City Louisville v. Pres. & Trus. University
| Decision Date | 01 January 1855 |
| Citation | 54 Ky. 642 |
| Parties | City of Louisville <I>vs.</I> President and Trustees of the University of Louisville. |
| Court | Kentucky Court of Appeals |
APPEAL FROM JEFFERSON CIRCUIT.
The facts of the case are fully stated in the opinion of the court.
Wm. S. Bodley, for appellant —
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Fry and Page, on the same side —
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S. S. Nicholas and Bland Ballard, for appellee —
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By an act of February, 1833, (Sess. Acts, 300,) the Medical Institute, of Louisville, was incorporated for the advancement of medical science, with the right to acquire and hold property and to make by-laws for the advancement of its objects. In April, 1837, it was resolved by a meeting of the citizens of Louisville, held at the Radical M. E. Church, that there ought to be a college with medical and law departments, in the city of Louisville; that the square bounded by Eighth, Ninth, Chestnut, and Magazine streets, is approved for the location of a college; that it is sufficiently large for the buildings of a college proper, and also of the medical and law departments; that the mayor and council would act in accordance with public sentiment in Louisville, by donating said square for said college buildings; that the establishment of a college, with medical and law departments, would be alike beneficial and advantageous to all the citizens of Louisville, in proportion to their property and business, and ought to be a general charge upon all; that it is highly expedient and proper that the medical department of said college be established and put into immediate operation, with a sufficient endowment on the part of the city of Louisville to afford all the facilities for instruction in medical science which any college in the United States affords; and that it be recommended to the mayor and council to donate said square as above, to cause the proper buildings for the medical department to be erected thereon, and to provide a suitable library and apparatus for its use, at the expense of the city; and that said medical department be placed under the control and management of the trustees of the Medical Institute of Louisville.
In pursuance of these resolutions, and under an express reference to them, the mayor and council resolved to donate or appropriate the designated square, for the purpose of a college, and to erect buildings thereon, and provide a library and apparatus for the medical department. And, on the 21st day of November, 1837, a deed was executed under their authority, by which the said square was conveyed to the Medical Institute of Louisville, to hold for the uses and purposes, and upon the terms and conditions stated in the resolutions of the citizens and of the mayor and council. And the city covenanted to erect on said square, within the years 1838 and 1839, buildings for a medical college at a cost not exceeding $30,000. And the president and managers of the institute covenanted that in case a charter should be obtained for a college or university, they would, on request of the city, or of the mayor and council, convey to the trustees of said college or university, the said square and all the improvements thereon, and the library, apparatus, &c., belonging at the time to said establishment.
In pursuance of the covenant in this deed and of the resolutions referred to, suitable buildings were erected on the said square, and a library and apparatus were provided at an aggregate cost to the city of about $50,000. By an act of February, 1840, (Sess. Acts, 173,) the Medical Institute was authorized, among other things, to confer degrees in medicine, to establish professorships, and to hold the real estate, library and apparatus which it then possessed, under the terms and conditions on which it was donated, and such other estate, books, and apparatus, as might be proper for such institute. The right is reserved to repeal, alter, or amend the charter, but not to affect the right to the property.
Under these various proceedings, the medical department was organized and successfully conducted by the Medical Institute, which, after the date of the conveyance from the city, received some small donations of books, commencing in 1838, and not amounting to more than $___, up to 1846. In February, 1846, an act was passed (Sess. Acts, 135) to establish the University of Louisville, to take effect on the 15th day of March, 1846. On the — day of April, 1846, the mayor and council of the city of Louisville passed resolutions providing for having the square which had been conveyed to the Medical Institute, with the library, apparatus, &c., conveyed to the trustees of the University of Louisville. And on the 24th day of April, 1846, said conveyance was accordingly made. The Medical Institute, and the Louisville College, of which there are some traces in the Statutes, were thenceforth merged in the university.
The first section of the act to establish this university, appoints eleven persons, by name, as trustees of said university, to have perpetual succession by the name of "the President and Trustees of the University of Louisville," with power to acquire and hold estate, real and personal, sufficient to yield an annual income of $40,000; and the first and second sections confer all other usual powers of such corporations or universities. The third section enacts that the trustees shall from time to time choose from their own body a president, "who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board, or such time as fixed by the by-laws, or until vacated by death, resignation, or removal from the county, or removal by a majority of the trustees;" and that after the election of a president, the remaining ten trustees shall class themselves into five equal classes, the first class to go out of office on the 1st of March, 1848, the second on the 1st of March, 1850, and so on. The mayor and council of the city — a majority of all elected concurring — are to fill the vacancies occurring by lapse of time, by the election of persons to hold the office for ten years, and are to fill vacancies arising otherwise, by an election for the balance of the term, provided that if they shall, from any cause, fail to fill any vacancy for thirty days, the trustees may fill the same. And, provided, that when the office of president shall become vacant, from any cause, the trustees may choose a president, pro tem., until another trustee shall be elected, after which a president shall be chosen.
The fourth section provides for an annual report of the condition of each department, &c., from the president and trustees to the mayor and council, who shall have the right, at all times, of inquring into the same.
The fifth section provides for the disposition of donations, &c., among the departments, &c., according to the designation made by the donor. And special reference being made to the conveyance of the square above described to the Medical Institute, in accordance with the resolutions passed at the Radical Church, and to the stipulation for a conveyance of said square, with the improvements, library, apparatus, &c., by the said institute, on request of the mayor and council, to any college or university which might be chartered, &c.
The sixth section provides that when such conveyance shall be made to the president and trustees of the university established by that act, the Medical Institute shall cease to exist; provided, that neither the said president and trustees, nor the mayor and council of Louisville, shall ever appropriate the estate, real and personal, thus conveyed, to any other purpose than to the use of the medical department of said university, nor shall the profits, fees, or revenue of any department be diverted from the use of such department.
The seventh section repeals an act of January, 1840, for the benefit of the Louisville College, (Sess. Acts, 57,) and directs the proceeds arising from the sale, whether then or afterwards made, of the seminary lot in Louisville, to be applied by the mayor and council to the erection of buildings for the academic department of the university on the square above described.
The eighth section relates to the continuance or removal of the professors in the institute as professors in the medical department of the university.
The ninth section gives to one class in the academic department a right to attend, free of charge, one course of lectures annually on anatomy, physiology, and chemistry, and to one class in the law department, the right to attend, in like manner, a course of lectures on medical jurisprudence, and enacts that each department shall, if required, receive from the public schools of Louisville a number of pupils not exceeding six, provided certain conditions are complied with.
Under this charter, and with the property received from the Medical Institute, the university, and especially the medical and law departments, were successfully conducted, and without, so far as appears, any cause of complaint, actual or alleged, in the performance of any of the duties, either expressly or impliedly, devolved upon them or on the corporation. Some additional donations of books, to the value of about $____, were made prior to 1851.
By the first section of the 10th article of an act to charter the city of Louisville, approved March 24, 1851, which is not the original, but a new charter of said city, it is enacted that at the first election of city officers under that charter, (which was directed to take place on the first Saturday in April, 1851, and annually thereafter,) there shall be elected by the...
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