Crisp v. Crisp

Stone, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. A certain Richard O. Crisp, of Anne Arundel County, Maryland,- died in 1881, having duly executed his last will and testament. In his will he provided that a certain farm that he owned in that county, should b'e held in trust by Annie E. Crisp and Frederick Gr. Crisp, trustees therein appointed, for the period of eighteen years, unless ⁴²⁴ within that time they should have an offer of one hundred thousand dollars for it.

If that occurred, they were to sell it, and after disposing of fifty thousand dollars, part of the proceeds of sale, the will goes on to dispose of the remaining fifty thousand as follows : “ The remaining fifty thousand arising from the sale of said farm, the said Annie E. Crisp and Frederick Grafton Crisp, and the survivor of them, and the heirs of the survivor and their successors, shall expend in the purchase of a suitable lot or parcel of land in or near Brooklyn, in Anne Arundel County, and shall erect and build thereon a Presbyterian Church and parsonage — thirty .thousand dollars to be used for the church and twenty thousand dollars for the parsonage and grounds. “ And the said trustees are hereby authorized, empowered and directed, upon the completion of said church and parsonage, to make a good and sufficient conveyance of said church, parsonage and grounds, and to turn over any balance of said sum of fifty thousand dollars remaining in their hands, to such organization or society, or association of the Presbyterian Church in the State of Maryland, as. they in their judgment may see fit and deem best, to be used for the promotion of the worship of God, according to the forms and ceremonies of the Presbyterian Church, and for no other use whatever. And the said trustees are hereby requested and directed to apply to the General Assembly of the State of Maryland, for the passage of such Act or Acts as may be necessary to enable them to execute this provision of my will. But if said farm cannot be sold for the sum of one hundred thousand dollars within eighteen years from the date of my death, then in that event, this trust will cease.” By the codicil he says: — “In explanation to the bequest to the church, in case it being carried out, I wish and desire it to be a branch of the' Central Presbyterian Church, Reverend Joseph T. Smith, pastor at the present time.” ⁴²⁵ The farm was sold within the prescribed time for the hundred thousand dollars, and after the investment of the fifty thousand dollars for the use of his wife, there remained a large sum, about fifty thousand dollars, in the hands of Annie E. Crisp, the surviving trustee, to be applied according to the provisions of the will above quoted. The heirs of Richard O. Crisp, however, filed a bill in equity against the trustees claiming the money so dedicated to this trust, upon the ground that such bequest was void for indefiniteness and uncertainty, inasmuch as the real beneficiaries under the said provisions have no corporate or other, existence.

The Court below decided that the bequest was a valid one and dismissed the bill, and the heirs have appealed to this Court. The only question therefore before us is whether such bequest is valid. It is admitted, that the Central Presbyterian Church of the City of Baltimore is a body corporate, duly incorporated under the laws of Maryland, and that Rev. Joseph T. Smith was at the time of the execution of said will, pastor of that church. That said Central Presbyterian Church was, at the date of the execution of said will, and now is, the only Presbyterian Church known by the name of the Central Presbyterian Church in the State of Maryland.

That the testator was a member of said church, and the bequest had been legalized by Act of the General Assembly of Maryland, passed 1882. In his will the testator provided, that the trustees he had selected should build a church and parsonage in or near Brooklyn, in Anne Arundel County, and after they were built, to convey the same to such organization or society of the Presbyterian Church in Maryland, as they, the trustees, deem best. It would be idle to consider the question of what might have heen the proper construction of the will, if it stood alone, because whatever doubts may have existed, looking only at the will, have been, we think, dissipated by the ⁴²⁶ codicil. This codicil seems to have been made expressly for the purpose of dispelling any doubt or uncertainty as to what organization or society of the Presbyterian Church in Maryland, he wished this property to be conveyed.

He says he desires it to be a branch of the Central Presbyterian Church, of which the Rev. Joseph T. Smith was