Tepper v. Supreme Council of Royal Arcanum

• Decision Date: 21 December 1899
• Citation: 69 N.J.E. 321,45 A. 111
• Parties: TEPPER v. SUPREME COUNCIL OF ROYAL ARCANUM et al.
• Court: New Jersey Court of Chancery

45 A. 111

69 N.J.E. 321

TEPPER

v. SUPREME COUNCIL OF ROYAL ARCANUM et al.

Court of Chancery of New Jersey.

Dec. 21, 1899.

Bill by Charles Frederick Tepper against the Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum and others to reform a benefit certificate issued by defendant company. Decree for complainant.

Heard upon pleadings and proofs in open court and the written arguments of counsel. The suit is in the nature of an interpleader. The holder of the fund in dispute is the defendant the Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum; the contestants are the complainant, Charles F. Tepper, on the one side, and his five half-brothers and sisters, Anna Worth (formerly Plondrick), Antoni Sieburg, Wilhelmina Ranges, August Zuber, and Wilhelm Zuber, on the other side. The nature of the contest will be best understood by a statement of the facts:

In 1864, Mrs. ——Zuber was the widow, with five children, of one Joseph Zuber, and in that year married William Tepper, and bore him the complainant, Charles Frederick Tepper. The children of the former marriage (the oldest of whom was born in 1853, and the youngest in 1860) lived with Mr. and Mrs. Tepper, and formed a part of their family, going to school until they were 14 years old or thereabouts, and after that working out, and assisting to support the family; but previous to the year 1885 all had been married, and had left their parents' home. In the year 1885, William Tepper made an application in writing to the Royal Arcanum, Hoboken Council, No. 99, for a full-rate membership in that council, which application was in these words: "Application for membership in the Royal Arcanum. Town of Union, April 28th, 1885. To the Officers and Members of Hoboken Council, No. 99, Royal Arcanum, located at Odd Fellows Hall, Hoboken, N. J.: Having become acquainted with the objects of your order, I hereby make application for full-rate membership in our council, and do declare, upon my honor as a man, that the statements by me subscribed herein are each and every one of them true, to the best of my knowledge and belief. I am not now a member of this order. I have not, within six months, been rejected, am not now under suspension, and have never been expelled from any council of this order, and am a believer in a Supreme Being. I reside at No. 79 Gardner street, town of Union, State of New Jersey. 1 was born on the 11th day of February, 1835, and am between 50 and 51 years of age. My occupation is that of agent. Place of business, No. 79 Gardner street. I direct that, in case of my decease, all benefit to which I may be entitled from the Royal Arcanum, be paid to Anna Plondrick, Antonette Sieburg, Wilhelmiene Ranges, August Zuber, Wilhelm Zuber, Friedrich Tepper, related to me as my children, subject to such future disposal of the benefit, among my dependents, as I may hereafter direct, in compliance with the laws of the order. I am temperate in my habits, and have no injury or disease which will tend to shorten my life. Am now in good health, and am able to gain a livelihood. I do hereby consent and agree that any untrue or fraudulent statement made above, or to the medical examiner, or any concealment of facts by me in this application, or my suspension or expulsion from, or voluntarily severing my connection with the order, shall forfeit the rights of myself and my family, or dependents, to all benefits and privileges therein. * * *" The persons therein named as his children were the five children of his wife by her former marriage, and the complainant. Pursuant to that application, a benefit certificate was issued to him, dated at Boston, Mass., the 8th of July, 1885, as follows: "No. 63,761, $3,000. Royal Arcanum Benefit Certificate. This certificate is issued to William Tepper, a member of Hoboken Council, No. 99, Royal Arcanum, located at Hoboken, N. J., upon evidence received from said council that he is a contributor to the widows' and orphans' benefit fund of this order; and upon condition that the statements made by him in his application for membership in said council, and the statements certified by him to the medical examiner, both of which are filed in the supreme secretary's office, be made a part of this contract, and upon condition that the said member complies in the future with the laws, rules, and regulations now governing the said council and fund, or that may hereafter be enacted by the supreme council to govern said council and fund. These conditions being complied with, the Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum hereby promises and binds itself to pay out of its widows' and orphans' benefit fund to Anna Plondrick, Antonette Sieburg, Wilhelmiene Ranges, August Zuber, Wilhelm Zuber and Friedrich Tepper (children), a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars, in accordance with and under the provisions of the laws governing said fund, upon satisfactory evidence of the death of said member, and upon the surrender of this certificate: provided, that said member is in good standing in this order at the time of his death: and provided, also, that this certificate shall not have been surrendered by said member, and another certificate issued at his request, in accordance with the laws of this order. In witness whereof," etc. Mrs. Tepper predeceased her husband, and he died in 1898. At the time of his death the certificate was in the possession of the husband of one of the stepdaughters, but was produced at the hearing.

The Royal Arcanum was organized in Massachusetts on the 5th of November, 1877, under the provisions of an act of the legislature of that state dated the 9th of May, 1877, which provides that such organizations "may, for the purpose of assisting the widows, orphans or other dependents of deceased members, provide in their by-laws for the payment by each member of a fixed sum, to be held by such association, until the death of a member occurs, then to be forthwith paid to the person or persons entitled thereto, and such fund so held shall not be liable to attachment by trustee or other process; and associations may be formed under said act for the purpose of rendering assistance to the persons and in the manner above specified." The second section of the act provides that the general laws relating to life insurance companies shall not apply. By a supplement, passed in 1882, it is provided that: "A corporation organized for any purpose mentioned in section two may, for the purpose of assisting the widows, orphans or other relatives of deceased members, or any person dependent upon deceased members, provide in its by-laws for the payment by each member of a fixed sum, to be held by such association until the death of a member occurs, and then to be forthwith paid to the person or persons entitled thereto," etc. The Royal Arcanum was organized in November, 1877, shortly after the passage of the act first above cited, and the certificate of organization given by the secretary of the commonwealth recited one of its objects to be "assisting the widows and orphans of deceased members, establishing a fund for the relief of sick and distressed members, and one for a widows' and orphans' benefit fund." There was no distinct proof given as to the precise language used in the first constitution and by-laws of the association, but in 1884—two years after the act of 1882—it adopted an amended constitution and by-laws. The constitution then adopted declares that one of its objects is "to establish a widows' and orphans' benefit fund, from which, on the satisfactory evidence of the death of a member of the order, who has complied with all its lawful requirements, a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars shall be paid to his family, or those dependent on him, as he may direct." And the third by-law provides as follows:

"Sec. 2. (1) Each applicant shall enter upon his application the name or names and relationship or dependence of the members of his family, or those dependent upon him, to whom he desires his benefit paid, and the same shall be entered in the benefit certificate according to said direction. (2) No benefit shall be made payable to any person or persons permanently residing outside the limits of the United States or dominion of Canada. (3) When no relation by marriage or consanguinity is shown in the direction for payment of a benefit, proof of dependency must be furnished satisfactory to the supreme secretary, before the benefit certificate is issued.

"Sec. 3. (1) A member may at any time, when in good standing, surrender his benefit certificate, and a new certificate shall thereafter be issued, payable to such beneficiary or beneficiaries as such member may direct, in accordance with the laws of the order, upon the payment of a fee of fifty cents."

In 1891 the constitution and by-laws were again amended, stating the object of the widows' and orphans' fund, as follows:

Constitution, art. 5: "To establish a widows' and orphans' benefit fund, from which, on the satisfactory evidence of the death of a member of the order who has complied with all its lawful requirements, a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars shall be paid to the wife, children, relatives of, or persons dependent upon such member, as limited and described in the laws of said order relating to benefit certificates, as he may direct in accordance with said laws."

And in the general by-laws adopted at that time (chapter 2), as follows:

"Sec. 323. Each applicant shall enter upon his application the name or names, residence, and relationship or dependence of the person or persons of the classes in the next section embraced to whom he desires his benefit paid, and the same shall be entered in the benefit certificate according to said direction.

"Sec. 324. A benefit may be made payable to any one or more persons of any of the following classes only:

"Class First. Grade 1st, member's wife. Grade 2d, member's children, and children of deceased children. Grade 3d, member's grandchildren. Grade 4th,...