Harris v. American Bible Society
New York Court of Appeals
• Appeal from á judgment. This action was brought by Ellen Harris against Jeremiah Slaght and others, the executors of Folkerd. C. Sebring and his widow, and the American Bible Society, and-three other corporations. Cornelius Sebring, of Ovid, Seneca county, died previously to 1830, seized, among other property, of a lot of land in that town, containing about thirty acres. He left two sons and four daughters, his only heirs-at-law.
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• Appeal from á judgment. This action was brought by Ellen Harris against Jeremiah Slaght and others, the executors of Folkerd. C. Sebring and his widow, and the American Bible Society, and-three other corporations. Cornelius Sebring, of Ovid, Seneca county, died previously to 1830, seized, among other property, of a lot of land in that town, containing about thirty acres. He left two sons and four daughters, his only heirs-at-law. His son Folkerd died in 1861, without issue, but leaving a will, which purported to dispose of his whole estate. In 1862, Ellen Harris, the plaintiff, one of the…
1Opinion of the CourtFullerton, J.
[The remarks of the learned judge on the effect of the devise to Fclkerd in the will of Cornelius we omit.]
2. The beneficiaries contemplated by the third clause of Folkerd C. Sebring’s will are plainly therein designated as four “societies.” The ultimate and real beneficiary, under the direction to pay over to “The Trustees of the Presbyterian House,” is not that corporate entity, nor the individual persons composing it, but some “ society.”
By turning to the Pennsylvania statute referred to by the will, and reading it as if incorporated with the will (21 N. Y., 330, 331), we find that the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Harris v. SlaghtNew York Supreme Court · 1866
- Vanderzee v. . VanderzeeNew York Court of Appeals · 1867