Adams v. Leland
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
In this action the plaintiffs alleged that they were trustees appointed to perpetuate the charity of Edward Hopkins esquire ; and the action was brought to recover the amount of a rent-charge of three pence sterling an acre upon 112 acres of land in Hopkinton, in the possession of the defendants. The defendants pleaded the general issue.
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In this action the plaintiffs alleged that they were trustees appointed to perpetuate the charity of Edward Hopkins esquire ; and the action was brought to recover the amount of a rent-charge of three pence sterling an acre upon 112 acres of land in Hopkinton, in the possession of the defendants. The defendants pleaded the general issue. In the Court of Common Pleas, before the trial came on, toe attorney of the plaintiffs filed a suggestion that James Savage esquire, one of the plaintiffs, had resigned the trust, and that his resignation had been accepted by the trustees. After evidence had…
1Opinion of the Court
Wilde J.
delivered the opinion of the Court. This was an action of covenant to recover the arrears of a rent-charge *67which the plaintiffs claim as the trustees of a charity. To show that they were duly appointed trustees, they offered to prove to the court, by the testimony of James Savage esquire, one of the plaintiffs, the destruction of their book of records by fire ; and also to prove by the same witness the contents of the records, so far as to show that the plaintiffs had been legally appointed trustees of the charity. The admission of this evidence was objected to by the…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Langdon v. PotterMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1814
- Gilbert v. President of the Nantucket BankMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1809
- Livermore v. BoswellMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1808