Snell v. Trustees of The Soc'y of The Methodist Episcopal Church of Clinton
| Decision Date | 31 January 1871 |
| Citation | 58 Ill. 290,1871 WL 7922 |
| Parties | THOMAS SNELLv.TRUSTEES OF THE SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF CLINTON, etc. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
APPEAL from the Circuit Court of DeWitt county; the Hon. JOHN M. SCOTT, Judge, presiding. Mr. E. H. PALMER, for the appellant.
Messrs. MOORE & WARNER, for the appellees.
This was an action brought by the appellees against the appellant, upon a subscription of $1,000 made by the appellant to the appellees, for the purpose of building a new church edifice in Clinton.
The court below gave judgment against the appellant for $1,000 and costs, to reverse which he takes this appeal.
The defendant, on Friday, the 12th day of the term of the court below, by leave of the court, withdrew all the pleas which he had before filed in the case, and leave was given to him to plead over by two o'clock of that day. On Saturday, the 13th day of the term, the defendant filed his amended pleas, which were: 1st, the general issue; 2d, that the plaintiffs were not a corporation at the time of the supposed promise; 3d, that they were not, are not, and have not been a corporation.
Upon the first plea, the plaintiffs joined issue; to the two others, they filed demurrers. The demurrer to the second plea was overruled, and the plaintiffs stood by the demurrer. On motion of the plaintiffs, the third plea was stricken from the files by the court.
The errors assigned are, in rendering judgment for the appellees, and in striking the third plea from the files.
The question which has been made, as to the plaintiffs being a corporation at the time the suit was commenced, does not properly arise for consideration, as it was not in issue.
The only plea in that respect, which was in the case at the time of the trial, was one of nul tiel corporation at the time of the alleged promise; and the issue in law upon that plea was found for the defendant--that plea stood confessed, but, not-withstanding all that, the plaintiffs were entitled to a judgment in their favor, because the plea presented an immaterial issue. Although the plaintiffs were not a corporation at the time the promise was made, they might have been at the time of the commencement of the suit.
This court has held in several cases, that a subscription made in contemplation of an incorporation, is legal, and the party making it, bound to fulfil. Johnston v. Ewing Female University, 35 Ill. 518, and cases there cited.
The appellant's counsel in objecting that the statute does not give to the corporation any power to sue, must have over-looked sec. 3, page 128, Gross' Statutes, 1868, which expressly provides, that “such trustees shall be capable in law to sue and be sued,” etc.
Another objection to any recovery is, that notice was given by the defendant that he would not pay his subscription, before work was begun upon the church.
The evidence upon that point being his own, was as follows: “After a while I wanted the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Rogers v. Galloway Female College
... ... of a subscription to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, ... alleged to have ... 196, 16 Gray 196 (and cases cited;) Trustees ... v. Ripley, 6 Grant. Cas. 4422; Anson, ... Ewing Female University, 35 Ill. 518; Snell" ... v. Trustees, 58 Ill. 290 ... \xC2" ... ...
-
Gregory v. Spencer
...exceptions, cited Horn v. Eckert, 63 Ill. 522; St. L. A. & T. H. R. R. Co. v. Dorsey, 68 Ill. 326; Hay v. Hayes, 56 Ill. 342; Snell v. Trustees etc. 58 Ill. 290; Gaddy v. McClean, 59 Ill. 182; Thompson v. White, 64 Ill. 314; Drew v. Beall, 62 Ill. 164. Being copied by the clerk into the tra......
-
Cott v. Sprague
... ... 202; Griswold v. Board of Trustees, 26 Ill. 41.MCALLISTER, J.In this suit Albert B ... Snell v. Methodist Church, 58 Ill. 290; Reed v. Horne, ... ...
-
Congregation of Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago v. Continental Illinois Nat. Bank & Trust Co. of Chicago (In re Wheeler's Estate)
...for such pledges. Beatty's Estate v. Western College, 177 Ill. 280, 52 N.E. 432,42 L.R.A. 797,69 Am.St.Rep. 242;Snell v. Trustees, M. E. Church of Clinton, 58 Ill. 290;Whitsitt v. Trustees Presbyterian Church, 110 Ill. 125. Fundamentally, defendant's argument is based upon the proposition t......