Puterbaugh's Estate
Puterbaugh's Estate
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
A patient examination of the complicated and somewhat confusing mass of figures, of which this record is almost entirely composed, fails to reveal any principle of law or rule of evidence involved in the contention of the parties. It seems to be conceded that the question about which they differ is one of fact, or “a matter of figures only.”
By the will of Isaac T. Puterbaugh the bulk of his estate was devised and bequeathed to the executor therein named as a testamentary trustee, in such manner that the net income thereof should be paid to his son Harrison S. Puterbaugh during his natural life. In the event of his death without issue there was a devise over to other parties with whom we have no concern. The testator died in 1889, and the trustee began the active discharge of the duties of his trust.
The record further shows that Samuel H. Puterbaugh, some time later, died in Luzerne county, and upon a settlement of his estate there was distributed by the orphans’ court of the last-named county, to the said Harrison, a sum in excess of $6,000. A dispute arose between the latter and the other legatees mentioned in the will of Isaac T. Puterbaugh as to whether the corpus of this sum
Now when Stauffer, as the administrator of the estate of Samuel H. Puterbaugh, came to pay over to Harrison S. Puterbaugh, his cestui que trust in the other estate, he did it, as he himself declares, in the following manner, to wit:
"Cash............................. $1,500.00
His own note for money borrowed from estate of Isaac T. Puterbaugh 1,039.11 And credit on his own note for $1,500, money borrowed from same estate. . 750.34
$3,289.45”
From this it would seem to follow that none of the securities which were in the hands of Stauffer, either as administrator of the one estate or as trustee of the other, passed into the hands of Harrison S. Puterbaugh on account of this payment.
When Stauffer, trustee, filed his account in 1907, after the trust had been in active existence for many years, he
“August 28, 1897, By amount of interest from Ace & Decker carried to principal fund in exchange of securities as per supplementary account filed this day and auditor’s report thereon......... $203.27”
This item was specifically made the subject of the seventh of a number of exceptions filed to the account. It seems to us reasonably apparent that it was not on its face self-sustaining, and the burden therefore was on the accountant to produce such evidence as would justify the allowance of the credit claimed. In the first adjudication the learned judge of the orphans’ court thus disposed of that exception: “The seventh exception is to a credit for a payment alleged to have been made on August 28, 1907, 'by amount of interest from Ace & Decker &c.’ We agree with the counsel'for the trustee that it is a matter of figures. After due consideration of the calculations, figures and facts, there does not appear to be any satisfactory explanation of the item, the subject-matter of the exception. The seventh exception is therefore sustained.” It may here be remarked that outside of the various accounts, principal and supplementary, the account book of the trustee from which they were made up and the various calculations drawn from an examination of these, the testimony before the learned court below was extremely scant, consisting of the oral testimony of the trustee and the cestui que trust only. Both examinations were very brief, and neither of them throws much light, if any, on the exact subject-matter of the controversy.
The accountant applied for and obtained a reargument as to the seventh exception referred to. Upon a reconsideration of the account the learned judge below affirmed his previous adjudication and pointed out that the short
The able counsel for the appellant here earnestly challenges the correctness of the statement of fact of the learned judge below as to the origin of the error which
As tending to show the correctness of this contention, the trustee, through his counsel, presents the following statement of the partial payments made by his cestui que trust on account of the indebtedness aforesaid. As the dates and items of this schedule are significant we quote it in full from the paper-book.
DATE PAYMENT IN AMOUNT
“4-15-90 Cash..................... $ 2.25
8-25-99 Isaac Stauffer Note. ....... 598.00
“ “ “ “ “ “ ........ 425.00
“ “ “ “ “ “ ........ 261.38
“ “ “ Price Bros. Note.......... 299.55
5-6-00 Cash..................... 300.00
11-24-01 “ 992.15
$2,878.33”
(1) There is no evidence whatever that on April 15, 1890, Harrison S. Puterbaugh paid to the accountant the sum of $2.25 in cash on any account, much less on account of a considerable indebtedness evidenced by notes. What is said to be a copy of the cash account of the trustee, included in what is called by his counsel a trial balance or supplement to appellant’s paper-book, shows that on the day named the trustee charged himself with $2.25 cash as having been received “from estate.” No further explanation of this item is given. On the remaining dates mentioned in the schedule of partial payments above as the dates on which Harrison S. Puterbaugh paid the sums of $300 and $992.15 respectively, the cash account shows no entries of such amounts having been received from anyone.
(2) We have already seen, from another statement of the accountant, intended to exhibit the manner in which he paid over to Harrison S. Puterbaugh the money that came to him from the estate of Samuel H. Puterbaugh, that the note of Harrison for $1,039.11 was, in that transaction, taken up and paid in full, while his note for $1,500 was in the same manner paid to the extent of $750.34. If this be true it is difficult to see how the same notes could have been paid in the manner disclosed by the last schedule more immediately under our consideration.
(3) It is further claimed that Harrison S. Puterbaugh extinguished, pro tanto, his indebtedness evidenced by his notes on August 25, 1899, by turning over to his trustee three notes of Isaac Stauffer in the sums of $598, $425 and $261.38 respectively. It is not shown by any evidence that Harrison S. Puterbaugh ever had any such notes of Isaac Stauffer; that he had ever made any loans to him, or that he had ever received such notes from his trustee in any transaction that occurred previous to the last-mentioned date. On the contrary, it appears from one
But it is needless to pursue this inquiry further in detail. It is not our province to determine that the inferences of fact to be justly drawn from the evidence conclusively show that the learned court below was right or that the theory of the appellant is untenable. That there is evidence tending to support the finding of the auditing judge and to controvert that urged on us by the appellant, cannot, we think, be denied. The record therefore discloses no such palpable or manifest error as to warrant us in rejecting the finding of fact adopted by the learned court below and accepting that advanced by appellant.
Decree affirmed and the appeal dismissed at the costs of the appellant.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.