Woodruff v. Marsh

• Decision Date: 22 May 1893
• Citation: 63 Conn. 125,26 A. 846
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: WOODRUFF et al. v. MARSH et al.

26 A. 846

63 Conn. 125

WOODRUFF et al.

v. MARSH et al.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

May 22, 1893.

Case reserved from superior court, Hartford county.

Suit by Isaac B. Woodruff and another, executors of the estate of William L. Gilbert, deceased, against Benjamin F. Marsh and others, for the construction of a will. Case reserved.

C. E. Perkins & S. A. Herman, for plaintiffs.

C. C. Gross, for defendants.

BALDWIN, J. This is a suit by the executors of the will of William L. Gilbert, of Winchester, for a construction of certain of its provisions. The will commences by a declaration that its dispositions are the result of a desire on the part of the testator that a large part of his estate should be "used in the improvement of mankind, by affording such assistance and means of educating the young as will help them to become good citizens." After certain legacies to his next of kin, and for educational and religious purposes, come the clauses as to which the advice of the court is sought. By the first of these he gives and devises to 16 of his fellow townsmen, "in trust for the purpose hereinafter named," a tract of land in Winchester, described as that "deeded to me by Henry Gay, together with all the buildings located thereon, and all the land which I may hereafter acquire adjoining the above-described tract; and also the sum of four hundred thousand dollars, for the purpose of maintaining and supporting a home for destitute and friendless children, permanently, on the above-described premises, and to be known as the 'William L. Gilbert Home,' the same to be under the care and control of the above-named persons as trustees; arid said trustees shall have the power to fill all vacancies which may occur, by death or otherwise, the whole number to always consist of sixteen, eight of whom shall be residents of the fourth school district of Winchester, and the other eight shall be residents of the first school district of Winchester, as they are now divided; the said four hundred thousand dollars to be kept safely invested, and from the yearly income thereof the sum of ten thousand dollars shall each year be added to the principal of said fund for the period of one hundred years, and longer if the trustees deem it best. The balance of the income from said fund, including the income from said yearly additions, may be used for the maintenance of said home; and said trustees shall have the privilege of vesting said fund in mortgages secured on real estate located in this and other states within the United States, and also in the purchase of real estate, and the erection of buildings thereon, as they may deem best, for the safety and increase of said fund."

The heirs at law contend that this devise and bequest is void for indefiniteness, uncertainty, and the absence of any grant of power to select the beneficiaries. In devises and bequests of this nature, our law requires either certainty in the particular persons to be benefited, or certainty as to the class of persons to be benefited, with an ascertained mode of selecting them out of such class. The testator in the present case described the persons whom he intends to benefit as "destitute and friendless children;" the mode of benefit to be, "maintaining and supporting a home" for them, "permanently," at a place particularly specified, "to be known as the 'William L. Gilbert Home,' the same to be under the care and control" of the trustees whom he has selected, and their successors in the trust; and the great object of his will to be the affording of "such assistance and means of educating the young as will help them to become good citizens." We think that the trustees who are to maintain and support this home, and under whose care and control it is expressly placed, are thereby invested with ample powers to select for its inmates, from time to time, subject only to the limitations imposed in the concluding portion of the will, such individuals of the class of destitute and friendless children as they, or a majority of them, may think proper, or to commit the power of selection to suitable officers or agents, under their supervision. This power to admit includes power to exclude, and to remove after admission. All such acts are naturally incident to the control of the institution.

It is claimed by the heirs at law that the words "the same to be under the care and control of the above-named persons as trustees" refer, not to the William L. Gilbert Home, but to the funds bequeathed. Such a construction would do violence to the rule which refers an adjective or relative clause to its last antecedent, as well as to the natural course of thought which runs through the whole paragraph, the latter part of which contains specific directions as to the management of the fund, and the use of the income it may produce.

The charitable purpose is sufficiently definite. The children to be benefited must reside in the home. Coit v. Comstock, 51 Conn. 352, 382. They can reside there, at most, only so long as they are children. They must be taken from the class of the destitute and friendless, and they should be given such assistance and means of education as will help them to become good citizens. The "assistance" should be such as children who are not destitute and friendless find at their "home," and may thus include food, shelter, clothing, and medical attendance. The means of education may be afforded either by instruction given at the home, or by allowing some or all of the children to attend school in the vicinity, at the discretion of the trustees. The class to be benefited is a large one, for the testator has imposed no restrictions as to race or residence; but the number of possible beneficiaries under a charitable bequest is immaterial where a power of selection is given. Treat's Appeal, 30 Conn. 113. The "assistance" to be furnished is quite as definitely indicated as was that in the bequest which we upheld in Tappan's Appeal, 52 Conn. 412, for the charitable assistance and benefit of indigent, unmarried, Protestant females over the age of 18 years, residents of Bridgeport.

In 1887, about three years before the date of the will, a special charter was granted to the same 16 persons who are constituted trustees under this bequest, by the name of "The William L. Gilbert Home." Sp. Acts, p. 632. By this charter they were authorized to erect and forever maintain a home in Winchester for destitute minors, admittance to which should at all times be under the control of the corporators, who could make such rules for their admission at should be deemed wise and best. The corporation was empowered to receive and hold any property which might be conveyed or bequeathed to it by William L. Gilbert, and, in administering its trust, to comply with any lawful regulations which he might prescribe. The heirs at law of Mr. Gilbert have argued before us that, as he did not make any bequest to this corporation, it may fairly be presumed that he did not like the discretionary powers as to the admission of minors to the home which this charter gave, and that, as he afterwards used different language in respect to this matter in his will, such language ought to be construed as not intended to confer similar authority. Their contention, in other words, is that the charter rebuts any implication of a grant by the will of discretionary powers in the selection of beneficiaries. It is claimed, on the other hand, by the trustees, that the devise and bequest in question inure to them, not as individuals, but as a corporation, and should be construed as if expressly made to the William L. Gilbert Home. We find ourselves unable to accept either of these views. The trustees, by the plain terms of the will, take as natural persons, and it gives them, though in fewer words, substantially the same powers of selection and administration which are contained in the charter.

The testator left his residuary estate to the same 16 persons in trust "for the establishment and maintenance of an institution of learning to be known as the 'Gilbert School,'"providing certain lands and buildings in Winchester, which he particularly describes, should be "given free of cost for the location of said school, excepting that the present owners of said land may reserve the use and income from the hotel building and barn located thereon for the period of twenty years from the date of their purchase of said land, the repairs and taxes to be paid by them so long as they shall receive the income of said hotel and farm, in case the necessary school buildings are not erected and paid for during my lifetime, then the amount necessary for the erection of said buildings may be taken from the principal of the aforesaid residue. Also, upon the grounds of said Gilbert School shall be provided suitable rooms for a public library for the use of said school, and which shall also be free to the Inhabitants of said town of Winchester. The balance of said residue of my estate shall be safely invested by my said trustees, who shall have the same privileges as to investing the fund in mortgages secured on real estate in this and other states, and in purchasing real estate and erecting buildings thereon, as is given in the preceding section relating to the William L. Gilbert Home; and from the yearly income thereof the sum of ten thousand dollars shall be added each year to the principal for the period of one hundred years, and longer, if the trustees deem best. The balance of the income from said fund, including the income from said yearly additions, may be used for the maintenance of said Gilbert School and the free library above mentioned. It is my will that the trustees of the said William L. Gilbert Home, and the said Gilbert School shall be composed of men of the Protestant faith, and that the management of said institution shall be of a nonsectarian character; also, it is my will that no children who have been educated...