Michels v. Rustemeyer

Citations

• 20 Wash. 597
• 56 P. 380
• 1899 Wash. LEXIS 210

Syllabus

<p>PROMISSORY NOTES—DELIVERY—VARIATION BY PAROL—ERECTION OP CHURCH BUILDING-SUBSCRIPTIONS-ABANDONMENT.</p> <p>Delivery of a promissory note payable to the treasurer of a Catholic church is sufficiently established by proof of the general usage of that organization, whereby the parish priest is the general church treasurer, but with power to appoint a special treasurer with the approval of the bishop; that, in this instance plaintiff had been duly appointed by the priest and approved by the bishop as treasurer, and that the note in controversy had been delivered to him by the maker.</p> <p>Where promissory notes given in payment of a subscription to a church erection fund are made in consideration of the selection of a site and commencement of work by a given date, in an action thereon, evidence of initiatory steps and discussions of the congregation prior to the giving of the notes is inadmissible for the purpose of’ varying their terms.</p> <p>Abandonment of a plan for the erection of a church for which subscriptions had been given is not established by evidence showing that a minor portion of the congregation and of a building committee concluded to abandon the work, owing to the stringency of the times, when it appears that a majority favored the construction of the building upon the plans originally adopted, but with a portion of the work of a temporary nature, which was to be afterwards finished in full.</p>