Warwick Cent. Baptist Soc. v. Hohler
| Decision Date | 30 April 1947 |
| Docket Number | No. 1774.,1774. |
| Citation | 53 A.2d 494 |
| Parties | WARWICK CENTRAL BAPTIST SOC. v. HOHLER et al. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Case Certified from Superior Court, Kent County; Mortimer A. Sullivan, Judge.
Suit by the Warwick Central Baptist Society against Emily I. Hohler and others for construction of a will. Testimony was taken in the superior court and, when the cause was ready for hearng for final decree, it was certified to the Supreme Court for final determination.
Decree in accordance with opinion.
Edward L. Godfrey, of Providence, for complainant.
No appearance for respondents.
This is a bill in equity for the construction of a will. Testimony was take in the superior court and when the cause was ready for hearing for final decree it was certified, under General Laws 1938, chapter 545, § 7, to this court for final determination.
It appears from the bill of complaint that Henry Whitman Greene, late of Warwick, in this state, who died January 20, 1897, left a will dated February 27, 1896, which was duly admitted to probate March 8, 1897. His will contained the following devise:
Testator's wife, the life tenant, is now dead and it is admitted that there is no ‘Free Will Baptist Society of Apponaug.’ The complainant contends that the devise was for its benefit. The respondents are the persons entitled to the property in question under the residuary clause of the will as heirs at law of the testator in case the devise was void for want of a legal devisee. Some of the respondents answered the bill by leaving the complainant to its proof, while others filed no answers and the bill was taken pro confesso as against them.
The evidence, which was introduced to assist in ascertaining the testator's true intent, is uncontradicted. It appears that there were two interrelated organizations, the Warwick Central Baptist Church and the Warwick Central Baptist Society, this complainant. Unless otherwise stated, they will hereinafter be referred to as the church and the society respectively. From the date of its organization in 1835 until 1915, the church was an unincorporated association under the name of Warwick Central Free Will Baptist Church. In 1915 it incorporated under the laws of this state and, dropping the words ‘Free Will’ from its name, became the Warwick Central Baptist Church. The church building was commonly referred to as the ‘meeting house’ by the older residents of the village of Apponaug.
The society, which was often commonly referred to as the Warwick Central Free IVill Baptist Society, was...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Industrial Nat. Bank of R. I. v. Glocester Manton Free Public Library of Glocester
...Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, R.I., 252 A.2d 335; First Baptist Church v. Soban, 77 R.I. 115, 73 A.2d 772; Warwick Central Baptist Soc'y v. Hohler, 72 R.I. 445, 53 A.2d 494. Although the testatrix intended to make a bequest for the general uses and purposes of the nursing home, it is obv......
-
Industrial Nat. Bank of R. I. v. Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung
...may be taken to ascertain his intention. First Baptist Church in Exeter v. Soban, 77 R.I. 115, 73 A.2d 772; Warwick Central Baptist Society v. Hohler, 72 R.I. 445, 53 A.2d 494. Should two or more claimants seek to bring themselves within a misnomer, the one presenting the more convincing ev......
-
Alumnae Ass'n of Newport Hospital School of Nursing v. Nugent
...of her benefaction being otherwise evident. First Baptist Church in Exeter v. Soban, 77 R.I. 115, 73 A.2d 772; Warwick Central Baptist Soc'y v. Hohler, 72 R.I. 445, 53 A.2d 494; Deserving Poor Boys Priesthood Ass'n v. Rhode Island Hospital Trust Co., 53 R.I. 310, 166 A. We turn now to the q......
-
First Baptist Church in Exeter v. Soban
...R. I. 412; Deserving Poor Boys Priesthood Ass'n v. Rhode Island Hospital Trust Co., 53 R. I. 310, 166 A. 359; Warwick Central Baptist Society v. Hohler, 72 R. I. 445, 53 A.2d 494. In our opinion the evidence here, taken together with the reference in the will to 'Liberty Church' reasonably ......