Hamilton v. Seaman
Hamilton v. Seaman
Opinion of the Court
On the 18th of July, 1839, the State Bank of Indiana sued out of the clerk’s office of the Allen Circuit Court, a writ of foreign attachment against Henry J. Seaman and Nathaniel Norton, as partners, under the name of Seaman and Norton. On the 21st of September following, Allen Hamilton, Cyrus Taber, and Thomas Hamilton, as partners, under the name of Hamilton, Taber, and Co., filed a claim, under the attachment, against said Seaman and Norton, as partners, as aforesaid. That claim was for 488 dollars and 26 cents, due, as they alleged, by virtue of a draft drawn on the 8th of November, 1838, by said Hamilton, Taber, and Co., in favor of Dennison and York, upon said Seaman and Norton, and by them accepted on the 17th of the same month, but which they failed to pay. A like, though in truth the same, sum was claimed for money paid, &c.
Norton appeared and pleaded the general issue, under ■ oath, to the claim of Hamilton, Taber, and Co. The- issue was tried by a jury, and found for the defendants. A new trial was denied, and judgment rendered upon the finding of the jury. The evidence is upon the record. It shows the following facts:
. On the 20th of December, 1836, the defendants, Seaman and Norton, were partners in trade in the city of New York, and, as such, had a note, indorsed by Bailey, Keeler, and Remsen, discounted, for their own benefit, at the branch of our State Bank at Fort Wayne. On the 1st of February, 1837, they dissolved partnership, and, on the 3d of the same month, published, in the New York papers, the following notice thereof, and also inclosed copies of the same by mail to their correspondents, among whom were Hamilton, Taber, and Co., and the Branch Bank at Fort Wayne:
“The co-partnership heretofore existing between the subscribers, under the firm of Seaman and Norton, is this
“Henry J. Seaman,
“Nathaniel Norton.”
On the 20th of March, 1837, the note discounted in bank was renewed by a note drawn by Seaman, in the name of Seaman and Norton, for 4,500 dollars. This was protested, and again renewed by Seaman, in the name of Seaman and Norton, for 3,600 dollars, on. the 1st of August, 1837, and was, afterwards, quartei'ly or semi-annually, reduced and renewed in the same manner, till the 6th of November, 1838, when its amount was 2,600 dollars. At that date, being the day on which it was required to be again reduced and renewed, Hamilton, Taber, and Co., having received a letter in the hand-writing of Seaman, signed Seaman and Norton, requesting them so to do, advanced 478 dollars and 68 cents on said renewal, and, to obtain re-payment, drew, as by said letter they were directed to do, on Seaman and Norton, at New York. The draft was accepted by Seaman, in the name of Seaman and Norton, but was not paid. This accepted draft was given in evidence as the foundation of the claim of Hamilton, Taber, and Co., under the attachment. After the dissolution of the firm of Seaman and Norton, a partnership was formed under the name of Norton and Co., in which Norton and one Robinson wele the active partners, and Seaman a dormant one. This company occupied the same place of business as had been used by Seaman and Norton; and Seaman also continued there in settling up the business of the old firm, kept his books in the same safe with, and equally accessible to, Norton and Co., and received there his notices of protests, &c. Norton and Co., also, in some instances, advanced money to pay debts of Seaman and Norton, whose credit they were anxious to sustain. Such is the evidence upon the record.
It is claimed that the Court erred in refusing to grant a new trial. This leads us to consider as to the correct
Holding the judgment below right upon the evidence, we shall not examine the instructions there given; for, should we regard them erroneous, we should not, for that reason, reverse a right judgment.
-The judgment is affirmed with costs, &c.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Hamilton and Others v. Seaman and Another
- Status
- Published