Opinion
January 19, 1891.
Bequest to the "Children's Nursery, so-called, in Providence," contained in a will made prior to the transfer by the Rhode Island Children's Hospital and Nursery of its property and work to the Saint Mary's Orphanage. Wood v. Hammond, 16 R.I. 98, 113. Held, that the bequest should be paid to the Rhode Island Children's Hospital and Nursery.
BILL IN EQUITY to construe a will.
The will of Maria L.H. Cady, dated November 28, A.D. 1879, and duly proven before the Municipal Court of the city of Providence, contained a legacy in the following words: —
"I give and bequeath to the Children's Nursery, so-called, in said Providence, the sum of five hundred dollars, to and for its use and benefit."
This bill was filed to ascertain whether the Rhode Island Children's Hospital and Nursery of Providence, or the Saint Mary's Orphanage, was entitled to the gift. See Wood v. Hammond, 16 R.I. 98, 113-115.
Joseph C. Ely, for complainant.
Herbert Almy, for respondent, the R.I. Children's Hospital and Nursery.
Cyrus M. Van Slyck, for respondent, the Saint Mary's Orphanage.
We think the five hundred dollars bequeathed to "The Children's Nursery, so-called, in said Providence," "to and for its benefit," by the will of Maria L.H. Cady, was intended to go to the Rhode Island Children's Hospital and Nursery, that institution being at the date of the will known as and called "The Nursery." The case differs from that of the Lyman bequest, Wood v. Hammond, 16 R.I. 98, in that the Cady will was made November 28, 1879, while the Rhode Island Children's Hospital and Nursery was still doing the work for which it was chartered, before the transfer to Saint Mary's Orphanage, whereas the Lyman will was made July 14, 1885, after said transfer, in circumstances which very clearly showed that "The Nursery" which the testator had in mind in making the bequest was the nursery maintained at the Orphanage. The Rhode Island Children's Hospital and Nursery professes a desire to receive the bequest, and an intention to apply it under its charter to nursery purposes, and this being so we do not think it is for us to divert it to the Orphanage merely because the Orphanage may be able with its better equipment to use it with better effect.