Becnel v. Tournillon
Becnel v. Tournillon
Opinion of the Court
The defendant is appellant from a judgment which makes him liable, as endorser, for the amount of a promissory note protested for non-payment by the Parish Judge of the parish of St. John the Baptist, where the drawer of the note resides.
It is established by the evidence, that the defendant is a resident of the parish of Assumption; that there are three post offices, in said parish, one of which is at Towncourtville; that from the defendant’s to the latter post office, the distance is about three miles ; and that the nearest post office to the defendant’s, is that at Towncourtville. An attempt has been made to show, that the defendant gets his mailed letters at the Donaldsonviile post office ; but the testimony does not go further than to prove the fact that the defendant lives with his father, and that the witness has seen newspapers brought there, from Donaldsonviile, for his father. The witness, who is a notary, adds, that whenever he had official notices to give to the defendant, he addressed them to him at the Towncourtville post office, which is the nearest to the defendant’s house. '
It is contended by the appellee’s counsel, that the notice is sufficient, as it was directed to the defendant’s place of residence, “Assumption;” and as, by the terms of the law of 1827, (Bullard & Curry’s Digest, p. 43, § 14,) notices of protest are to be addressed to the endorsers, at their domicil or usual residence.
It is true, the law referred to, which, as we have often said, does not change the usage of the commercial law in relation to the diligence to be used in serving notices of protest, but merely provides anew mode of proof of such diligence, (7 La. 11. 3 Robinson, 166,) provides, that “ whenever an endorser shall not reside in the town or city where protest shall be made, then it shall.be the duty of the notary to put into the nearest post office where the protest is made, a notice of such protest, to the endorser, addressed to him at his domicil or usual place of residence.” This law, however, has never been understood, and, in our opinion, cannot be understood as pointing out the degree of diligence to be used, or as changing, in any manner, the usages of the commercial law in relation to the extent of such diligence. It only instructs the notary how to proceed when the endorser resides in
From the uniform jurisprudence established in all the cases above referred to, it 'is obvious that we never entertained the idea that a simple direction of the notice to the parish in which the endorser resides was sufficient, unless, as was shown in the case of Gale v. Kemper, 10 La. 209, the post office be kept at the seat of justice, where the letters, generally addressed “ to —, parish of —,” are always sent, and it is proved to be the nearest to the endorser’s residence. This is in accordance with the rules of the commercial law, with regard to the manner of serving notices of protest. Again, the law of 1827, has not operated any other change, but points out a new mode of proof of the diligence required to be used by the commercial law. Here, one of the letters, addressed to “the parish of Assumption,” was undoubtedly sent to the seat of justice, according to the post office regulations; and the evidence shows, that the Towncourtville post office is nearest to the defendant’s residence. The notice should, therefore, have been directed to him at the latter place.
We are aware of the great inconvenience which notaries generally labor under, when they have to make a protest in a parish far distant from the residence of. the endorsers ; and of the difficulty which they experience in discovering or ascertaining the
It is, therefore, ordered and decreed, that the judgment of the District Court be annulled and reversed, and that ours be for the defendant, with costs in both courts.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.