Carr & Co. v. Garnishees
Carr & Co. v. Garnishees
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered, by
John G. Given, the defendant in the judgment of Carr & Co., held a bond and mortgage of $800, given to him in the purchase of property by Andrew Beck and James M. Palmer, with William Palmer as their surety, which were attached on the 26th of July 1859.
The bond being several as well as joint, William Palmer set up as a defence, that at the time of the service of the attachment Given was indebted to him upon an exchange of land as follows : In 1857 Palmer exchanged with Given a tract of land in Cambria, county, called the Welsh tract, for lands in Missouri owned by Given, agreeing to pay a balance of purchase-money owed by Given upon it, and Given agreeing to pay an equal amount to judgments of Lloyd & Co. against Palmer, which were liens on the Welsh tract. Palmer paid the debt in Missouri, but Given failed to pay this amount to Lloyd & Co. On the 28th of March 1859 Palmer and Given settled, and the latter fell in debt to the former $740. Given, in .order to pay this sum, sold the Welsh tract to William K. Carr, and bound him in the articles to pay that sum to Lloyd & Co.’s judgment against Palmer; Given agreeing to have the title to Carr made by Palmer in sixty days. Carr not having paid this sum of $740 to Lloyd & Co.’s judgment, it is clear that when the attachment was served on William Palmer, on the 26th of July 1859, he stood as the creditor of John G. Given in that sum. It is argued, however, that because Palmer, on the 9th of September 1859, conveyed the Welsh tract to Carr, he is to be presumed to have assented to the payment stipulated by Carr to be made to Lloyd & Co., and therefore Given’s debt to Palmer is suspended until the insolvency of Carr is shown. I do not find this deed in the evidence, but admitting 'it, the inference drawn is incorrect.
Given owed Palmer the $740, and by his own contract was to have paid the money to Lloyd & Co.’s judgment in relief of the Welsh tract. On the day of his settlement with Palmer, he manifestly sold to Carr, in order to raise the means of. payment. Carr’s covenant was to Given, not to Palmer, and at least made
The error of the argument consists in converting Carr’s defence to Given’s claim, into a defence by Given against the claim of Palmer. The claim on the note of $216.50, at five months, now set up, is an after-thought, and cannot be permitted to disturb the judgment.
The plaintiff in the attachment gave in evidence no other debt to the defendant by the garnishee than the bond of $800 and mortgage. The article of agreement between Given and Beck and James M. Palmer, and Given’s receipt for the note of $215.50 at five months, payable at the office of W. M. Lloyd & Co., were given in evidence by the garnishees in explanation of the transactions of Given. But no note of $215.50 was produced or accounted for, or shown to belong to Given at the time of the attachment. The strong presumption is from the place of payment that the note was at once transferred to Lloyd & Co. upon
There was no error in the admission of William K. Carr as a witness for Palmer. He had no interest in the controversy between Given and Palmer. The fact of his -subsequent purchase of the land and agreement to pay the $740 created no interest on Palmer’s side. The effect of his testimony was to fix the debt upon Given and thereby to make his.covenant to pay it to Lloyd & Co. more effectual. If he had any sensible interest it was against Palmer. Nor did the throwing of that debt upon Given discharge the land Carr had purchased, from Lloyd & Co.’s judgments. Lloyd & Co. are not affected by the controversy between Given and Palmer, no matter which wins. Palmer’s debt to Lloyd & Co. must be paid, and stands as an encumbrance on his land. If fixing the debt of $740 on Given could change Lloyd & Co.’s relation to the case and discharge the lien of their judgment, then Carr would have an interest; but as he stands related to the case, having assumed to Given to pay this debt to Lloyd & Co., his testimony in favour of Palmer establishing the debt, certainly is unfavourable to his own discharge from his covenant to pay it to Lloyd & Go.
Nor was'there any error in receiving in evidence Given’s note of $660., given at Glasgow, Missouri, September 18th 1856, payable January 1st 1858, with the receipts for payment endorsed. It had been preceded by the testimony of the settlement on the 28th March 1859, and the balance of $740 found due by Given to Palmer, the witness stating that he thought the amount Palmer was to pay for Given in Missouri had been paid at that time. In connection, therefore, with the settlement and balance found due, and this recollection of the witness, the possession of the note with the endorsements (the signatures not being questioned), was a circumstance to go to the jury, very slight, it is true, but yet not so wholly irrelevant as to make its admission a cause of reversal.
Finding no error in the record, the judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.