St. Paul Division No. 1 v. Brown
Can I rely on this case?
Yes — no negative treatment found
Analysis generated from citing opinions in this archive. Not legal advice.
St. Paul Division No. 1 v. Brown
Opinion of the Court
By the Court
The reieree in this case, finds among other things, as matter of fact, that in May, 1849, there was organized at St. Paul, a branch or subordinate division of the Sons of Temperance, which was known and styled “ St. Paul Division, No. 1, Sons of Temperancethat said division continued to exist until after the passage of the act of the Legislature 'hereinafter mentioned.
That on the 25th of March, 1851, the Legislature of the Territory of Minnesota passed an act entitled “An act to incorporate the St. Paul Division, No. 1, Sons of Temperance,” which was duly approved, and provides “ that from and after the passage of this act, Comfort Barnes, J. J. Dewey, J. R. Brown, Wm. H. Tinker, George H. Oakes, C. P. V. Lull, W. P. Murray, A. R. French, Wm. Henry Forbes, B. F. Hoyt, and their associates, of the county of Ramsey, town of St. Paul, and their successors, be and they are hereby constituted, ordained and declared, a body corporate and politic, under the name of the St. Paul Division, No. 1, Sons of Temperance, and by that name they and their succesors shall and may have perpetual succession, and shall be a person in law, capable of suing and being sued; * * and that they and their successors, by the name of the St. Paul Division No. 1, Sons of Temperance, shall be, in law, capable of acquiring and holding * * property,” &c.
As conclusions of law, the referee finds: (1) That said Saint Paul Division, No. 1, Sons of Temperance, so formed and organized in May, 1819, and the members composing the same, were the persons intended to be incorporated by the said act of the Legislature of the 25th of March, 1851, and that thereby said division was enabled to become a corporation upon at any time accepting the grant in such act contained. (2.) That the resolution of said division to accept the proposition of Brown, and to receive said bond, amounted in law to an acceptance of the grant contained in said act of the Legislature, and that thereupon said division became a corporation, with all the powers and privileges conferred by said act. * * (3) That the plaintiff is entitled to a judgment that the defendants, Jacob W. Bass and John S. Prince, convey to the plaintiff by deed with covenants of warranty, the said west half of lot No. 10, in block 23, in the town of St. Paul, with the buildings and appurtenances thereunto pertaining^
The defendant’s counsel claims, (1) that no valid tender was proven; (2) that neither the facts found, nor the evidence given, justify the conclusion that the said division accepted the act of incorporation; (3) that the judgment must be reversed on account of the erroneous rulings of the referee, refusing to receive evidence offered by the defendants; and (1) that the judgment ordered by the referee must in any event be modified.
There is nothing in the language of this resolution requiring the tender to be the joint act of the three agents. Whether if the agents of the division appointed to obtain a reconveyance of said premises, had made a demand of the deed to themselves, in trust for the division, Bass would have been justified in refusing to make such deed, it is not material to inquire here. The refusal of Bass to receive the money, was equivalent to a refusal to make the deed, either to the division directly, or to its agents in trust for it. A demand of a deed was unnecessary. See Brown v. Tilson, 25 N. Y. 197-8. The charter in this case, upon its acceptance, conferred corporate powers m presentí and unconditionally; it was beneficial to the division, authorizing them to contract and to be contracted with, sue and be sued, to take, hold and dispose of property, real and personal, and it was granted, at the instance of some of the members of said division. Under such circumstances slight evidence of acceptance was sufficient. The transaction with Brown was authorized, and can be held valid
The defendants, on the trial, offered to show that the lot was purchased by the division before the act of incorporation was passed, and that the title remained unchanged up to the time of the transaction with Brown. The plaintiffs’ counsel objecting, this evidence was not received, and to its exclusion the defendants’ counsel excepted, and insists in this court, that the ruling of the referee excluding it, was erroneous. We see no error in this ruling. It is not denied but that the division caused the property to be conveyed to Brown in pursuance of the arrangement with him to loan to it $800, and convey to it the property on the payment of said sum of money, with interest, at the time designated. Whether the conveyance to Brown was made directly by the division, or by Barnes, Tinker and Brown, is wholly immaterial; in either case it was a sufficient consideration for the bond. The bond and deed were made at the same time, as part of the same transaction, each being the consideration for the other; there is, therefore, no want of (consideration, and no fraud, mistake or surprise, is pretended. Whether, therefore, the plaintiff in this action ever owned the property, is a question immaterial in the decision of the issues involved in this case. Brown, by his bond, bound himself to con.vey on certain tei’ms the property in question to the plaintiff, and (the plaintiff having performed) unless he shows a want of consideration, or some fraud, mistake or sur
It is claimed that the judgment should be modified, as the deed to Brown was for the west half of the lot with a reservation, and the judgment requires a conveyance of the entire west half. The bond obligates Brown to convey the west half of lot ten. If there was any mistake in the bond in this respect, the defendants should have had it reformed; not having alleged such mistake, or asked for such reformation, the court must enforce the bond according to its terms.
¥e think the defendants, Bass and Prince, should have been required to convey, with covenants of warranty. Perhaps the judgment would be more specific, had it provided that the covenants of warranty should be merely against the grantor and those claiming under him. We do not think that either Bass or Prince should be required to convey by deed with unlimited and general covenants of warranty; nor do we understand the judgment to require this.
The judgment is affirmed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. — I am unable to assent to the following, being the second conclusion of law found by the referee in this ease, to-wit: “ That the resolution of said division to accept the said proposition of said Joseph B. Brown, and to receive said bond, amounted in law to an acceptance of the grant contained in said act of assembly, and that thereupon said division became a corporation, endowed with all the powers and privileges conferred by said act of assembly.”
As the judgment could not be supported without this conclusion, I think it should be reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- St. Paul Division No. 1, Sons of Temperance v. Joseph R. Brown
- Cited By
- 25 cases
- Status
- Published