Fogg v. Tyler
Fogg v. Tyler
Opinion of the Court
On report. Petition for allowance of claim as a priority.
The record shows that prior to April 26, 1911, the petitioner corresponded with Linwood C. Tyler, of the firm of Tyler, Fogg & Company, of Bangor, in relation to the purchase of stocks; that on that day he called at the office of Tyler, Eogg & Company, and
The case shows that Tyler, Fogg & Company had contracted with Messrs. C. D. Parker & Company, of Boston, for 750 shares of the Commonwealth Gas & Electric Company “with the arrangement that they were to carry it and1 as fast as we desired it, we should take it up from them.” Tyler, Fogg & Company had advertised the stock for sale and the petitioner says that Mr. Tyler had given him “literature and also written me in regard to the .stock. I had looked it up somewhat.”
Mr. Tyler, who had charge of stock sales, was called to Boston later in the evening and did not return until after the fire which destroyed his premises in the great conflagration of April 30, 1911. He returned immediately, and on May 5th received a letter from the petitioner, inquiring when the stock would be delivered. His letter in reply follows:
Tyler, Fogg & Co.
Bankers May 6, 1911.
Bangor, Maine.
Dealer in Bonds.
Mr. J. M. Bartlett,
Orono, Maine.
Dear Sir:
In relation to the delivery of your certificate carrying ten shares of Commonwealth Gas & Electric Co. Preferred Stock, we beg to say that, as soon as we can get established and our vaults open, we will be in a position to make delivery to you of your certificate carrying the ten shares of stock.
Our vaults look to be ¡in good shape, and we expect that the contents will be found intact.
Yours very truly,
Tyrer, Fogg & Co.
It is admitted that the check was deposited by the firm of Tyler, Fogg & Co., the payees named therein, to the credit of said firm, in the Kenduskeag Trust Company, at Bangor, Maine, on the 27th day of April, A. D. T911, and collected by said bank for the account of said firm; and that ever after, to and including the time of the appointment and qualification of the Receiver, the balance of the account of said firm in said bank was ever in excess of said sum of $1003.61, and that said account between said times was not at any time overdrawn, and that the amount of the balance of said account in said bank has come to the possession of the Receiver in this cause.
It is further admitted that no certificate for any shares of the capital stock of said Commonwealth Gas & Electric Company have ever come to the possession of said Receiver.
It is admitted that Charles H. Bartlett, of Bangor, Maine, was appointed as Receiver for the partnership of Tyler, Fogg & Co. by decree dated June 6, 1911, and that he qualified as such and entered upon the discharge of the duties on the 9th day of June, 1911; and that on that date he took possession of the assets of the estate of said partnership.
And the petitioner prays, 1.—that the Receiver may be ordered to deliver the stock, if he be in a position to do so, or, 2.—to return the money paid, amounting to $1003.61, and for other relief.
In order to maintain this action the petitioner must show;—
1. That the Receiver had specific property belonging to him, or
2. That there was a fiduciary relation between the petitioner and Tyler; Fogg & Company, by and through which the latter agreed to procure for the petitioner as his agent ten shares of the capital stock of said Commonwealth Gas & Electric Company.
The decision of the case turned upon the point that the presentment of the check for payment was not in due season, but with reference to the contention of the plaintiff the court said: “It would be difficult to deny this contention if it appeared that the firm stood in a fiduciary relation to him as to the proceeds of his stock, and that none of the other parties had equities superior to and countervailing his.”
After a careful consideration of the testimony we are unable to agree with counsel for the petitioner that the facts in the case sup
“One having purchased and paid for a specific quantity of an article, acquires no title to it until separated from the residue. Until such separation, the claim of the vendee rests in contract, for breach of which the remedy is by action. A purchase of growing crops, though paid for, passes no title against the creditors of the vendee, until possession or delivery be had. Unless such possession or delivery be had, prior to the death of the vendor and to the issuing of the commission of insolvency upon his estate, the title is in the administrator in trust for creditors.” Stone v. Peacock, 35 Maine, 385.
In Downing v. Lellyett, Court of Chancery Appeals of Tenn., February 8, 1896, 36 S. W. Rep., 890, the plaintiff requested a bank to purchase for him certain stock on margins. The bank purchased it, through brokers, and made a draft on the plaintiff for the margins, which was paid. The bank remitted the amount by draft to its correspondent, and sent a check on such correspondent to the brokers, but by reason of the bank’s failure, the brokers did not obtain the money, and re-sold the stock. The amount remitted was eventually recovered back by defendant as the bank’s assignee.
It -is the opinion of the Court that there was no fiduciary relation between the firm of Tyler, Fogg & Company and the petitioner, and the entry must be,
Petition dismissed with costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.