Spencer

If, as Judge Jerome Frank has written, each ease is but an excursion into history, we must view the litigation in its historical setting and in the context of the times in which it originated. Within those limitations we have examined the unique structure of the first Hibernia corporation of 1859 and the subsequent corporation of 1864 to determine if, in the posture of the instant eases, appellants establish valid claims to ownership of assets here. The task has necessarily been made more difficult by the long lapse of time since the origin of the alleged rights. Our inquiry convinces us that in substance appellants’ contentions succumb to the lack of depositorship of their predecessors in the 1859 and 1864 institutions and, in any event, to the nondescendibility of any alleged rights of such predecessors.

Appellants in these three declaratory relief actions seek as successors in interest of N. K. Hasten and John Mel a determination of claimed rights in The Hibernia Bank. The trial court granted respondents’ motions for summary judgments and appellants have appealed from the ensuing judgments.

This appeal presents five issues for our determination: (1) the applicability of a…