Erdman v. Rosenthal
Erdman v. Rosenthal
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
This is a case in which a wife files a bill to obtain an injunction to restrain the creditors of the husband from taking in execution certain personal property, as that of the husband, upon the allegation that the property belongs to the wife, and not to the husband. Whether the propei’ty levied on belongs to the wife, as against the creditors of the husband, and is not liable to be taken to satisfy the judgment against the latter, under the circumstances of the case, is the only question to be determined.
In September, 1881, the appellees, Rosenthal and Son, recovered judgment against John Erdman, Jr., the hu band of the appellant, Sarah E. Erdman, on a promissory note given for the price of certain cows purchased by Erdman of such appellees. In January, 1882, a ft. fia. was issued on the judgment, and under that execution the sheriff levied on one horse, a pair of mules, a double set of harness, and six cows, as the property of the judgment debtor, to satisfy the judgment. The bill was soon thereafter filed and an injunction obtained to restrain further execution.
The appellees, the judgment creditors, filed their answer under oath, denying that the property levied on belongs to the wife, and aver and insist that it belongs to the husband, and is therefore liable for his debts. Proof was taken, and, on motion, the injunction was dissolved.
It appears that in 1814, Sarah E. Erdman, the appellant, obtained from the Trustees of the Orphans’ Home, in the City of Baltimore, and others, a lease of a certain piece of ground in Baltimore County, containing about twenty-four acres, unimproved, for the term of ten years, commencing on the 1st day of March, 1815, at a rent of $200 per annum. By the terms of this lease, the lessee obligated herself to erect on the premises, within the first year of the term, a dwelling-house and-a barn, at a cost ■of not less than $1000, and to put' up and maintain suitable fencing. The dwelling-house and barn, and some ■other improvements, were erected, and cost over $1000. The premises were first used as a truck garden, and, for the last four or five years, as a truck and dairy farm. Before obtaining the lease, the wife owned a house and lot in the village of Homestead, and she sold that for $1000, and expended that amount in the erection of the house and barn on the leased premises. No other independent means whatever are shown to have belonged to the wife. The work and labor, in carrying •on the truck and dairy business, appears to have been •done exclusively by John Erdman and his family, including, of course, his wife. The entire business was carried on and managed in the name of John Erdman. Ostensibly he was the owner of everything on the place, except the place itself, and one heifer or cow, spoken of by some of the witnesses as belonging to the wife. All purchases, sales, and exchanges of stock, and other property, for the uses of the farm, and made in the course of the business, were conducted by him and in his name as owner, until about the latter part of January, 1882 ; and when he had not the money to pay on such purchases, he gave his own individual notes, and afterwards paid them, without at any time, until after the judgment recovered by the appellees,
The husband was not examined as a witness, but the wife was; and she swore that she was owner of everything on the farm, and all the proceeds made therefrom. She admits, however, that the husband conducted the business in his own way, and in his own name, with her consent: That he purchased and sold the stock, gave his notes in payment, paid bills and made collections, and acted generally, as if he were owner. But all this was done, she says, as her agent and for her benefit, and not in fact for himself. Several persons with whom ho was in the habit of dealing, selling and purchasing of stock from and for the farm, including the judgment creditors in this case, were examined as witnesses; and they all testify that they dealt with him in his own character, and not as agent for his wife; and that it was not until after the recovery of the judgment by the appellees, that the wife was declared to be owner of all the property on the premises, and principal in all the dealings and transactions in reference to the business that was carried on.
Order affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Sarah E. Erdman, by her next friend Charles F. Erdman v. Abraham Rosenthal and Nathan Rosenthal, trading as A. Rosenthal & Son, and others
- Status
- Published