Richardson v. St. Louis National Bank
Richardson v. St. Louis National Bank
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Appellants recovered judgment against James Post, and summoned the St. Louis National Bank as garnishee. Tiedeman & Co. claimed, by an interplea, that they were entitled to $274.40 of the funds. The Circuit Court found in favor of Tiedeman & Co., and rendered judgment in their favor for the full amount claimed by them, and awarded attorney’s fees ip favor of the bank against plaintiffs.
The testimony in the case is the evidence of Post himself and of the officers of the bank in which his account was kept. It is entirely uncontradicted, and is to the following effect: James Post was engaged in selling merchandise on commission, under the name of James Post & Co., no other person being represented in that name. He kept an account in the St. Louis National Bank, under the style, “ James Post & Co., brokerage account.” He opened the account thus to keep his brokerage account separate from any other. He deposited all the proceeds of sales made for him by other parties to that account. His commissions
Of the amounts deposited, the first three items were the proceeds of sales of flour made for various parties. The aggregate of these items is $167.45 The checks of June 21st, 24th, and 25th are the amounts paid to Stinde, and Mauntel, Borgess & Co., for sales of their flour. These checks aggregate $150.94. The difference between these sums is apparently the amount of expenses and commissions for these transactions. It is $16.51. The deposit of $304 is the draft for Tiedeman & Co.’s flour, out of the proceeds of which Post was entitled to $29.60 for commissions and expenses, leaving $274.40 coming to them. The
It appears very clearly that Post did not mix these trust-funds with his own. A portion of the fund belonged to him at the moment of each deposit, because he deposited by drafts drawn for the total amount of each sale. But nothing went into this deposit-account but the proceeds of these sales, and nothing was taken from it except to pay to the parties for whom it was set apart as a trust-fund, the proceeds of the sales of their goods, and to withdraw for Post’s use such amounts as might 'be coming to him as the amount of his commissions and expenses about the matter, necessarily included in each transaction. Post made no use of trust-funds, and did not mingle them with his own in such a way as to impair the character of the fund. If an administrator were to deposit everything received by him for the estate to a separate account kept by him as administrator, his commissions as administrator would necessarily go into the deposit; but this fact would not impair the distinct character of the fund so as to make him liable as one who mixes trust-moneys with his own. All of the trust-moneys went into this deposit-account, and none of them were withdrawn. The money of Tiedeman & Co. is as
It seems also that Post was not a mere go-between, but a factor, to whom these goods were delivered by the St. Louis owners, to ship to the purchasers ; and he dealt directly with the principals for whom, if not by whom, they were consigned to him. But whether he was in truth a factor or a mere broker, having kept the moneys in a separate deposit as a special trust-fund, we have no doubt of the right of the principal to follow them as far as he may be able to identify them.
We think that the allowance to the garnishee in this case was properly taxed against plaintiff, and not against the fund.
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.