St. James Educational Institute v. City of Salem

• Decision Date: 17 January 1891
• Citation: 153 Mass. 185,26 N.E. 636
• Parties: ST. JAMES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE v. City of Salem
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

153 Mass. 185

26 N.E. 636

ST. JAMES EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE v. City of Salem

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Essex.

January 17, 1891

Plaintiff called as a witness, Rev. John J. Gray, pastor of the St James Roman Catholic Church in Salem, who testified that prior to April 20, 1887, John J. Williams, archbishop of Boston, was the record owner of all the real estate described in said deed, and of the lot marked No. 4 on said plan, upon which said church building stands, and also of considerable other real estate lying easterly and westerly of the lots shown on said plan, and continued to be the record owner of all said real estate down to April 20, 1887; that upon said April 20, 1887, said Williams executed to said corporation a deed of lots Nos. 1, 2, and 3, and the same was recorded upon April 27, 1887; that both the church buildings upon lot numbered 4 and the dwelling-house or building upon lot numbered 1 were erected eight years or more before said April 20th and that no change had been made in either of said buildings for some years before 1887, nor had either of said buildings been changed since that date; that for 10 years next before April 20, 1887, a school had been maintained in said church building, the portion occupied by and used for said school being about 60 feet of the northerly end of said church building; that there were 8 school-rooms upon the first and second floors of that part of said church building used for school purposes, as aforesaid; that upon an average 500 pupils, between the ages of 5 and 17 years, attended said school in said church building, under the instruction of teachers, 11 in number, who resided as a family in said dwelling-house or building upon lot numbered 1 on said plan that said school had no organization, but was known as the "St. James Parish School," was under the control of the clergymen of said church, and was supported by contributions from the parishioners of said church; that since the plaintiff corporation was formed said school has run along just the same, so far as the management is concerned; that since April 20, 1887, and down to the present time, said school has been continued in said church building having substantially the same number of pupils in attendance occupying and using the same rooms, in charge of the same, or the same number, of teachers, and supported in the same manner as before April 20, 1887, and no change in the management or control of said school was made in 1887, or at any time thereafter; that the witness has had charge of said school as superintendent from 1877 down to the present time and the same is and has been supported since 1887 in all respects as before that time; that said building upon lot numbered 1 upon said plan is three stories in height, and is the same or like a dwelling-house, having a large corridor running through, and rooms upon each side; that the use of said dwelling-house or building before and since 1887 has been as a home for said teachers, three rooms therein having been used,--one as a recitation room, one for the teaching of music, and one for the storage of books and materials for the use of scholars; that the northerly portion of the church building was really the school room, and the school was really there, and that the dwelling-house or building upon lot numbered 1 was used as incidental to the school as lodgings for said teachers, and for the recitations of scholars attending school in said church building, as before stated; that the use of said dwelling-house before 1887, and since, has been the same; that said teachers were paid $1,000 per annum, and had the use of said dwelling-house; that the use of said dwelling-house was considered as payment of services in addition to the salary aforesaid; that said teachers have always been paid by the witness from money contributed by the parishioners of said church; that regular sessions of said school have been held since 1877 in said church building upon five days of each week, the branches taught being reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and music, and other branches usually taught in parochial and public schools; that certain of the scholars attending the school in said church building recited from time to time in said building on lot numbered 1 used as a home for said teachers; that for 8 or 10 years past, at certain seasons of the year, religious instruction was given in the evening in one of the rooms of said building upon lot numbered 1 to children who attended the day school in the church building on certain days, the number of such children so attending being from 10 to 15; that the duties of said teachers are almost entirely performed in the school in said church building. The witness further testified that lots numbered 2 and 3 were formerly tide-water flats, and were filled by said city in 1883 or 1884, at which time Bridge street, shown on said plan, was laid out; that no change in 1887, or since, had been made in the fences inclosing said land; that the lot extending...