Murray v. Meagher
Murray v. Meagher
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion oe the court.
The president and trustees of the Sinsinaria Mound College executed the note of that institution to the appellant, dated November 17, 1865, payable twelve months thereafter, for $2,000 in gold, with interest, at the rate of seven per cent, per annum; and on the 25th day of June, 1865, the appellee, who signed the note as president, paid the appellant on the note the nominal sum of $2,000 in “United States currency” or legal-tender notes; also $84.77 in full of interest accrued on the note up to that time, and thereupon the appellee indorsed upon the note, which was retained by the appellant, the following obligation:
“ I promise to pay the premium on the within note at the time it becomes due. D. J. Meagher, O. D.”
It appears that at the date of the note gold coin, as compared with the treasury notes of the United States, recognized as currency, was worth a premium of forty-two per cent., to secure which the obligation of the appellant was given, -without releasing the original note.
This suit was brought in October, 1870, to recover an alleged balance of the debt on the obligation of the appellee, the petition stating the amount to be $840.
The defendant by his answer pleaded, in substance and effect, that the writing signed by him was not obligatory, because it was executed and delivered for no good or valuable consideration.
Upon a submission of the law and facts to the court for trial without the intervention of a jury a judgment was rendered for the defendant, to reverse which the plaintiff prosecutes this appeal.
Wherefore the judgment is reversed, and the cause remanded for a new trial and other proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.