Rydzewski v. Vestry of Grace & St. Peter's Church

Thomas, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. In January, 1873, George N.‘Eaton and Susan B. Eaton, his wife, in consideration of the sum of $4,000, conveyed to the Vestry of the Church of the Epiphany of Baltimore City, a body corporate, in fee simple, a lot or parcel of land at the corner of Pratt and Chester Streets in Baltimore City, which belonged to the said Susan B. Eaton. The vestry of said church undertook to build a church on said lot, but were unable to complete it, and on the 17th day of April, 1876, said corporation, in consideration of the sum of $3,270 and “other good considerations,” sold and conveyed the- property to the Vestry of Grace Church, a duly incorporated religious corporation connected with the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Maryland and having its main church at the corner of Park Avenue and Monument Street, in Baltimore City. The habendum clause of the last mentioned deed is as follows: “To‘have and to hold the said described property unto the said 'The Vestry of Grace Church,’ their' successors and assigns, forever, for the purpose of erecting thereon a memorial church and chapel to be held forever as a place of worship in connection with the Protestant Episcopal Church of the State of Maryland.” In February, 1881, the Vestry of Grace Church, the rector of said church and Hanpah B. Gaither, “in consideration of the above recited premises” and of the sum of five dollars, conveyed said property to- the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Maryland, a body corporate, its successors and assigns.

This deed recites that said lot and the church erected thereon had been paid for by Hannah B. Gaither, “whereby she became entitled to an ⁵³³ equitable interest in said property, wliicb interest she has heretofore waived and hereby releases,” and that the property was conveyed to the grantee “as a place of worship for the Congregation of the Memorial Church of the Holy Comforter,” and the habendum clause provided that the grantee, its successors and assigns, were to have and hold the property “as a place of worship for the Congregation of the Memorial Church of the Holy Comforter,” and that it was agreed and understood that the school-room in the basement of the church, then occupied 'by Miss Longcope, was to remain under her control and for her use as a schoolroom as long as she desired to use it for that purpose, and that Hannah B.Gaither should be permitted to “remove the tablet” in said church whenever she expressed in writing her desire-to do so. By Chapter 36 of the Acts of 1912, the Vestry of Grace Church and -St. Peter’s Church were “consolidated into one corporation” under-the name of the Vestry of Grace, and St. Peter’s Church, and all the rights and property of the Vestry of Grace Church passed to the consolidated corporation, and, on the 7th of December, 1923, the Vestry of Grace and St. Peter’s Church and the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Maryland, as parties of the first part, and Wladyslaw Rydzewski and Wladyslawa Rydzewski, his wife, as parties of the second part, entered into an agreement- in writing whereby the parties- of the first part agreed to sell and the parties of the second part agreed to purchase said property for the sum of $17,000, $500 of which was to be paid prior to the execution of said agreement, and the balance on or before the 29th day of December, 1923. The purchasers paid the $500 on account of the purchase price, but refused to pay the balance on the ground that the parties of the first part could not give them a good title to the property, and thereupon the parties of the first part filed the bill in this case against the parties of the second part for specific performance of said agreement. At the trial of the case, the plaintiffs, in addition to the deeds and agreement referred to, offered in evidence- a deed,. ⁵³⁴ dated December 26th, 1923, from Mary M. Eaton and others, as the only heirs of law of Susan B. Eaton, deceased,' of all their right, title and interest in said property, to the Vestry of Grace and St. Peter’si Church, and it was agreed that the Vestry of Grace Ghuroh was a religious corporation duly incorporated under the General Laws of the State of Maryland relating to Religious Corporations; that a certificate of its .incorporation, dated May 30th, 1850, was duly recorded ; that it was connected with the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Maryland, with its main church at the corner of Park Avenue and Monument Street, and “has, from time to time, maintained mission churches and chapels under its care”; that the Vestry of the Church of the Epiphany of Baltimore City was a religious corporation, incorporated under the Genera] Laws of the State of Maryland relating to Religious Corporations, by a certificate filed among the Charter Records of Baltimore City on the 29th of June, 1872; that Hannah B. Gaither died in January, 1892, leaving a will which is recorded among the Will Records of Baltimore City, and that the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Maryland is a body corporate, incorporated by an “Act of the Legislature of Maryland.” The plaintiffs also proved that the building on the lot in question is a stone church, with a basement, and that the congregation of the Church of the Holy Comforter, which was under the jurisdiction of and connected with the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Maryland, formerly worshipped there, but that said congregation had been out of existence for two years; that the building cn said lot was no longer used as a church; that there were no prospects of building up a congregation to worship in said building, and that if the property is not sold it will have to remain idle; that the church furniture and stained glass windows have been removed; that Miss Longcope has been dead for about twenty years,