 Mass. 418, 421, 114 N.E ... 712. Nor is it sufficient that the profits are not ... ...
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Mount Auburn Hosp. v. Assessors of Watertown
...does not "contribute immediately to the promotion" of the hospital's charitable purposes. Babcock v. Leopold Morse Home for Infirm Hebrews & Orphanage, 225 Mass. 418, 422, 114 N.E. 712 (1917). The hospital's argument that the occupancy exemption extends to all but the fifteen percent actual......
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Springfield Y.M.C.A. v. Bd. of Assessors of Springfield
...N. E. 824;Boston Lodge, No. 10, B. & P. Order of Elks v. Boston, 217 Mass. 176, 104 N. E. 453, and Babcock v. Leopold Morse Home for Infirm Hebrews and Orphanage, 225 Mass. 418, 114 N. E. 712, at variance with this view. It is further strogly contended that the dormitory has not been used e......