To the Honorable Edward C. Bunker, Judge of the Circuit Court of Hampshire County:

The petition and application of the Rev. Charles L. Torreyson, preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit of the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, respectfully represents that the town of Romney, in said county of Hampshire, is within the bounds of said South Branch circuit, and under the charge of your petitioner, and he is the proper authority of the congregation of said church at Romney to make the application; that heretofore, to wit: On the 8th day of September, 1856, Angus W. McDonald, and Cornelia, his wife, and A. S. Trowbridge, by deed dated on said day and duly recorded in the recorder's office of said county, in deed book No. 50, page 75, conveyed to James Sheets, James Carskadon, Isaac H. Carskadon, David Ream, John W. Marshall, Samuel R. Smith, Henry Trout and Garret Vanmeter, eight in number, trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, South Branch circuit of Baltimore annual conference, appointed by the Circuit Court of Hampshire county, at September term, 1856, on the application of Rev. Thomas Hildebrand, the preacher in charge of said circuit, two lots, No. twenty-three and twenty-four, in the said town of Romney, with building thereon for a parsonage or residence of the preacher.

Your petitioner further showeth to your honor, that since the execution of said deed the following vacancies have occurred in the trusteeship of said deed, namely: James Sheets has withdrawn from said church and resigned his trusteeship; David Ream, Samuel R. Smith and Garret Vanmeter (of Jacob) have all departed this life.

In tender consideration whereof your petitioner, the proper authority aforesaid, hereby makes application to said court to appoint Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs, Isaac N. Heiskel and Solomon Vanmeter in the places of said former trustees, whose places are now vacant, respectively in the order in which they are herein named, the said last named persons being all members of said church and congregation, in full communion and good standing; and your petitioner will ever pray, etc.

[(Signature and verification as in Form No. 4283)]

(Precedent in Carskadon v. Torreyson, 17 W. Va. 58.)'

In the matter of the petition of Charles L. Torreyson, preacher in charge of the Romney congregation of the South Branch circuit of the Methodist EpiscopalChurch, making an application for the appointment of new trustees in the deed for the parsonage from Angus W. McDonald, and in said petition mentioned, in the places of certain trustees therein named:

The said matter came on to be heard this ____ day of May, 1866, on said petition, and exhibits and affidavits filed, and was argued by counsel. On consideration whereof, the court does hereby appoint Samuel Lopp, John J. Combs, Isaac N. Heiskell and Solomon Vanmeter trustees, in said deed and for said property, in the places of the former trustees, viz.: James Sheets, David Ream, Samuel R. Smith and Garret Vanmeter (of Jacob); the first named four in the order in which they are named respectively.

State of West Virginia, Hampshire County, Sct.

To the Honorable Edward C. Bunker, Judge of the Circuit Court of Hampshire County, and of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of West Virginia:

The petition and application of the Rev. George Crossficld, preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit of Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, respectfully represents that the town of Romney, in said county of Hampshire, is within the bounds of the said South Branch circuit, and under the pastoral charge of your petitioner as aforesaid, and your petitioner is the proper authority of the congregation, or rather society of said church, at Romney, to make this application; that heretofore, to wit, on the 8th day of September, 1856, Angus W. McDonald and Cornelia, his wife, and A. S. Trowbridge, by deed, dated on said day, and duly recorded in the recorder's office of said county in deed book No. 50, page 75, conveyed to James Sheetz, James Carskadon, Isaac Carskadon, David Ream, John W. Marshall, Samuel R. Smith, Henry Trout and Garret Vanmeter (of Jacob) and Enos Everett, trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, in South Branch circuit of Baltimore annual conference, appointed by the Circuit Court of Hampshire county, at September term, 1856, on the application of the Rev. Thomas Hildebrand, the preacher in charge of said circuit, two lots numbered twenty-three and twenty-four, in the said town of Romney, with buildings thereon, for a parsonage or residence of the preacher. Your petitioner further showeth, that since the execution of said deed, the following vacancies have occurred in the trusteeship of said deed: James Sheetz has withdrawn from said church and resigned his trusteeship; that John W. Marshall has withdrawn from said church, and ceased to be a member thereof, and that his office as trustee has therefore expired; that David Ream, Samuel R. Smith and Garret Vanmeter (of Jacob) have all departed this life.

Your petitioner further showeth, that on the 6th day of April, 1866, as such preacher in charge as aforesaid, your petitioner did call a meeting of all the survivors and remaining trustees of said church as aforesaid, having previously notified all of said trustees that were then remaining and surviving, namely: fames Carskadon, Isaac H. Carskadon, Henry Trout and Enos Everett, and thereupon did, to wit, on the 6th day of April, 1866, proceed to organize, and did organize, said meeting of said trustees for the purpose of nominating proper persons to fill the vacancies and places of such former trustees of said church, etc., whose offices as such had been, and continued to be, and then were vacated; and thereupon your petitioner, as such preacher in charge as aforesaid, did then and there nominate James McDonald as one of said trustees in the place of James Sheetz, who had withdrawn from the said church, William T. Cookus, as trustee in the place of John W. Marshall, who had also withdrawn from said church, and whose office as trustee had expired, Tobias Baker as trustee in the place of David Ream, who had then departed this life, Henry Head as trustee in the place of Garret Vanmeter, who also had then departed this life, and William Jenkins trustee in the place of Samuel R. Smith, who also had then departed this life.

In tender consideration whereof, your petitioner, as the proper authority aforesaid, hereby makes application to said court to appoint James Me Donald as one of the trustees in the place of James Sheetz, who had then withdrawn from said church, William T. Cookus in the place of John W. Marshall, who had also withdrawn, and whose office as trustee at his withdrawal expired, Tobias Baker trustee in the place of David Ream, who then had departed this life, Henry Head trustee in the place of Garret Vanmeter, who also had then departed this life. The said last named persons so to be appointed being all members of said church, and in full communion and good standing, and all over twenty-one years of age, and have been members of said Methodist Episcopal church for more than one year last past. And as in duty bound your petitioner will ever pray.

George Crossfield,
Preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 4th day of September, 1866.

Charles M. Taylor,
Clerk Circuit Court, Hampshire County, W. Va.

To Hon. E. C. Bunker, Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, in Chancery sitting:

Humbly complaining, show unto your honor, your orators, James Carskadon, Isaac H. Carskadon, Henry Trout and Enos Everett, who are the sole surviving and remaining trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the Baltimore annual conference thereof, of certain trustees mentioned in a certain deed of conveyance between Anqus W. McDonald and Cornelia, his wife, and Arnold S. Trowbridge, of the one part, and James Sheets, James Carskadon, Isaac H. Carskadon, David Ream, John W. Marshall, Samuel R. Smith, Henry Trout, Garret Vanmeter (of Jacob) and Enos Everett, then trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church in South Branch circuit, Baltimore annual conference, appointed by the Circuit Court of Hampshire county, at September term, 1866, upon the application of Rev. Thomas Hildebrand, then preacher in charge of said circuit, of the second part, which deed bears date the 8th day of September, i8J6, and is recorded in the recorder's office in said Hampshire county, in book No. 50, page 75, a copy of which said deed is herewith filed, and marked complainant's exhibit "A," and which your orators pray may be made a part of this your orator's bill of complaint; that since the making of said deed said James Sheetz has withdrawn from said church, as also the said John W. Marshall, both of whom have resigned their trusteeship under said deed; that said David Ream, Samuel R. Smith and Garret Vanmeter (of Jacob) have all departed this life, leaving your orators the only surviving and remaining trustees of the Baltimore annual conference of said Methodist Episcopal church.

And further your orators show to your honor, that regularly appointed Baltimore Annual Conferences of said church have been always held in accordance with the rules and regulations of said church prior to, up to, and ever since the time of making said deed of conveyance, and from the year 186! to 1866, inclusive. The said conferences have been so held at the following times and places, viz:
On _____, 1868, at Staunton; on _____, 1862, at Baltimore, Md.;
on _____, 1866, at Georgetown, D. C.; on _____, 1864, at Baltimore, Md.; on _____, 1865, at Baltimore, Md.; on _____, 1866, at
Baltimore, Md.; and that at the Baltimore annual conference, then belonging to the general conference of said Methodist Episcopal church, held in the Eutaw street church, in the city of Baltimore, and state of Maryland, commencing on the 28th day of February, 1866, continuing to the Gth day of March, 1866, inclusive, said annual conference being then and there presided over by Bishop Levi Scott, a duly elected and constituted bishop of said Methodist Episcopal church, properly authorized and qualified to preside as such bishop in said annual conference, the Rev. George Crossfield, who was then and there a member of said conference, who by said bishop, at said annual conference so held in the Eutaw street church as aforesaid, was appointed preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit, in the Winchester district, said district being within the bounds of said conference, and was accordingly stationed at said South Branch circuit as such preacher in charge as aforesaid; and that under and by virtue of said appointment said Rev. George Crossfield thereupon proceeded to Romney, Hampshire county, West Virginia, to assume the duties devolving upon him as such preacher in charge of said circuit, and did then and there, to wit, on the 27th day of March, 1866, arrive at Romney, in said county, it being within the bounds of said circuit, and the place where the parsonage-house and lots numbers twenty-three and twenty-four, in said town of Romney, was then and now is situated in and for said circuit, and belonging to said church, and the legal title to which is vested in and held in trust for said Methodist Episcopal church by said trustees, and did then and there, as such preacher in charge as aforesaid, call a meeting of the surviving and remaining trustees, and thereupon did hold a meeting of the trustees of said church that were then remaining and surviving in said circuit, and by and with the consent and under the direction of James Carskadon, Isaac H. Carskadon, Henry Trout and Enos Everett, who were then and there the only surviving and remaining trustees of said church in said circuit, did move into and take possession of said parsonage-house as such preacher in charge of said circuit, and having so taken possession of and moved into said parsonage-house, the said Rev. George Crossfield, having previously duly notified all of said trustees that were then remaining and surviving as aforesaid, did then and there proceed to organize the meeting of said trustees for the purpose of nominating persons to fill the places of such former trustees of said church, whose offices as such had been and continued to be and then were vacated; and thereupon the said Rev. George Crossfield, as such preacher in charge as aforesaid, did then and there nominate James McDonald as one of said trustees, in place of James Sheetz, who had withdrawn from said church; William T. Cookus, as trustee, in the place of John W. Marshall, who also had withdrawn from said church; Tobias Baker, as trustee, in the place of Daniel Ream, who then had departed this life; Henry Head, as trustee, in the place of Garret Vanmeter, who also had then departed this life, and William Jenkins, trustee, in the place of Samuel R. Smith, who also had then departed this life; and that thereupon the said remaining and surviving trustees, so as aforesaid assembled, did proceed to elect and by a majority of the votes of the said trustees appointed the several persons so nominated to fill such vacancies so as to keep up the number of nine trustees forever; all of said trustees so nominated and elected having been for one year then next immediately preceding such nomination members of said Methodist Episcopal church and over twenty-one years of age.

And further your orators show to your honor that in accordance with certain provisions in said deed contained, and in order to act in conformity to the statute of the state of West Virginia in this relation, a petition was prepared, signed by the proper authorities of the said Methodist Episcopal church, and of the congregation of which said Rev. George Crossfield was then the pastor and preacher in charge as aforesaid, to be presented as an application to the Circuit Court of Hampshire county. West Virginia, at the May term thereof, 1866, for the purpose of obtaining the appointment by said court of the several persons named herein above as trustees to fill the several vacancies aforesaid; but when said application was about to be made and presented to said Circuit Court at said May term, 1866, your orators, to their utter surprise, there for the first time learned that one C. L. Torreyson had then already made and presented to said court a petition and application wherein he, said Torreyson, styled himself and claimed to be preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit of the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, wherein among other things said Torreyson made application to said court to appoint Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs, Isaac N. Heiskell and Solomon Vanmeter in the places of former trustees of said South Branch circuit of the Baltimore annual conference of said Methodist Episcopal church, whose places were then vacant, stating also in said petition and application that said last named persons were then all members of said church and congregation in full communion and good standing. A copy of which said petition is herewith filed and marked complainant's exhibit " B" and which your orators pray may be made a part of this your orators' bill of complaint.

And further your orators show to your honor, that under and by virtue of said petition and application said Torreyson obtained from said court, at said term, an order appointing said Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs, Isaac N. Heiskell and Solomon Vanmeler trustees in said deed and for said property, in the place of said James Sheetz, David Ream, Samuel R. Smith and Garret Vanmeter (of Jacob). A copy of which said order is herewith filed and marked plaintiff's exhibit " E," and which also your orators pray may be made a part of this your orators' bill.

And further your orators show to your honor, that the affidavit of John W. Marshall was also filed with said petition to support said petition and application, but that said affidavit, as your honor will readily perceive by inspecting the same, in nowise supports the said petition and application of said Torreyson, nor does it prove the truth thereof, nor does it in any measure prove that said Torreyson was then the preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit of the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church. A copy of which said affidavit is herewith filed and marked complainants' exhibit " D," and which your orators pray may be made a part of this your orators' bill of complaint.

And further your orators show to your honor, that said Torreyson was not at the time of presenting his said petition and application as aforesaid to said court, nor is he now, the preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit of the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, but that the said Rev. G. Crossfield is the preacher in charge of said circuit, properly and legally appointed and stationed as aforesaid, and by competent authority, and that said Torreyson made and presented said petition to said court without any right or authority whatever so to do.

And further your orators show to your honor, that said Torreyson was not at the time of making and presenting his said petition and application to said court, nor is he now, a member of said Baltimore annual conference, but that he, said Torreyson, did in and by his said petition and application falsely assume the name and style of the preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit of the said Baltimore annual conference.

And further your orators show to your honor, that the said C. L. Torreyson and the said John W, Marshall and Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs, Isaac N. Heiskell and Solomon Vanmeter are now threatening, and are about to dispossess and eject the said Rev. G. Crossfield from said parsonage-house under and by virtue of the said order of said court, and whom your orators pray may be made parties defendant to this your orators' bill of complaint.

And further your orators show to your honor, that the said C. L. Torreyson, John W. Marshall, Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs, Isaac N. Heiskell and Solomon Vanmeter are combining and confederating together with one O, P. Wingman (whom also your orators pray may be made a party defendant to this your orators' bill of complaint) for the purpose of defeating the provisions, object and end of said deed of conveyance; and that said O. P. Wingman is now, together with his family, occupying a portion of said parsonage-house under the direction and encouragement of the said Torreyson and the said John W. Marshall, Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs, Isaac N. Heiskell and Solomon Vanmeter, and for the purpose of exercising authority and dominion over said parsonage-house, under and by virtue of said order of said court, and to exclude your orators' just and equitable rights in the premises, and to prevent your orators from carrying into effect the trust confided to them in and by said deed.

And further your orators show to your honor, that your orators knew nothing of the said petition and application of said Torreyson prior to the time of said order of said court having been made by said court, and totally disclaim any participation in the same, but on the contrary protest against it.

And further your orators show to your honor, that unless an injunction issue forthwith enjoining and restraining the said defendants, and every one of them, from acting as trustees under said deed, or in any manner under or by virtue of said order of said court, and from in any manner further interfering with said parsonage-house, or the real estate named in said deed, or any property named in said deed, until the further order of this court, irremediable loss and injury will accrue to your orators in the premises.

In tender consideration whereof, and forasmuch as your orators are remediless in the premises according to the strict rules of the common law, and can only have adequate relief in a court of equity where matters of this kind are purely cognizable, and your orators, therefore, pray that said order of said court so made at the May term of said Circuit Court of said Hampshire county, under and by reason of the said petition and application of the said C. L. Torreyson as aforesaid, may be by this court set aside, annulled and decreed to be forever void and held for naught, and that an injunction may issue from this honorable court enjoining and restraining the said defendants, and every of them, their agents and attorneys, from acting as trustees under said deed, or in any manner under or by virtue of said order of said court, and from in any manner further interfering with said parsonage-house or the real estate named in said deed, or any property named in said deed, until the further order of this court, and that the said defendants, and every of them, may true and perfect answer make to all and singular the matters and things, allegations and charges in this bill contained, the same as if specially interrogated, and for such other, further and general relief as to this court may seem meet, and as may be agreeable to equity and good conscience, and may spa. issue. And as in duty bound, your orators will ever pray.

[(Signature and verification as in form No. 4283. )]

[( Title of court and cause as in Form No. 15257.')]1

The answer of Solomon Vanmeter, Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs and Isaac N. Heiskell to a petition and application of Rev. George Crossfield to the Circuit Court of Hampshire county, praying for the appointment of trustees to fill certain vacancies in the trusteeship for the parsonage of the Methodist Episcopal church at Romney:

These defendants, for answer and defense, say that said George Crossfield is not the proper authority, as contemplated by the statute in that case made and provided, of the congregation of Romney, or the South Branch circuit of said church, to make the application aforesaid, and they also deny that there was any properly or legally organized meeting of the trustees remaining or surviving of those trustees who had been constituted by and under the deed referred to in said petition, or that any such duly authorized meeting did nominate or appoint the persons to fill vacancies referred to in the said petition. It is true that Angus W. McDonald and others, on the 8th day of September, 1866, executed the deed in the petition mentioned for lots numbers twenty-three and twenty-four, in the town of Romney, to James Sheets, James Carskadon, Isaac Carskadon, David Ream, John W. Marshall, Samuel R. Smith, Henry Trout, Garret Vanmeter (of Jacob) and Enos Everett, trustees, to the same as a parsonage or place of residence for the use of the ministers or preachers of the Methodist Episcopal church in the United States of America, according to the rules and discipline which from time to time may be agreed upon and adopted by the ministers and preachers of the said church, at their general conference in the United States of America; and in further trust that they shall at all times permit such ministers and preachers belonging to said church as shall from time to time be duly authorized by the general conference of said Methodist Episcopal church, or shall by the annual conference, authorized by said general conferences, be from time to time stationed on the circuit within the bounds of which said house and lots are situated, to use and occupy said house and lots as a parsonage or place of residence. The said deed contains the following exception and proviso, viz.: 'But in case the general conference of said church shall make such change in the discipline or constitution of said church at any time hereafter as shall render it necessary or expedient for the annual conference, in the bounds of which said lots are situated, to separate from said general conference, then said lots are to be held for the use of the ministers or preachers sent by said annual conference to the circuit within the bounds of which said parsonage is situated.' A copy of said deed is filed herewith as part of this answer, marked Defendants' Exhibit.

The provision of the deed just cited was inserted to meet the wishes of the founders of the charity created by the deed, so as to meet a contingency which afterwards occurred in the history of the church. In order to explain more fully the purport of said provision, respondents beg leave to refer here to some facts well known in history. In the year 1844, the said Methodist Episcopal church in the United States of America, owing to some difficulties growing out of the subject of slavery, thought it expedient and proper to divide itself, and did divide itself in accordance with 'a plan of separation," which is referred to and made a part of this answer; that the Baltimore annual conference, which embraced in its bounds the South Branch circuit, as it then existed, and as it existed when said deed was made at that time, 1844-5, remained and adhered to that part of the church so divided as aforesaid, which, to distinguish it from the southern wing, we will call church north, but it was with the condition or understanding that the then existing status of church legislation touching slavery should not be disturbed; that said Baltimore annual conference, again and again, by unanimous vote, determined and declared that it would not hold connection with any ecclesiastical body that made non-slaveholding a condition of membership in the church, or that declared slavery to be a sin; that the said general conference, in May, 1860, at Buffalo, did introduce into the discipline or constitution of said church a new chapter, declaring slaveholding to be contrary to the law of God and a sin, thereby making nonslaveholding a test of membership in the church; that the said annual conference, at its next annual meeting held at Staunton, Virginia, in March, 1861, true to its position ever since 1844, declared itself separate and independent of the jurisdiction of the said general conference, thus complying with the condition and meeting the contingency provided for in said deed, thus separating from the general conference on account of its action aforesaid. The said Baltimore annual conference claimed to be, notwithstanding, an integral part of the Methodist Episcopal church, but repudiating the said new chapter as unconstitutional, made no change of faith, doctrine or discipline, and doctrinally, morally, ecclesiastically and economically, it continued to be the Baltimore annual conference as before, save in its connection with the said general conference, and mere verbiage; that said Baltimore annual conference, so independent of the general conference as aforesaid, has ever since 1861 held its annual meetings under its own name, and in the spring of 1866, while sitting at Alexandria, by its proper and regular authorities, deputed the Rev. Charles L. Torreyson, a member of said conference, as the traveling preacher.in charge of the said South Branch circuit, and he was duly received as such preacher in charge by the congregation of said circuit. The disciplines as published and received of said churches, both north and south, and the proceedings of said church in 1844, and of said bodies since, are filed herewith as parts of this answer.

It is further true that some of the preachers attached to the Baltimore annual conference did, as early as 1862, go off and attach themselves to said general conference by forming another body called the Baltimore annual conference, in spite of the action of said conference in 1861; and it is under this so-called Baltimore annual conference that said George Crossfield is assuming to act. It is admitted that James Sheetz has withdrawn from the Methodist Episcopal church, and declined to act in his office as trustee; it is also admitted that David Ream, Samuel R. Smith and Garret Vanmeter have been dead for some time. And in view of these vacancies, the said Rev. Charles L. Torreyson, preacher in charge of said circuit of the South Branch, constituted of the same appointments of which said circuit was composed for years before 1861, and at that time at which said deed was made, by his petition in writing, joined in by John W. Marshall, an officer and steward of said congregation at Romney, made application to this court at its May term, 1866, and such proceedings were then and there had as that these respondents were appointed by said court to fill the vacancies aforesaid. The appointments were made agreeably to the wishes of a majority of the congregation at Romney, and of the congregations throughout the said circuit as contemplated by the said deed. A copy of the proceedings in the matter of said Torreyson's petition is filed herewith as part of this answer marked Exhibit.

The respondents deny that John W. Marshall has withdrawn from the said church or resigned his trusteeship; nor has his office or appointment expired. These respondents, therefore, submit that the vacancies in the trusteeship have already been filled, and as the petitioner, Crossfield, alleges no cause to remove any of the trustees, his petition is nugatory.

They further claim, that as the general conference have violated the conditions on which the Baltimore annual conference adhered to the church north in and after 1844, the members of said conference, and said conference bodily, had a right to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the general conference, and claim the church property in their midst under the plan of separation, there being no limitation to their right to avail themselves of that plan; also that the provision of the deed above recited takes said property out of the control or influence of said Crossfield and the organization to which he adheres. And inasmuch as said deed is void unless it can be construed to be for the use of the local congregation, that as the local congregation adheres to Mr. Torreyson as its preacher in charge, the said property ought to be for his use and under the control of his congregation. But if the petitioner will persist in his attempt, these defendants must ask that proper issues be made up and tried before a jury, and the matter as a matter of right be determined according to law.
A. P. White, for Respondents

James Carskadon et al. v. C. S. Torreyson et al. - Injunction.

This cause came on to be heard this day upon the bill, and exhibits filed therewith, the joint and several answers of the defendants, C. L. Torreyson, John W. Marshall, Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs, Isaac N. Heiskell, Solomon Vanmeter and O. P. Wingman, and replication thereto, the petition and disclaimer of James Sheetz, who was directed to be made a party to this suit, filed by consent of parties, the deposition of witnesses and exhibits therewith, and the records, papers, books, pamphlets and documents pertaining to matters relevant to this cause, agreed in writing between the parties to this suit, by their counsel, to be read as evidence on the trial of this cause, subject, however, to all legal objections as to the matter contained therein, and was argued by counsel. And the court being of opinion that the order of the Circuit Court of Hampshire county, made at its March term, 1866, upon the application of the defendant, C. L. Torreyson, appointing the defendants, John W. Marshall, Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs, Isaac N. Heiskell and Solomon Vanmeter, trustees of the parsonage property mentioned and described in the deed therefore from Angus W. McDonald and wife and Arnold S. Trowbridge to James Sheetz, James Carskadon and others, trustees, dated the 8th day of September, 1856, and filed as an exhibit in the papers of this cause, in the place of the former trustees, viz.: fames Sheetz, David Ream, Samuel R. Smith and Garret Vanmeter (of Jacob), was not made upon the application of the proper authorities of said parsonage property, as required by the statute, the said defendant, Torreyson, not being preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit of the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church of the United States of America, and that said order was obtained illegally and improperly, and is therefore null and void. And the court being further of opinion that the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, which met in Staunton, Virginia, March 13, 1861, and adjourned to and did meet in Baltimore in 1862, and annually thereafter, as alleged in the bill, to which said conference the complainants adhered, and which appointed Rev. George Crossfield preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit of the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the year 1866, was the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church of the United States of America, and that said Baltimore annual conference has never withdrawn from the general conference, so that the contingency mentioned in said deed has never happened or come to pass. And the court being further of opinion that the body of ministers which met at Alexandria, Virginia, in 1866, and which appointed the defendant, C. L. Torreyson, as preacher in charge of the South Branch circuit, was not the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church within the meaning of said deed. The court doth therefore adjudge, order and decree that said order of said court appointing the said defendants trustees in the said deed, in the places of former trustees as aforesaid, be set aside and annulled, and forever held for naught, and that the said defendants, and every of them, be perpetually enjoined and restrained from acting as trustees under said deed, or under or by virtue of said order of said court, and from in any manner as trustees further interfering with said parsonage-house, or real estate named in said deed, or any property mentioned in said deed from McDonald and others to Sheetz and others, for lots numbers twenty-three and twenty-four in the town of Romney, Hampshire county, and of record in the recorder's office in Hampshire county, in book No. 50, p. 75.

And the court doth further adjudge, order and decree that the complainants in said bill recover of the defendants therein their costs by them about their suit in this behalf expended. And upon the petition of Rev. George Crossfield, heard herewith, for the appointment of trustees in the room of former trustees, the court doth grant said petition, and hereby appoints and confirms as trustees in said deed from A. S. Trowbridge and wife and A. IV. McDonald and wife to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church, recorded in deed book No. 50, page 75, of the land records of Hampshire county, in the office of the recorder thereof, James McDonald, as one of the trustees in the room of James Sheets, who had withdrawn from the said Methodist Episcopal church, and who is hereby removed; William T. Cookus, in the room of John W. Marshall, who has also withdrawn from the Methodist Episcopal church, and whose office as trustee at withdrawal expired, and who is hereby removed; Tobias Baker, in the room of David Ream, who has departed this life; Henry Head, in the room of Garret Vanmeter,who has also departed this life; William Jenkins, in the room of Samuel R. Smith, who has also departed this life.

And the court doth further adjudge, order and decree that the complainants and the trustees hereby appointed do hold and apply said parsonage property for the use and benefit of the ministers appointed by the Baltimore annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, in connection with the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, as provided in said deed. And the court doth further adjudge, order and decree that the petitioner, George Crossfield, recover against defendants in said petition, to wit, Charles L. Torreyson, Samuel Lapp, John J. Combs and John W. Marshall, his costs by him about said petition expended, but no attorney fee shall be taxed against defendants in this cause.