Dix v. Pruitt

• Decision Date: 15 December 1926
• Docket Number: 356.
• Citation: 135 S.E. 851,192 N.C. 829
• Parties: DIX et al. v. PRUITT et al.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

135 S.E. 851

192 N.C. 829

DIX et al. v. PRUITT et al.

No. 356.

Supreme Court of North Carolina

December 15, 1926

Appeal from Superior Court, Rockingham County; Lane, Judge.

Action by W. G. Dix and others against R. H. Pruitt and others. Judgment for defendants, and plaintiffs appeal. Error.

Validity of action by which plaintiffs declared nonfellowship with defendant held immaterial as affecting question of title to church property.

This is an action to declare the plaintiffs the owners of certain church property and to enjoin the defendants from interfering with the use and control thereof or in any way obstructing the exercise of the plaintiffs' rights therein. A concise statement of the material allegations in the complaint is essential to an understanding of the controversy and to the positions taken by the parties as to their alleged rights.

The Dan River Primitive Baptist Church was organized in Ruffin township, Rockingham county, in 1884, and in 1900 it bought land and a church building and had the conveyance made to R H. Pruitt and W. G. Dix, as trustees. This church was governed by the rules, customs, and usages of the regularly constituted Primitive Baptist denomination, some of which were written and some unwritten. One of the usages is that, when a member has been excluded from one church, he cannot unite with another of the same faith without first being restored by the church of which he had been a member, and the church that expelled him must withdraw fellowship from any other Primitive Baptist Church that receives him in disregard of the usage. In 1920 J. R. Wilson was called by the Dan River Primitive Baptist Church as its pastor. He had theretofore been a member of the Danville Primitive Baptist Church and had been excluded from its membership. At the time he was called by the Dan River Church, he was not a member of either of these churches. It is alleged that his credentials had been canceled and that he was no longer qualified under the usages of the churches to serve in the capacity of pastor. At a meeting of the Dan River Church, held in September, 1923, objection was made to Wilson, as pastor, but it was contended that a majority of those present voted to retain him, and he has since continuously held possession of the church property to the exclusion of the plaintiffs. On October 9, 1923, the plaintiffs "declared nonfellowship" with the defendants and those united with them...