Watson v. Jones
Supreme Court of the United States
Appeal from a decree of tbe Circuit Court for tbe District of Kentucky, made May 11th, 1869. This was a litigation which grew out of certain disturbances in what is known as the “Third or Walnut Street Presbyterian Church,” of Louisville, Kentucky, and which resulted in a division of its members into two distinct bodies, each claiming the exclusive use of the property held and owned bj that local church.
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Appeal from a decree of tbe Circuit Court for tbe District of Kentucky, made May 11th, 1869. This was a litigation which grew out of certain disturbances in what is known as the “Third or Walnut Street Presbyterian Church,” of Louisville, Kentucky, and which resulted in a division of its members into two distinct bodies, each claiming the exclusive use of the property held and owned bj that local church. The case was thus: The Presbyterian Church in the United States is a voluntary religious organization, which has been in existence for more than three-quarters of a century. It has a written…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Miller
now delivered the opinion of the court.
This case belongs to a class, happily rare in our courts, in-which one of the parties to a controversy, essentially ecclesiastical, resorts to the judicial tribunals of the State for the maintenance of rights which the church has refused to acknowledge, or found itself unable to protect. Much as such dissensions among the members of a religious society should *714be regretted, a regret which is increased when passing from the control of the judicial and legislative bodies of the entire organization to which the society belongs, an appeal is made to the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Miller v. GableNew York Supreme Court · 1845
- Watson v. AveryCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1867
3Cited by1,044 opinions
- Everson v. Board of Ed. of EwingSupreme Court of the United States · 1947
- Epperson v. ArkansasSupreme Court of the United States · 1968
- Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese for United States and Canada v. MilivojevichSupreme Court of the United States · 1976
- Presbyterian Church in US v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian ChurchSupreme Court of the United States · 1969
- Jones v. WolfSupreme Court of the United States · 1979
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