Wachovia Bank & Trust Co. v. Board of Nat. Missions of Presbyterian Church in United States
| Decision Date | 09 October 1946 |
| Docket Number | 97 |
| Citation | 39 S.E.2d 621,226 N.C. 546 |
| Parties | WACHOVIA BANK & TRUST CO. v. BOARD OF NATIONAL MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES et al. |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
The plaintiff, trustee, under the will of Carroll P. Marriott, brings this action under the provisions of the Uniform Declaratory Judgment Act, for the purpose of obtaining a construction of the said will; and for directions as to the disposition of the corpus of the trust, under Item (i) of the will, as follows:
All the other trusts referred to in the above Item were terminated on or before February 9, 1945, and the sole remaining question for determination is the proper disposition of the corpus of the estate under the terms set forth in the foregoing Item of said will.
The evidence tends to show that at the time of the execution of the will of Carroll P. Marriott in 1921, and at the time of his death in 1922, the Woman's Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, a corporation, operated a large number of schools in the mountain areas of the United States, among them the Asheville Normal and Associated Schools of Asheville, N. C.
The Asheville Normal, the Home School and Pease House were located on a campus situate on the West side of Biltmore Avenue, in the City of Asheville, during the time they were operated as educational institutions. The Asheville Normal gave two years of post high school work until a few years before it was closed, during which period a four year teachers' course was given, and the name of the school was changed to Asheville Normal and Teachers' College. The Home School was a school for girls in the elementary and high school grades. The Pease House was a school for small children in grades one to six. The Asheville Farm School was situated on a tract of land consisting of approximately 640 acres near Swannanoa, about 10 miles from the City of Asheville.
The Woman's Board of Missions also operated the Dorland Bell School in Madison County, N. C., for boys and girls from the mountain area, in vocational, pre-high school and high school work. Later this school was discontinued as a coeducational institution and the boys were transferred to the Asheville Farm School. Some of the students at the Home School were transferred to Dorland Bell when the Home School was closed. Now, the Dorland Bell School for Girls, the Asheville Farm School for Boys and the Warren Wilson College, are operated as separate units or divisions on the Asheville Farm School campus, under the name of Warren Wilson College. Educational opportunities are provided for deserving boys and girls from the mountain area of Western North Carolina beginning with the lower grades through high school and the junior college level. None of the schools referred to herein have been incorporated.
The jury answered certain issues to the effect that at the time of the execution of the will of Carroll P. Marriott, in 1921 the Asheville Normal and Associated Schools of Asheville, N C., consisted of the following schools: Asheville Normal, Home School, Pease House and Asheville Farm School; that said schools during the years 1921 and 1922 were owned and operated by the Woman's Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and that the National Board of Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, a corporation, has succeeded to all the rights and interests of the aforesaid Board. The jury also found that the Pease House in 1925, the Home School in 1930, and the Asheville Normal in 1940, ceased to exist as public educational institutions, but that the Farm School operated continuously up to and including the 9th day of February, 1945, as a public educational institution. The jury found the defendant Trustees of the Ohio Wesleyan University, to be the same Ohio Wesleyan University of Delaware, Ohio, as designated in the will of Carroll P. Marriott.
Upon the return of the jury's verdict, the Court entered judgment to the effect that the defendant, Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, is the owner and entitled to the principal and accumulated income of the Trust Estate of Carroll P. Marriott, held by the Wachovia Bank & Trust Company, Trustee, under the last will and testament of said testator; such funds to be held by the Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, for the benefit of and added to the present endowment of a school owned and operated by it, to wit: Asheville Farm School, and directed the trustee to pay over to said Board the principal and accumulated income of said trust estate.
The defendant, trustees of the Ohio Wesleyan University, appealed to the Supreme Court, assigning error.
Fred L. Rosemond, of Columbus, Ohio, and Smathers & Meekins, of Asheville, for appellant.
Williams, Cocke & Williams, of Asheville, for appellee.
There is ample evidence in this record to support the verdict of the jury, and while the findings of the jury are helpful in establishing the facts relative to the present status of the Asheville Normal and Associated Schools, the challenge of the appellant to the correctness of the judgment entered below, makes it necessary to consider the legal effect of those findings in the light of the provisions contained in the testator's will. The appellant assails the judgment below on the ground that notwithstanding the verdict of the jury it does not follow necessarily that the Asheville Normal and Associated Schools, as an institution, had not exist on February 9, 1945, within the meaning of the testator's will. Therefore, the exception to the judgment entered below presents for determination as a matter of law, whether or not the continued operation of the Asheville Farm School, along with other educational enterprises by the Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, under the name of Warren Wilson College, on the campus of the Asheville Farm School, constitutes such existence, as a public educational institution, as will meet the condition imposed in the testator's will, notwithstanding the discontinuance of the Asheville Normal, the Home School and the Pease House, in the City of Asheville.
At the time of the execution of the will of Carroll P. Marriott, as well as at the time of his death in 1922, the Woman's Board of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and later the defendant Board of National Missions of the same Church, owned and operated the Asheville Normal, Home School, Pease House and Asheville Farm School. These unincorporated schools were popularly known as the Asheville Normal and Associated Schools. The program of the local units was adapted to meet specific local conditions. The curriculum was changed from time to time in the local units as local conditions changed. It is apparent that with the development of our public school system in North Carolina, it became unnecessary and impractical for the Board of National Missions to maintain the units of the Asheville Normal and Associated Schools in the City of Asheville. But we cannot say, in view of the evidence disclosed by the record and the findings of the jury in the trial below, that the Asheville Farm School is not and was not, on February 9, 1945, engaged in a program of service in the field of Christian education for the benefit of the youth of the mountain area, substantially the same as that in which it was engaged at the time of the execution of the testator's will.
It appears from the evidence that when the College Department of the Asheville Normal and Teachers' College was dropped, the rest of the work was transferred to the Asheville Farm School, including the library and records of the Asheville Normal and Teachers' College. Likewise the Dorland Bell School for Girls was moved from Madison County, N. C., to the campus of the Ashville Farm School. The Asheville Farm School is being operated as a part of what is now known as Warren Wilson College. The courses given are the regular high school and pre-high school work, two years of college work, and in addition to the regular educational courses, there are vocational courses in agriculture, mechanics, home-making, printing and various other types of vocational training.
It is a rule of construction that the intent of the testator as expressed by him, is to be ascertained from the four corners of the will, and must control, unless contrary to some rule of law or at variance with public policy. Holland v Smith, 224 N.C. 255, 29 S.E.2d 888; Williams v. Rand, 223 N.C. 734, 28...
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