Trexler v. Reynolds
Trexler v. Reynolds
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
J. F. Trexler and J. L. Trexler, the plaintiffs, owned and managed the "Paradise Furnace Farm” in Todd township, Huntingdon county, containing about 4,700 acres of land, and were trading under the firm name of Trexler Brothers and Company. On May 3,1904, H. P. Reynolds, the defendant, became a member of the firm under certain
J. F. Trexler, H. J. Trexler and J. L. Trexler formed a limited partnership in 1898 under the name of the Trexler Stave and Lumber Company, Limited, the business of which, as declared in the articles of association, was “the manufacture and sale of staves, lumber and cooperage stock.” By an agreement in writing dated May 3, 1904, Trexler Brothers and Company leased to the Trexler Stave and Lumber Company, Limited, the right to take from the Paradise Furnace Farm “as much timber suitable for staves and lumber as the party of the second part needs to keep their plants in operation.” The lumber company agreed to pay a royalty of twenty-five cents per 1,000 feet for the staves and $2.50 per 1,000 feet for the lumber cut and removed from the farm.
Differences having arisen between the members of the copartnership of Trexler Brothers and Company, they entered into a written agreement of dissolution dated January 20, 1905. By the terms of the agreement, J. F. Trexler and J. L. Trexler sold to Reynolds all their undivided one-half interest in the Paradise Furnace Farm, “and all their right, title and interest in and to all the personal propperty upon the said lands, and all their right, title and interest in and to all other personal property owned by the said firm of whatsoever character or wherever situate,” except certain moneys therein specified. This provision of the agreement gives rise to the present controversy. As part of the consideration Reynolds agreed to and did give to the Trexlers a judgment bond and mortgage for $3,000 payable in one year after date with interest. On January 31,1906, judgment was entered on the bond and an execution was issued. Reynolds presented his petition to the common pleas setting forth, inter alia, that the Trex
The case was again tried in the common pleas, and under the instructions of the court the jury returned a verdict for the full amount of the plaintiffs’ claim. The defendant contended on the second trial as he did on the first that by the terms of the. agreement the Trexlers had sold to him their interest in all. the personal property on the farm
The numerous assignments allege error in the refusal of the court to permit the defendant to show that the Trexler Stave and Lumber Company, Limited, was engaged in selling and raising horses in connection with Trexler Brothers and Company, that the books of the two partnerships were kept together, that Reynolds was a partner in fact in the Trexler Stave and Lumber Company, Limited, that the money received by Trexler Brothers and Company for selling horses was turned over to the Trexler Stave and Lumber Company, Limited, that notice to trespassers was posted on the farm by a member of the limited partnership, and the value of the personal property removed from the farm after the agreement. These offers were all properly excluded. The plaintiffs did not object to the defendant showing the value of the personal property removed after the dissolution agreement if it was further shown that it belonged to Trexler Brothers and Company. The defendant, however, did not offer to show such ownership. The effect of the offers was to show business relations, between the two partnerships and to have the jury draw the conclusion that Trexler Brothers and Company and the Trexler Stave and Lumber Company, Limited, were one and the same partnership. The offers, if admitted, would not have shown that fact. The two firms were separate and distinct, one was the ordinary partnership, and the other was a limited partnership. The father of the Trexler Brothers was a member of the limited partnership but not of the
The circumstances surrounding the parties at the time they entered into the agreement show that the personal property sold to the defendant was confined to the property which belonged to the firm of Trexler Brothers and Company. The purpose of the agreement was not simply to sell the real and personal estate of the Trexlers to the defendant; on the contrary, the primary purpose was to dissolve the partnership between the Trexlers and Reynolds because of “certain differences having arisen between the members of the copartnership.” It was executed by the three parties, plaintiffs and defendant in this case, “trading and doing business as Trexler Brothers and Company.” The agreement, therefore, manifestly intended to deal with the property of that copartnership, and not with the property of other persons or other partnerships. It is true that the first clause of that part of the agreement out of which this controversy arises is quite comprehensive and, standing alone, might be sufficient to sustain the defendant’s contention. It says: “All their
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Contract — Partnership—Dissolution agreement — Construction—Setoff —Evidence. 1. Where in a proceeding on a judgment bond an issue is framed to determine what personal property, if any, was removed from partnership real estate in violation of a dissolution agreement, and it appears that the plaintiffs and defendant had been members of a general partnership engaged in farming and stock raising on a certain farm, that the plaintiffs were also members of a limited partnership which was carrying on its business of stave making upon the same property under a written agreement with the first firm; that in pursuance of a desire to dissolve the partnership an agreement was executed by the plaintiffs and defendant, “trading and doing business” under the general partnership name conveying to the defendant the farm and “All their right, title and interest in and to all the personal property upon the said lands, and all the right, title and interest in and to all other personal property owned by the said firm” and that as part of the settlement the defendant gave the judgment bond in question, the defendant is precluded from setting up as a defense pro tanto to the payment of the bond the value of personal property admittedly belonging to the limited partnership which the plaintiffs had removed from the premises. 2. In such a case the dissolution agreement is properly construed as relating only to the plaintiff’s interest in the personal property of the general partnership of which defendant was a member, and not to their interest in the personal property of the limited partnership.