Moline Plow Co. v. Wenger
Moline Plow Co. v. Wenger
Opinion of the Court
This' suit was commenced in the Morgan county circuit court, on the twenty-fifth of •December, 1875, against defendant Wenger and Martin Good, who has since died, and his heirs have been made parties. The averments in the petition are substantially as follows : That said Good for the purpose of securing to plaintiff the payment of two promissory notes, executed, two deeds of trust on land situated in Morgan and.
The answer of Wenger, after specifically denying all the allegations of fraud set forth in the petition, avers substantially as follows: That Good had numerous creditors including Wenger, besides the plaintiff; that the creditors of Good were about to put him into bankruptcy unless plaintiff would release its, security, to which plaintiff consented; that, at a meeting of the creditors of Good, the plaintiff was represented by John P. Carr, an attorney-at-law ; that, at the request of said Carr, Wenger consented to assume the responsibility of distributing such assets of Good as would be transferred to him pro, rata among the creditors of Good; that, in
The evidence in the record abundantly establishes the following* facts : That Good, who was indebted to plaintiff and various other persons, in February, 1873, ■executed the two deeds of trust mentioned in the petition .to secure to plaintiff the payment of his indebtedness to it; that other creditors of Good, becoming acquainted with the fact that plaintiff had thus obtained a preference, became dissatisfied and informed Carr, the trustee and plaintiff’s representative, that they would put Good in bankruptcy unless plaintiff would release the deeds of trust; that plaintiff, after being consulted by Carr, agreed to release its security ; that, at a meeting of the creditors held at Tipton, plaintiff was represented by said Carr, and another agent, and it was agreed by plaintiff as well as by the other creditors of Good, that one C. C. McClay be appointed assignee to whom Good would assign his assets for distribution among all his creditors; that McClay declined to act as assignee, and at the suggestion pf said Carr, plaintiff’s agent and attorney, and other creditors, defendant Wenger was induced to act. The evidence satisfactorily shows that in pursuance of this arrangement, Good transferred his assets to Wenger; that Carr, as attorney, prepared the deeds of release from plaintiff to Good, and also the deeds from Good
It also appears from the evidence that Wenger never claimed any of the assets assigned by Good only to-the extent of his distributive share as a creditor, and that in the management of said assets, he relied upon the advice of said Carr, up to the time of his death.
In view of the evidence and the admission in defendant’s answer that the land in controversy was only held by him in trust for the benefit of Good’s creditors, under the arrangement made with them, the decree of the court in dismissing the bill and entering judgment for defendants was fully justified, and the judgment is hereby .affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The Moline Plow Company, in Error v. Wenger
- Status
- Published