Abbott v. Supreme Colony United Order of Pilgrim Fathers

The sole question in this case is whether there was a valid change of the beneficiary. The member at the time of his death, which occurred July 31, 1904, was in good standing and had been since March 28, 1900, when he was initiated as a member of a subordinate lodge, Suffolk Colony No. 21,'on which date a benefit certificate was issued to him in the sum of $2,000, his wife being named as beneficiary. Subsequently his wife died, and on July 26,1904, five days before his death at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he attempted to appoint his brother, the plaintiff, beneficiary in the place of…