Berlin Beneficial Society v. March
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Adams county: Of May Term 1876, No. 37. This was an action of assumpsit, brought by Barbara March against the Berlin Beneficial Society, a corporation-chartered by the Court of Common Pleas of Adams county, among the by-laws of which was contained the following provision:— “ At the death of a member who shall have belonged to the association at least one year, the association shall pay to his widow or relatives twenty-five dollars, for…
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Error to the Court of Common Pleas of Adams county: Of May Term 1876, No. 37. This was an action of assumpsit, brought by Barbara March against the Berlin Beneficial Society, a corporation-chartered by the Court of Common Pleas of Adams county, among the by-laws of which was contained the following provision:— “ At the death of a member who shall have belonged to the association at least one year, the association shall pay to his widow or relatives twenty-five dollars, for and towards his decent interment, and at the next stated meeting each member shall pay an extra contribution of fifty…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Gordon
Daniel March died at, and was buried from the house of his son-in-law, who seems to have provided all -things necessary for the funeral. Mrs. March, the plaintiff, wife of Daniel, was not living with her husband at the time of his decease, nor had she been for some six or eight years previously thereto. According to her own testimony, the separation resulted from a mutual understanding between themselves, and not from any coercion or ill treatment upon his part. Following the analogy afforded us in the case of Hettrick v. Hettrick, 5 P. F. Smith 290, in which it was held that a widow…