In Beatty and Ritchie v. Kurtz (1829) 27 U.S. 566, the Supreme Court held that a regularly appointed committee of a voluntary society of Lutherans in possession of the premises might maintain a suit to prevent a disturbance of their possession. The owners of a tract of land (afterwards part of Georgetown) laid it out as a town, and made and recorded a plan of it, marking one lot as "for the Lutheran Church;" and the Lutherans of the town, a voluntary society not incorporated, erected and used a building upon this lot as a church for public worship, and fenced in and used the land as a church-yard, for the burial of others as well as of Lutherans, for fifty years. Upon these facts, it was held that the Bill of Rights of Maryland, affirming the validity of any sale, gift, lease, or devise of land, not exceeding two acres, for a church and burying ground, recognized, to this extent at least, the doctrine of charitable uses, under which no specific grantee or trustee was necessary; that this land had been dedicated to a charitable and pious use, beneficial to the inhabitants generally, which might at all times have been enforced through the intervention of the government as parens patri?, by its Attorney-General or other law officer; and that a committee of the society might maintain a bill in equity to restrain by injunction the heirs of the original owners from disturbing that use. In that case, a suit was brought by and in the name of the committee of a voluntary society, regularly appointed for the purpose of perfecting the title to certain property, it was said in regard to the competency of the complainants to maintain the suit: "If they were proved to be the regularly appointed committee of a voluntary society of Lutherans, in actual possession of the premises and acting by their direction to prevent a disturbance of that possession under circumstances like those stated in the bill, we do not perceive any serious objection to their right to maintain the suit. The only difficulty is whether the plaintiffs have shown in themselves a sufficient authority, since it is not evidenced by any formal vote or writing. If it were necessary to decide the case on this point we should incline to think that under all the circumstances it might be fairly presumed. But it is not necessary to decide the case on this point, because we think it one of those cases in which certain persons belonging to a voluntary society, and having a common interest, may sue in behalf of themselves and others having the like interest as part of the same society for purposes common to all and beneficial to all." The Supreme Court of the United States said: "The only difficulty is whether the plaintiffs have shown in themselves a sufficient authority, since it is not evidenced by any formal vote or writing. If it were necessary to decide the case on this point, we should incline to think that under all the circumstances it might be fairly presumed. But it is not necessary to decide the case on this point; because we think it one of those cases in which certain persons belonging to a voluntary society, and having a common interest, may sue in behalf of themselves and others having the like interest as part of the same society for purposes common to all and beneficial to all."