Milward v. Cochran
Milward v. Cochran
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Cochran & Co. filed their bill seeking to subject two slaves to the payment of a note which they held upon James W. Cryer:
1st. Upon the ground that after the slaves had been given to Cryer by his father in-law, Spencer Cooper, and had vested in him absolutely as his property, he had, for the purpose of hindering and preventing Ills creditors from levying upon them, contrived a deed of loan, by which the title to the slaves had vested in said Cooper, but the possession had still remained with Cryer.
2d. Tftey alledge that after the death of Cooper, the wife of Cryer had claimed the slaves as her separate property, and they were then in possession of Mary Cooper, who was holding them in trust for Mrs. Cryer; and in the event they should be decided to be her separate property, the complainants sought to subject them, upon the ground that the note, which they exhibited upon James W. Cryer, was given for necessaries furnished for the support of Mrs. Cryer and family.
Cryer'and wife and Mary Cooper were made defendants, and subpoena served upon them, endorsed, that the object of the bill was to attach the two slaves therein named, and their hire, for the payment of the complainant’s demand.
The complainants aflenvards filed an aménded bill, in which they alledge that the slaves had been decided to be the property of James W. Cryer. That the slaves had been both sold under executions which had a prior lien to that which attached upon the exhibition of their bill. That the proceeds of the one had been entirely absorbed by executions having such prior lien, and also a portion
Process as to Morrison, was returned, no inhabitant, and in regard to the Chews, Pindell answered, showing that what had been received by him upon executions in their name, had been paid over by him as assignee in bankruptcy, agreeably to a decree of the Fayette Circuit Court. The Court decreed that Milward and Ennis pay over to the complainant the alledged sums in their hands, and that they also pay complainants their costs. The Court, however, continued the cause, with leave to Mil-ward and Ennis to be substituted to any claims of complainant on Cryer, or to have contribution or indemnity from any others, to which they might be entitled.
To reverse that decree, Milward and Ennis prosecute this writ of error.
The first inquiry is, whether a lien attached upon the slaves in favor of the complainants, upon the filing of their bill.
The jurisdiction of a Court of Equity to grant relief upon the first ground relied upon in the original bill, is given by the act of 1838, (3 Stat. Law, 116.) The 2d section of that act vests a Court of Chancery with power and jurisdiction, upon the application of a creditor, whether his debt be or be not in judgment, to set aside a sale or conveyance made for the purpose of hindering and delaying creditors in the collection of their debts, and to subject the properly to the payment of the debt of the applicant. And in aid of the execution of this power, the Court is authorized to order an attachment, and to make
In this case no attachment was sued out, but we are of opinion the power of the Court to subject the property did not depend upon the actual levy of an attachment. ( A lien upon the slaves attached, upon the exhibition of the complainant’s bill and the service of process. .The only object and effect of an attachment and levy, would have been to secure more effectually the slaves against removal, and have them forthcoming to abide the decree of the Court. The suit was a Us pendens, and no subsequent sale or after acquired lien would destroy or affect the prior lien and right of the complainants.
The bill of the complainants, it is true, was framed with a double aspect: First, to subject the slaves under the statute, and secondly, if proved to be the separate property of Mrs. Cryer, to reach them upon the equitable principle that the consideration of the claim set up was necessaries furnished for the use of Mrs. Cryer and her family. The last ground thus contingently relied upon, did not, we think, affect the lien and right of the complainants to relief upon the first ground under the statute.
Assuming then that a lien in favor of the complainants, attached upon filing their bill, and it appearing that both slaves were sold under executions previously levied, and the entire proceeds of the one and part of the other, applied in discharge thereof, the question arises whether the Chancellor was right in following the residue of the proceeds into the hands of the defendants, and decreeing them to pay it over to the complainants in discharge of their claim. We think he was. It is expressly alledged in the amended bill, that the conveyance from Cryer to Cooper had been decided to be fraudulent, and that the slaves were subject to the payment of Cryer’s debts. Such appears to have been the decision of this Court. The defendants, Milward and Ennis, in their answer, do not deny the allegation as to the amount of the proceeds of the slave Maria, received by them respectively, but they say they had executions against Cryer, and they received the money thereon from the Constables, and that they axe ignorant of the matters and things set forth by
Wherefore, the decree is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.