Williams v. Protestant Episcopal Theological Sem., 11174.

• Decision Date: 12 June 1952
• Docket Number: No. 11174.,11174.
• Citation: 198 F.2d 595,91 US App. DC 69
• Parties: WILLIAMS v. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN VIRGINIA et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

91 US App. DC 69, 198 F.2d 595 (1952)

WILLIAMS v. PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN VIRGINIA et al.

No. 11174.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued April 9, 1952.

Decided June 12, 1952.

Writ of Certiorari Denied October 27, 1952.

Messrs. Clarence E. Martin, Sr., Martinsburg, W. Va., of the Bar of the Supreme Court of West Virginia, pro hac vice, by special leave of Court, and Austin F. Canfield, Washington, D. C., with whom Mr. William T. Hannan, Washington, D. C., was on the brief, for appellant. Mr. Ralph F. Berlow, Washington, D. C., also entered an appearance for appellant.

Mr. Armistead L. Boothe, Alexandria, Va., of the Bar of the Supreme Court of Virginia, pro hac vice, by special leave of Court, with whom Messrs. A. G. Nichols, Jr., and Stanton C. Peelle, Jr., Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for appellee Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia.

Mr. John E. Larson, Washington, D. C., entered an appearance for appellee American Security and Trust Company.

Before PROCTOR, FAHY and WASHINGTON, Circuit Judges.

Writ of Certiorari Denied October 27, 1952. See 73 S.Ct. 105.

FAHY, Circuit Judge.

Appellant, Agra B. Williams, niece, next of kin and sole heir at law of Mary E. Maxwell, deceased, sued in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for construction of Miss Maxwell's will and for a declaratory judgment. Miss Maxwell died March 1, 1949. Thereafter, but before this action was filed, her will was admitted to probate in the District of Columbia. Part of the residuary estate, consisting of personal property, was bequeathed to appellee Seminary, a Virginia corporation.¹ The bequest was as an endowment fund to be kept intact and invested by the Seminary, one-half of the net income to be used in establishing scholarships and the remaining one-half toward current expenses of the Seminary, as set forth with greater detail in the will.

The declaratory judgment sought is that appellant is entitled to this residuary estate, on the theory that the Seminary is precluded by the law applicable in Virginia from taking by will. The American Security and Trust Company, as executor, the Treasurer of the State of Virginia, and The Virginia Military Institute² were joined as defendants.

There being no genuine issue of material fact the court, on motions for summary judgment filed by both appellant and the Seminary, granted that of the latter, holding the Seminary to be entitled to receive the estate bequeathed to it. The action accordingly was dismissed insofar as it pertained to the Seminary. Appropriate order having been entered under Rule 54(b), Fed.R.Civ.P., 28 U.S.C.A., the appeal is properly before us. David v. District of Columbia, 1950, 88 U.S.App.D.C. 92, 187 F.2d 204.

We agree with the District Court that the law of Virginia applies and that under Virginia law the Seminary has capacity to take the bequest. We accordingly affirm the judgment.

The Seminary was incorporated by Act of the General Assembly of Virginia February 28, 1854. It is authorized by its charter "to hold, receive and purchase" lands, tenements, money and chattels not in excess of a specified amount. The authorized amount has been increased from time to time by the Virginia legislature and no question is before us in that regard. Virginia statutes in effect at the relevant times authorize non-stock corporations, such as the Seminary, to hold any property, real, personal or mixed, including that received by gift, purchase, grant, devise or bequest. The applicable provisions now appear as § 13-224, 3 Code of Virginia 1950.

In urging that the Seminary is not within this general rule appellant rests upon an intricate course of legislation and decision said to stem from a policy described more than a century ago as "hostility of the Virginia legislative power to religious incorporations." Gallego's Ex'rs v. Attorney General, 1832, 3 Leigh, Va., 450, 477. The evolution of the law in Virginia on this subject could no doubt be more thoroughly and accurately analyzed today by her own courts than by ourselves. It is unnecessary for our purposes here to trace in detail this evolution.

When the will became effective Virginia statutes contained the following provision:

"Every gift, grant, devise or bequest which, since April second, eighteen hundred and thirty-nine, has been or at any time hereafter shall be made for literary purposes or for the education of white persons within this State and every gift, grant, devise or bequest which, since April tenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, has been or at any time hereafter shall be made for literary purposes or for the education of colored persons within this State, and every gift, grant, devise or bequest made hereafter for charitable purposes, whether made in any case to a body corporate or unincorporated, or to a natural person, shall be as valid as if made to or for the benefit of a certain natural person, except such devises or bequests, if any, as have failed or become void by virtue of the seventh section of the act of the General Assembly passed on April second, eighteen hundred and thirty-nine, entitled `an act concerning devises made to schools, academies, and colleges.\' Nothing in this section shall be so construed as to give validity to any devise or bequest to or for the use of any unincorporated theological seminary." 8 Code of Virginia 1950, § 55-26.

This provision was enacted in 1914 and appears in the Code of 1919 as § 587.³ Under it a bequest for the education of white persons made since 1839, or for the education of colored persons made since 1865, and every bequest made after its enactment for charitable purposes, whether to a body corporate or unincorporated, or to a natural person, is valid, as it would be if made to or for the...