Seymour v. Attorney General of Connecticut

• Decision Date: 12 July 1938
• Citation: 124 Conn. 490,200 A. 815
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: SEYMOUR et al. v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CONNECTICUT et al.

200 A. 815

124 Conn. 490

SEYMOUR et al. v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CONNECTICUT et al.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

July 12, 1938

Appeal from Superior Court, Hartford County; John A. Cornell, Judge.

Action by George Dudley Seymour and others against the Attorney General of the State of Connecticut and others for a decree advising the plaintiffs whether or not they, as trustees under the will of Ella Burr McManus, could contribute the funds in their hands to the building fund of the Hartford Public Library. From a judgment that the plaintiffs were without authority under the terms of the will to so contribute the funds, the plaintiffs appeal.

No error.

George H. Day and Robert E. Beach, both of Hartford, for appellants.

Lucius F. Robinson, of Hartford, for Hartford Public Library.

Dennis P. O'Connor, Deputy Atty. Gen., for Attorney General.

Harold Borden, Asst. Corp. Counsel, of Hartford, for City of Hartford.

Argued before MALTBIE, C.J., and HINMAN, AVERY, BROWN, and JENNINGS JJ.

MALTBIE, Chief Justice.

On December 26th, 1906, Ella Burr McManus died, leaving a will the residuary bequest in which was as follows: ‘ I give such remainder and residue of my estate, in trust, to the Connecticut, State Capitol Commission of Sculpture, in Connecticut, for the following uses, trusts or purposes. Such Commission shall erect and construct (a memorial) in the City of Hartford, Conn., as the members of said Commission shall conclude will be most appropriate to my father's memory and to perpetuate his name. It must be artistic in design and humane in purpose, preferably a drinking fountain for both human beings and animals, where the city or state shall furnish the site thereof, without expense to the fund, to be furnished with a suitable tablet stating that such memorial is a gift to the City in memory of Alfred E. Burr from his daughter. Should any other form of memorial be considered more beautiful and beneficial to the City by such Commission I give my consent to abide by its decision, not knowing at this date the future conditions of Hartford. There are so many atrocities in the name of art, inflicted upon our American cities, I direct especially that the most competent and gifted sculptor known to such Commission shall be employed to design said memorial. I wish it to be as artistically perfect as possible. Should the residue of my estate exceed in value its amount at this date, I direct and empower the said State Capitol Commission of Sculpture, to use all of the said residue, just the same, as it will conclude will be most advisable, beautiful and beneficial to the City of Hartford.’

The complaint contains the following allegations: The plaintiff the Commission of Sculpture of the State of Connecticut authorized by the General Assembly to hold trust funds, took over the residuary estate on December 16th, 1923, and has since administered it. The securities constituting the fund then had a market value of about $120,000, but that value has increased until at the time the action was brought it amounted to more than $300,000. Various suggestions have been made as to the use of the fund but none of them have hitherto ‘ met popular approval and support.’ Since the death of Mrs. McManus conditions in the city of Hartford have greatly changed. A horse on the streets of the city is now a rarity, and drinking fountains for horses have been for the most part removed or, if retained, have been placed out of the way of traffic. The Hartford Public Library, a specially chartered corporation, is the only public library in the city. It is at present inadequately housed. It has recently received a gift of property upon which it wishes to construct a new library, for which the site is proper and adequate. It is estimated that this will cost in the neighborhood of $750,000. On June 21st, 1937, the Commission of Sculpture passed a vote that it was of the opinion that the trust fund held by it under Mrs. McManus's will might be contributed to the building fund of the library upon conditions outlined in the vote, which is stated in the footnote.^[1] Additional funds necessary for the new library building must be obtained by public subscription or an appropriation by the city, which it is authorized to make.

The plaintiffs brought this action seeking the advice of the court whether or not their authority permitted them to use the trust fund in the way proposed. The defendants, the Attorney General, the City and the Library, each filed an answer admitting the allegations of the complaint, the City and the Library adding that each was of the opinion that the plaintiffs had the authority to make the proposed contribution for the building of the library. The matter was first presented to the trial court for judgment upon the pleadings, but it was of the opinion that a hearing of facts should be had. That hearing developed little if anything relevant to the issues presented upon the pleadings and upon them without a finding the case comes before us.

The will in question is very inartificially drawn and there is no profit in attempting to interpret the paragraph in question by a close scrutiny of its terms, for this would tend to cloud rather than clarify the testatrix's intent. Her dominant purpose was to have in Hartford a memorial to her father. Incidental to that main purpose were certain others and it is reasonably clear that they ranked in her mind in this order: Such a memorial should perpetuate the name of her father; it should be of the highest artistic value; it should serve some humane purpose; it should be a gift to the city; and it should be one which should make manifest that it was the gift of the testatrix. As she evidently visualized the memorial, it was to be a unit, not a part of some larger whole, and in it the work of the sculptor would be at least the dominating element. Her suggestion of the drinking fountain for both human beings and animals was a statement of a preference and no more, the adoption of which, or of some other type of structure, she was content to leave to the sound judgment of the trustees, provided the structure should serve the purposes she had in mind. The gift was conditioned upon the furnishing of a site by the city or State without expense to the fund.

The proposal outlined in the vote of the commission fails to carry out the intent of the testatrix in certain important respects. The money, instead of being...