Crawford v. Read
Crawford v. Read
Opinion of the Court
This action is brought on a note of #4333 33, drawn by Jos. H. Boone to the order of Stephen Read, by whom, and his co-defendant Toler, it is endorsed, payable on the first of January, 1842. The defendants filed separate answers. Toler pleaded the general issue, payment, and the insufficiency of the protest and notice; while the other defendant, Read, put in a plea to the jurisdiction of the lower court, alleging that his domicil was not in the parish of Avoyelles, where process of citation was served, but in the parish of St. Landry. This plea having been overruled, Read answered to the merits, by denying any liability or indebtedness to the plaintiff. At this stage of the proceedings Jesse D. Wright intervened in the suit, representing that, since its inception, all the rights, title, and interest of the plaintiff therein, and in the note sued on, had been seized under execution, and purchased by him at a sheriff’s sale. There was a judgment below in favor of the intervenor against Toler, and one in favor of his co-defendant, Read, against the interven- or. From this last judgment the latter appealed.
The first question to which our attention is called, is that presented by the plea to the jurisdiction of the court. A number of witnesses were examined on the trial of this exception. Their testimony shews that, in the spring of 1838, Read, who had always resided on his plantation on Bayou Huffpower, in Avo
On the merits, it is contended that the notice of protest given to Read is insufficient, as it was forwarded to him at the Holmesville post-office, while there is a post-office at Chicot, much nearer to his residence in St. Landry. To this it would suffice to answer, that Avoyelles can lawfully be considered as his domicil, and that the Holmesville post-office is the nearest to it; but were Bayou Chicot to be considered as the usual residence of the defendant, it is by no means clear that the notice directed to Holmesville would be bad. The evidence shows that up to the institution of this suit, Read was in the habit of receiving his letters and papers at the- office at Holmes-ville; that it is about fifteen miles from his house at Chicot, and about three miles from his plantation; that it lies on the road leading from the one to the other, and that Read, who is always travelling from and to his plantation, passes within a few yards of the office, in which he never suffers his papers or letters to remain long, but either calls himself, or sends for them frequently; and that he never directed the postmaster to forward them to the Chicot office, which is a little over a mile from his house, and at which he also receives letters and papers. Under these circumstances, coupled with the acts
It is next urged that the protest is defective on its face, for want of the signatures of two witnesses to it. We know of no law rendering this necessary. The statute of 1821 concerning bills of exchange, promissory notes, áse., requires two witnesses to attest the entry made by the notary in his book, as to the manner in which notices to the drawers and endorsers have been served or forwarded; but this, we apprehend, has nothing to do with the protest. 16 La. 563. In this case we have before us a certified copy of the protest, and of the certificate added to the protest, attested by two witnesses, and showing the manner in which the notices were served. This, we think, is sufficient. B. & C.’s Dig. 41.
It is, finally, objected, that the notice in this case is not addressed to the defendant, at his domicil, or usual place of residence, and that the certificate of the notary should have so stated it. We have held that the omission to name the parish in which is situated the post-office to which notice is directed, is not fatal, provided the post-office be the nearest to the residence of the party. Nott's Executor v. Beard, 16 La. 310.
On the back of the note, annexed to the plaintiff’s petition, there is a credit endorsed for $450, dated January 5th, 1841.
It is, therefore, ordered and decreed, that the judgment of the District Court be avoided and reversed, and it is ordered and decreed that the intervenor do recover of Stephen Read, the sum of $4333 33, with ten per cent interest per annum from the 4th of January, 1842, until paid, with costs of protest, and of suit in both courts to be taxed, subject to a credit of $450, paid on the 5th of January, 1841.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.