Stoughton v. Town and City of Hartford

• Decision Date: 26 July 1912
• Citation: 85 Conn. 674,84 A. 95
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: STOUGHTON v. TOWN AND CITY OF HARTFORD et al.

84 A. 95

85 Conn. 674

STOUGHTON v. TOWN AND CITY OF HARTFORD et al.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

July 26, 1912

Appeal from Superior Court, Hartford County; Joel H. Reed, Judge.

Application in the nature of an appeal by John A. Stoughton, a taxpayer of the Town and City of Hartford, from the action of the Board of Relief of Hartford in striking from the tax list of the corporation, the House of the Good Shepherd, certain property placed on the list by the Board of Assessors. Judgment confirming the action of the Board of Relief, and the applicant appeals. Affirmed.

William Waldo Hyde, of Hartford, for appellant.

William BroSmith, of Hartford, and Robert C. Dickinson, for appellees.

RORABACK, J.

The defendant the House of the Good Shepherd is a corporation organized under a charter granted by the Legislature of the state of Connecticut in 1905, for the charitable purpose of providing and maintaining in the city of Hartford a home to afford protection and retreat for females who have had the misfortune to fall into crime, and who may wish to reform their lives, and also for those whose evil surroundings expose them to the danger of falling into crime.

For two or three years after the institution was established, the home accommodated about 30 inmates and about 12 or 15 Sisters. Since that time, the number of Sisters has increased to 23 and the number of inmates to 133. Of this latter number, 77 were committed by the courts of the state of Connecticut, and the others either entered voluntarily, or were placed there by parents or guardians.

Under this charter, all real estate occupied and used exclusively for the purpose of said corporation is exempt from taxation. The corporation owns two pieces of land, one of which was acquired in 1902, and which is hereafter designated as the " first piece," and is not affected by this appeal. The other, hereafter designated as the " second piece," is situated immediately north of the first piece, and is the one to which this appeal relates. All the buildings of the institution are located upon the first piece of land. These buildings consist of an old residence formerly known as the " Sisson Residence," which is occupied by the Sisters and some of the penitents, a large building, about 35 x20 feet, occupied by the inmates of the institution, a washhouse or laundry, a barn, a residence for the caretaker, and a residence for his assistant. Upon the first piece of land are also located recreation grounds which had been established there for a long time, and had been used by the defendant and the persons occupying the buildings on the land owned by the defendant long prior to its purchase of the land affected by this appeal.

Upon the front of the second piece, there are located vegetable and flower gardens, recreation grounds, and fruit trees planted thereon since the title to the parcel was acquired. There are no buildings upon the second piece of land; nor have there been any buildings thereon since its purchase. It has always been treated by the defendant as a separate and distinct parcel, and no improvements have been made upon it that in any way change its character as a separate and distinct parcel of land from the land on which the home and other buildings of the defendant are located.

All of this real property, including the land and the buildings on the remaining portion of the property, are occupied by the House of the Good Shepherd for the purposes for which it was formed. The several classes of inmates of the House of the Good Shepherd are trained, among other things, to different indoor and outdoor occupations to make them...