Tyler v. Busey
Tyler v. Busey
Opinion of the Court
Complainant’s bill alleges, in substance, that he gave to "William Tyler, and solely for the accommodation of the latter, his promissory note, dated 26th October, 1875, and payable sixty days after date, with interest at the rate of eight per cent, per annum, at the bank of Offley & Co., in Washington, D. C.; that said note was given with the understanding that the payee, on negotiating it, should secure it by a good and sufficient collateral; that said payee negotiated the note to defendant, pledging as security for its payment a coupon bond of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad Company for the sum of five hundred dollars, with coupons to and including 1st March, 1875, and that the value of this bond was more than sufficient to satisfy the note; that when the note was about to mature, the defendant, still holding said collateral, agreed to give complainant time; that complainant gave defendant his note for two hundred and fifty dollars, dated 28th December, 1875, and payable thirty days after date, with interest at eight per cent, per annum, at the office of Riggs & Co., and took up the original note; that subsequently the defendant told complainant that if he would pay said renewal note and get an order for said bond from William Tyler, he would deliver said collateral to complainant; that complainant procured such order, and offered defendant the money to take up the note upon the surrender of the bond, bnt defendant refused to surrender the same, and that complainant is still ready and willing to pay said note upon the delivery of the bond; that, defendant has instituted on the law side of this court, in case number 16,328 of the law docket, a suit against complainant upon the said note. Complainant therefore asks for an injunction against said action at law, and for the surrender of the said collateral, and prays that defendant shall answer. Defendant’s oath is not waived.
The bill and auswer were both under oath.
It will be observed from this statement of the pleadings, that the complainant alleges that he became the maker of the note in question for the accommodation of William Tyler, his brother, and be testifies as a witness to the same facts. The defendant denies this in his answer, and in his testi
Another circumstance in the ease relates to the assignment set up in the answer. This assignment was executed on the 15th November, 1875. The note was not due till the 28th of December following. Busey testifies that he held certain notes which he had discounted for William Tyler; that he became persuaded that some of these notes were not genuine, and that he mentioned this to William Tyler, who then promised to make this assignment in order to make Busey entirely secure; that he knew the note of W. Bowie Tyler was genuine, and that he supposed William Tyler was the owner of the bond, and that he got it from him as his own property. There appears to be no doubt but that it was his own personal property. The assignment in question embraced this bond as collateral security for other debts. He
Another fact remains to be stated: the note was renewed, complainant paying the interest and giving a new note for the same amount, payable in thirty days. It was about this time that Busey is shown to have acquired a knowledge that complainant was an accommodation maker, and after he had sold the bond in question and applied the proceeds as already mentioned. When complainant called upon Busey with the money to take up the note given in renewal, and having an order from William Tyler for the bond, the defendant refused to surrender the bond, claiming it under the aforesaid assignment. These are all the facts material to be considered.
On the hearing below, the special term decreed a perpetual injunction in the action at law, and required the proceeds of the sale of the bond to be first applied to the payment of the note of W. Bowie Tyler. The cause is here upon an appeal from this decree.
At the conclusion of the argument, all the justices who heard the case were of opinion that the decree below ought to be reversed, mainly on the ground that upon the face of the note the complainant appeared as the maker and debtor and William Tyler as the payee and creditor, and that the note itself certified this relation of responsibility among the parties to it. The contract obligations of parties to negotiable paper are established to be, that a person makes a note because he owes the debt to the payee and endorser, and no one is under any stress to deal with it upon any other presumption. In the absence of any notice to Busey,
And again, when Busey demanded collateral security from William Tyler, he had a right to infer that the bond belonged to him; and there is no doubt but that it was his own individual property, and he delivered it to Busey on his own account and to procure a discount for his own use. Busey had no knowledge of any understanding between the complainant and his brother, William Tyler, upon the subject of securing the payment of the note when discounted, nor did he know that their responsibility on the paper was different from what it appeared to be on its face. In view of these features of the testimony, the court could not see why William Tyler could not assign the bond, with the consent of Busey, to secure any other liability. It was equally for the benefit of William Tyler, whose property it was, and without any notice to Busey, at the time of such transfer, that the complainant was a surety or entitled to any other equity.
The decree is reversed and the bill dismissed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- W. BOWIE TYLER v. SAMUEL C. BUSEY
- Status
- Published