Cornell University v. Fiske

Citations

• 136 U.S. 152
• 10 S. Ct. 775
• 34 L. Ed. 427
• 1890 U.S. LEXIS 2206

Syllabus

<p>;Under the will of a testatrix who resided in New York, Cornell University, a corporation of that State, was made her residuary legatee. It was . provided in its charter that it might hold real and personal property to an amount not exceeding $3,000,000 in the aggregate. The Court of Appeals of New York having held that it had no power to take or hold any more’ real and personal property than $3,000,000 in the aggregate, at the time . of the death of the testatrix, and that,'under the jurisprudence of New ’ York, her heirs at law and next of kin had a right to avail themselves of that .fact, if it existed, in the controversy about the disposition of the residuary estate, this court held that such decision of the Court of Appeals did not involve any federal question and was binding upon this court.</p> <p>This court concurred with the Court of Appeals, 111 N. Y. 66, in holding that, at the time, of the death of the testatrix, the property held by Cornell University exceeded $3,000,000, and, therefore, it could not take her legacy.</p> <p>A federal question was involved in this case, arising under the act of Congress of July 2, .1862, 12 St'at. 503, c. 130, granting lands to the State of New York to provide a college for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts.</p> <p>The legislation of New York on the subject, in its acts of May 5,1863, May ■ M, 1863, April 27, 1865, April 10, 1866, May i, 1868, and May 18, 1880, and the contract of the State with Ezra Cornell, of August 4, 1866, selling to him the land scrip received by the State from the United States under the act of Congress, did not violate that act.</p>