Burrus v. Roulhac's adm'x
Burrus v. Roulhac's adm'x
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion oe the court:
This is an equitable action brought by appellee, administratrix de bonis non of Frank Roulhac, deceased, against appellants and others, to coerce the payment of a debt oí $3,151, which she claims her intestate held in his lifetime against Burrus & Co., by enforcing an alleged lien on two lots and a warehouse in the city of Hickman. Appellant Burrus claimed, as assignee of P. S. Jones, to have a lien on the same property for the payment of $3,000 — each claiming a prior lien.
The coui't below adjudged a sale of the property, having first set aside a sale made under a judgment in favor of Burrus and his immediate assignee, Prather, to enforce their claim; and further adjudged, if the proceeds should prove insufficient to pay both debts, the amount should be divided pro rata between them. From this judgment Burrus and others appealed, and the administratrix prosecutes a cross-appeal. The following material facts are established by the pleadings and evidence:
One Thomas-Allen, being the owner of the lots and house sought in-this proceeding to be subjected to sale, sold the same in 1855 to said Burrus, P. S. Jones, and 'Winston, partners, trading under the firm name of Burrus & Co., for $8,000, payable in three equal annual installments, and conveyed the same to them, reserving a lien on the property for the payment of the price. The first two installments were paid, and the note for the last one was, by Allen, for a valuable consideration, assigned to appellee’s intestate. After his death, administration of his estate was granted by the proper court
In a few days after the execution of the note to him by Marr for $3,150, Hallet brought suit on it in the Fulton circuit court against Marr and Jones, and recovered judgment against both of them, upon which execution issued; and after it had been levied on property apparently sufficient to satisfy the same, Marr and the city of Hickman, by a suit for the purpose, enjoined the collection of said debt. The injunction was, after considerable delay, discharged; but the action seems still to be pending.
Prather, as assignee of Jones, brought an action in ordinary on the note executed by Marr to Jones for three thousand dollars, obtained a judgment thereon, and having assigned the benefit of the same to appellant Burrus, they united in an equitable action against Marr’s per
It is insisted by appellant — 1. That this action cannot be maintained in the name of the administratrix of Roulhac ; but that, by taking the note of Marr to himself for the debt which was due to the intestate, Hallet thereby made it his o wn personal property. It may be true that appellee, as administratrix de bonis non of Roulhac, could not have maintained an action at law on said note in her own name, yet it is evident that she is entitled to the equitable control of said debt, and to the collection thereof, as it does not appear that Hallet ever made it his own by cb arging himself with the amount thereof, or that, in a settlement of his account as administrator as aforesaid, he was charged therewith; and, being equitably entitled to the debt, she might rightfully prosecute this suit in equity for the collection thereof. This principle does not conflict with the doctrine recognized by this court in Saffron’s administrator vs. Kennedy (7 J. J. M., 188), and Williams et al. vs. Collins et al. (1 B. M., 58), but is in harmony with those authorities.
2. It is contended that, by accepting Jones as guarantor of the note, Hallet waived his lien on the property. There can be no question that a lien would have been retained in the deed from Jones to Marr by stating the amount of the consideration remaining unpaid as required by section 26, chapter 80, 1 volume Revised Statutes, 230, if
On the cross-appeal of appellee we have had more difficulty. As we have before seen, Hallet had a lien on the lots for the note he held on Burrus & Co.; but he was present and sanctioned the sale and conveyance of them by Jones to Marr, and, with a full knowledge of the legal effect of the deed, he accepted the note of Marr, with the guaranty of Jones, which, as appellee alleges in her petition, “was given in satisfaction of a .certain note held by Hallet, administrator' of F. Roulhac, against S.
Overton, Rowland & Co. were not innocent purchasers, because, by referring to the deed from Jones to Marr, through which their title is derived, they would have seen that the lien of appellee existed for the note executed to Hallet.
Wherefore, the judgment is affirmed on the cross-appeal.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.