M'Gee v. Beall
M'Gee v. Beall
Opinion of the Court
Opinion op the Court.
Pennebaker filed his bill in chancery against Davis and Beall, in which he alleges that M’Gee had executed his note to Beall for $300 in horses, with a stipulation that the note was not to be paid until the conveyance was made to M’Gee, of the land which was the consideration of the note; and that the note was assigned by Beall to Davis, and by Davis to Pennebaker. He charges that before he purchased the note and took an assignment of it, both Beall and Davis represented to him that the conveyance of the title had been made to M’Gee, according to contract, and that M’Gee would pay without suit; but promised, if he failed to dp so, that they would furnish the evidence of the conveyance, necessary to enable Pennebaker to recover; that M’Gee refused to pay the note when called on for tha¡t purpose, and that Pennebaker brought suit upon the
Davis answered, and made his answer a cross bill against Beall, who also answered, and made bis-answer a cross bill against M’Gee. ' Davis’ answer, as he is not now a party in the writ*of error, need not be noticed. Beall, in his answer, admits the contract between him and M’Gee, and the assignment of the note given by M’Gee for the land, to Davis, and by Davis to Penne* bakar; and he admits the devise by the patentee to him and-two others, of the land, except' 'the locator’s part, an<f that the <D¡t;her devisees had conveyed to him, and he to.IVPGe'e, as"stated in the hill; and he alleges that he had purchased and paid for the locator’s interest, and taken his bond therefor, which was destroyed or lost by accident, of which M’Gee was apprised. He charges that M’Gee had accepted the deed, and, taken possession of the land under his title, and still holds it; and prays, if Pennebaker should succeed in obtaining a decree, that M’Gee may be compelled to pay the amount due, and costs; or, on failure or refusal to do so, that he surrender the possession of the land, and that the contract between them be rescinded; and he, moreover, asks for general relief.
The cross bill of Beall was taken for confessed against M’Gee, he having failed to answer; and on a final hearing, the circuit court decreed that Davis should pay io Pennebaker §300, with interest and the costs of ¡the suit at cemnwa law; that Beall should pay the
To the decree pronounced in favor of Beall against M’Gee,, theTatter has prosecuted this writ of error with supersedeas1. The first point made by the assignment of errors, is, that the'court had no jurisdiction, as between Beall and M-’Gee.
1. This point is c[ear]y untenable. Whether we consider the contract on the part-of Beall as executed, or not, the ground upon whichfa- 'cdur't of equity may take jurisdiction of the case, is equally manifest., Considering the contract as unexecuted on the part of Beall, as it was so on the part of M’Gee, it would be the peculiar province .of a court of equity to decree its specific execution; and it is well settled, that either the vender or vendee may resort, to a court of equity for, that.pftr-pose. '
2. But supposing the contract to be executed on tbe part of Beall, still, we apprehend, he might resort to a court of equity for relief. For.although in that case he might have a remedy at law, inhere he , would be entitled to recover the same as in a court of equity- yet, as he holds' a lien upon the land for the purchase money, he has a right to resort to a court of equity to ..enforce the lien, which a court of law capnot do. Itis^ruc, that the decree'in -this case did riot subject the'land to be sold in virtue of the lien; but it might, with propriety, have been done; and certainly M’Gee xanñ'ot complain that the relief decreed to Beall was not as extéh-sive and efficient as it might have been.
The second point made by the assignment of errors>, which we shall notice, is, that tbe circuit court erred in decreeing M’Gee to pay money, instead of property, as he was bound to do by the contract. This point is attempted to be maintained upon two grounds:- 1st, That Beall had not conveyed, as he was bound to do, before he could demand payment on the part of M’Gee; and 2dly, that no demand was made of the property, .of M’Gee, without which, it is contended he could not be in default.
With respect to the first of these -grounds, we must premise that as the cross, hill of Beall, was regalarly taken for confessed against M’Gee, its allegations must be considered as true. We must, therefore, assume it to. be true., that Beall had a title devised to_him front
3. Taking it, then, for true, that Beall, as he alleges, had purchased by bond the locator’s interest, he must have acquired thereby an equitable title to that, and c&nsequently, must, by his conveyance, have transferred it to M’Gee. In strict propriety, therefore, the conveyance was a performance of the contract on the part of Beall, and gave him a right, more especially as the conveyance was accepted by M’Gee, to insist on & performance of his part of the agreement.
With respect to the necessity of a demand of payment, before M’Gee could be in default, little need be said. It has been long settled by the repeated adjudications of tliis court, that where property is payable on a given day, a demand is not necessary, and that the party bound to make the payment, can only discharge himself by pleading and showing a tender on the day. The same reason applies to this case, where the property was payable on the conveyance being made, by Reall; for there can be no difference in principle, in
There are other points made by the assignment of errors; but they are such as either question the proceedings between the other parties, which we apprehend M’Gee has no right to do, or are involved in the ' points already considered.
The decree must, therefore, be affirmed with costs and damages.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.