Scarborough v. Webb
Scarborough v. Webb
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
I. W. Scarborough held a trust deed on the crop to be grown by Kern during the year 1878. Kern desired to buy goods of Irving & Co., who refused to extend credit to him, unless Scarborough would release in their favor his lien on the crop. At the mutual request of Irving & Co., and of Kern, Scarborough signed and delivered to the former a statement that, if they chose to sell goods to the latter, he would agree
The suit being without written pleadings, it is somewhat difficult to apprehend its exact scope, but we cannot see that the facts impose any liability upon Scarborough in any point of view. Manifestly he is not liable upon the account, as to which he had expressly declined to assume any liability, nor can we see how he has made himself liable for the value of the cotton. He is not liable in trover for a conversion, as to Irving & Co., because the latter had no title to the cotton, nor any lien or claim upon it in any form. They had taken no mortgage upon it, nor was it pledged to them in any way. They were mere creditors at large of Kern, and unless the cotton was delivered by him to Scarborough for them, it is impossible to perceive how they could assert any claim with regard to it. If their account against Kern had been reduced to judgment, and the cotton levied on, Scarborough could not have set up his trust deed against them, and if in the mean time he had appropriated the cotton to his own use, he might have been liable to them for its value, but certainly such liability must accrue, if at all, from his defeat of the lien
If, on the contrary, Scarborough received the cotton for them (which does not appear with distinctness) then he made himself their bailee without hire, and could be made liable for the subsequent loss of the cotton only by showing some act of negligence or bad faith on his part. Nothing of the sort is shown. So far as appears from the record, he was guilty of no bad faith or neglect, nor did he obtain any portion of the proceeds. If the cotton was in fact delivered to him for Irving & Co., and taken possession of by Garter without authority, the remedy of the assignee is against the latter. Nothing in the proof establishes any liability on Scarborough.
Reversed and remanded.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.