Eaton v. Woman's Home Missionary Soc'y of Methodist Episcopal Church

• Decision Date: 16 June 1914
• Docket Number: No. 9459.,9459.
• Citation: 264 Ill. 88,105 N.E. 746
• Parties: EATON et al. v. WOMAN'S HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

264 Ill. 88

105 N.E. 746

EATON et al.

v.WOMAN'S HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY OF METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH et al.

No. 9459.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

June 16, 1914.

Appeal from Circuit Court, Ogle County; Oscar E. Head, Judge.

Suit by David B. Eaton and others against the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church and others. From a decree dismissing the bill for want of equity, complainants appeal. Affirmed.Edward Maher and Bernhardt Frank, both of Chicago, for appellants.

Fred Zick, of Polo, and Gansbergen & Rigby, of Chicago (M. C. Slutes and Wm. C. Rigby, of Chicago, of counsel), for appellees.

Martha E. Peek died in June, 1912, leaving a will, which was admitted to probate. Her heirs filed a bill to have the fourth paragraph of the will declared void. The court dismissed the bill for want of equity, and the complainants appealed.

The following is the fourth paragraph of the will:

‘Fourth. I give and devise to the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a corporation under the laws of the state of Ohio, the following described real estate, to wit: The southeast quarter of section thirty-four (34), in township twenty-three (23), north, range eight (8), east of the fourth (4) principal meridian, in Ogle county, Illinois, and also all that part of the northeast quarter of section three (3), in township twenty-two (22), north, range eight (8), in Ogle county, Illinois, lying east of the Illinois Central Railroad, said premises being the place formerly occupied by my husband and myself as a homestead and being known as the ‘Old Peek Homestead,’ all of the above-described real estate to be held and used by the aforesaid society in the manner following, to wit: It is my wish, and I hereby direct, that there shall be established and maintained upon said premises by said Woman's Home Missionary Society a home for orphan children, or orphanage, to be known as the Peek Orphanage, and I direct that all of the income derived from said land after the payment of the annuities to my sister, Mary E. Savage, and Mellona Peek, hereinbefore mentioned, and after the payment of the necessary expenses of keeping said premises in repair and making necessary improvements, shall be used for the support and maintenance of said orphanage and for no other purpose. In case said society shall not desire to establish said orphanage upon the said premises or shall fail or neglect to so do within three years after my death, or, having established said orphanage, shall at any time thereafter, for the space of three consecutive years, fail to maintain and keep said orphanage in active operation, I direct that this devise to the Woman's Home Missionary Society shall thereupon become null and void and the said property shall revert to my estate; and I hereby direct that in case of such reversion said real estate, or the proceeds thereof, shall be divided into two equal parts, one of said parts to be divided among my heirs according to the laws of distribution of the state of Illinois, and the other part to be divided in the same manner among the heirs of my late husband, Frank E. Peek. And I further direct that in case the said Woman's Home Missionary Society shall wish to accept the devise herein made to them upon the terms therein mentioned, they shall file a written acceptance of said bequest with my executor within one year after the probating of this will, and that if said society shall not file such acceptance within one year, as above provided, they shall be deemed to have rejected said bequest, and thereupon said bequest shall become null and void and said real estate shall be sold by my executor, whom I hereby appoint a trustee for such purpose, and the proceeds of such sale divided between the heirs of myself and my late husband, Frank E. Peek, as above set forth.'

By a codicil the testatrix withdrew the land in section 3 from the operation of the fourth paragraph of the will.

The Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church is a corporation, not for profit, organized under the laws of Ohio. The purpose and object of the corporation are thus set forth in its articles of incorporation:

‘The purpose and object of the corporation shall be to enlist and organize Christian women to labor in behalf of needy and destitute women and children in all parts of our country, without distinction of race, and to co-operate with the other societies and agencies of the Methodist Episcopal Church in educational and missionary work; to employ women to work in destitute localities; to instruct the ignorant and unfortunate in the practice of industry and economy and in the principles of sanitary laws and morality, and to establish schools and evangelistic agencies throughout the United States and its territories.’

The society has not been licensed to do business in this state, but it made a formal acceptance of the devise and notified the executor of such acceptance within the time limited by the will.

Sections 8623 and 8627 of the General Code of Ohio are as follows:

‘Sec. ,623. Except for carrying on professional business, a corporation may be formed for any purpose for which natural persons lawfully may associate themselves.’

‘Sec. 8627. Upon filing articles of incorporation, the persons who subscribed them, their associates, successors and assigns, by the name and style provided therein, shall be a body corporate, with succession, power to sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with; also, unless specially limited, to acquire and hold all property, real or personal, necessary to effect the object for which it is created, and at pleasure convey it in conformity with its regulations and the laws of this state. Such corporation also may make, use, and at will alter a common seal, and do all other acts needful to accomplish the purposes of its organization.’

DUNN, J. (after stating the facts as above).

[1][2] The claim of the appellants is that the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church has no power, under its charter or the laws of Ohio, to operate and maintain a home for orphan children or to hold land for any purpose, and that under the laws of Illinois it has no power to operate and maintain a home for orphans or to hold land. The society is conceded to have been lawfully organized with the powers named in its articles of incorporation and authorized by the laws of Ohio. The purposes mentioned in the articles of association are such as natural persons may lawfully associate themselves for, and, therefore, whatever those articles authorize, the society may do under the laws of Ohio. The declared purposes of the...