Colby v. Northfield & Tilton Congregational Society
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
Case, for selling the plaintiff’s pews in the defendants’ meetinghouse, and depriving him of the use of them. Facts found by the court. April 30, 1881, the plaintiff was the owner of two pews, numbered 7 and 21, by deeds from the defendant society, in which the entire control of the house was reserved to the society.
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Case, for selling the plaintiff’s pews in the defendants’ meetinghouse, and depriving him of the use of them. Facts found by the court. April 30, 1881, the plaintiff was the owner of two pews, numbered 7 and 21, by deeds from the defendant society, in which the entire control of the house was reserved to the society. On that day, at a meeting of the pew-holders, called and held under Gen. St., c. 154, ss. 12, 13, it was voted, by three fourths of those present and voting, that “ the pew-holders repair said house of public worship, modify the interior thereof, remove the pews therein and…
1Opinion of the CourtStanley, J.
The plaintiff does not controvert the general doctrine announced in Jones v. Towne, 58 N. H. 464, but he claims that the repairs in this case were made by the pew-owners, according to the provisions of Gen. Laws, c. 154, ss. 12, 13, and that the society had no right to locate or assign his pews. The society owned the building and sold the pews, “ reserving to themselves and their successors the entire control and management of said house.” This reservation did not, however, enlarge or change the rights of the society at common law; for, under that, the pew-holders have merely a qualified and…
2Cited by1 opinion
- First Presbyterian Society v. BassSupreme Court of New Hampshire · 1895