Van Wagenen v. Baldwin

Testator directed the executor of his will to pay the interest of a bond and mortgage he held against P. A. to his wife, for her life, and then to J., his son, for his life, and then to pay the principal to J.’s children. It was held to be a specific legacy. The will gave to T. B. what might be realized and received on a certain bond and mortgage, describing it, which the testator, at the time of making the will, held against H. B. After the making of the will, the testator, in his lifetime, received a deed for the mortgaged premises in full satisfaction of the bond and mortgage. Held, that the will operated as a devise in fee of the mortgaged premises. A bequest to the trustees of the Bethel Church in Newark is a good bequest to a church the corporate name of which is “ The Bethel Church in Newark.” A devise of a lot of land to A., in trust, as the site for a building for a free school for the benefit of all poor children within a certain district in a city, and a lecture-room for religious worship, and of another lot of land as a site for a dwelling-house, to be occupied by the minister that may from time to time officiate in the said room, the said lecture-room to be for the use of the denomination of Christians called Methodist Episcopal, and a bequest of $1,200 toward the said building, are good.

James Baldwin died in the summer of 1841, leaving a will dated February 10,1840. The will is as follows : — First, ho directed his debts to be paid ; Second, gave his wife such furniture and cow as she should choose, and John Trumpore’s bond and mortgage for $1,000; Third, gave his dwelling-house and three-acre lot where it stands to his executor, in trust for his wife for her life, then for his son Isaac for life, and then to go to Isaac’s children; Fourth, directed the executor to pay the interest of a bond and mortgage ho held against Pruden Ailing, for $6,000, to his wife for her life, and then to Isaac for his life, and then to pay the principal to Isaac’s children; Fifth, gave to the executor an eleven-acre lot and house, and a six-acre lot, in trust for Isaac for life, and then to go in fee to his children; Sixth, gave to Julia A. B. Rowland $1,500, to be paid in fifteen years — in the meantime the interest to be applied to her maintenance and education, the executor to invest it; Seventh, gave his farm at Middlevillc, of fifteen acres, to his mother for her life, and after her death to Thomas Rowland; and also, gave to Thomas Rowland what might he realized and received on a bond and mortgage for $900, dated October 19,1835, given by Harris M. Baldwin to Daniel Pierson, and assigned to and then held by him; Eighth, gave to his executor lots Nos. 74,75, 76 and 26, designated on a certain map, in trust — the first three as the site of a building for a free school for the benefit of all poor children living between Ferry street and the river, and a lecture-room for religious worship; and lot No. 26 as the site for a dwelling-house to be occupied by the minister that may from time to time officiate in the said room, the said lecture-room to be for the use of the denomination of Chistians called the Methodist Episcopal, the executor to lease the said lots until the said building is erected, and appropriate the income towards the said building; and also gave the bond and mortgage he held against David' Smith, for $1,200, towards the said building; Ninth, gave to-Isaac lots Nos. 65, 66 and 67, designated on the said map ; Tenth, gave to the executor $4,000, in trust for Isaac for life, and then to his children; Eleventh, gave to the trustees of the Bethel Church in Newark $100 a year, to be appropriated by his executor for the use of the minister who may from time to time officiate in the said church and have charge of the same as pastor ; Twelfth, in case Isaac should die without issue, he gave $2,000 of the money directed to be paid to Isaac to Sarah B. Sims ; Thirteenth, if Isaac die without issue and leaving a widow, the widow to have certain personal estate for life, and on her death the same to go to the children of Peter Van Wagenen, &c.; Fourteenth, if Julia A. B. Rowland should die before receiving the $1,500, and without issue, the bequest to her to go to her parents ; Fifteenth, the provision for his wife to be in lieu of dower. After the will was made, and before the death of the testator, Harris M. Baldwin became embarrassed in his circumstances, and conveyed the property covered by the said mortgage for $900, given by him and held by the testator in his lifetime, to Samuel Baldwin, the father of the said Harris M. Baldwin, and the said Samuel Baldwin conveyed the said mortgaged premises to the testator in his lifetime, in full discharge of the said bond to secure which the mortgage was given; and the testator ac - cepted the said conveyance in full discharge of the said bond. Isaac Baldwin was the only child of the testator, and the testator had adopted Julia A. B. Rowland as his daughter. The .estate was insufficient to pay all the legacies. The corporate name of the church mentioned in the eleventh item of the will is a The Bethel Church in Newark.” The executor filed a bill to obtain a construction of the will. Answers were put in, and the case was heard on the bill and answers.