Hepburn v. Kerr
Hepburn v. Kerr
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
This bill was brought to enforce the redemption of a tract of land lying in Hardin county, which was sold by the Marshal on the 21st day of June, 1845, as the property of Robert G. Allison, by virtue of an execution issued upon a judgment of the Federal Court for the District of West Tennessee, and was purchased at said sale, by the defendant Kerr, for the sum of forty dollars, who afterwards, viz, cn the 26th day of October, 1846, sold and conveyed the same to the defendant Davidson.
It appears, that after said sale, viz, on the 14th day of October, 1845, said Allison, who was indebted in a large amount to various merchants of the city of Baltimore, executed a deed of trust, by which he conveyed to the complainant, as trustee for the benefit of said creditors, among other things, “all his right, title and interest,” in and to the tract of land sold as aforesaid, containing about five hundred acres.
The bill alleges, that on the 9th day of October, 1846, the complainant, through his agent and attorney applied to the defendant Kerr, to redeem said tract of land, and tendered to him the amount of the redemption money;
Two questions are presented for our determination; first, whether, since and by virtue of the process act of Congress of 1828, ch. 68, sec. 3, (Laws of the U. S., vol. 4, p. 279,) lands in this State, levied upon and sold by virtue of final process issued upon a judgment of the Federal Court, are subject to redemption under the act of 1820, ch. 11. And, second, if so, whether the complainant stands in such a relation as to be entitled to redeem the land in question.
1. The 3rd section of the act of Congress of 1828, ch. 68, provides, that “ writs of execution and other final process issued ton judgments and decrees, rendered in any of the courts of the United States, and the proceedings thereupon, shall be the same, except their style, in each State, respectively as are now used in the courts of such State,” &c.
It was held by this court, in the case of Polk and wife vs. Douglass and Cameron, (6 Yer. 209) that lands sold upon final process from the Federal Court, prior to the passage of the act of Congress of 1828, were not subject to redemption, under the laws of this State. And that decision was unquestionably correct in princi-
The act of 1828, in the language of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Ross and others vs. Duval and others, (13 Peters’ Rep. 45, 53,) “adopts in specific terms, the execution laws of the States.” And in the case of Bronson vs. Kinzie and others, (1 Howard’s Rep. 325,) Mr. Justice McLean, says, “the settled policy of the Federal Government is, to adopt the State laws regulating final process. And so far as the acts of Congress have operated, State laws have governed executions in the Federal Courts.” And, again, in the case of the Bank, of the United States vs. Halstead, 10 Wheaton’s Rep. 51, (6 Cond. Rep. U. S. 22, 26,) the, court say, that the process acts of Congress adopt “the effect as well as the form of the State process.”
From these authorities, and, indeed, from the plain language of the act of Congress, it is too clear to admit
2. It is not contended, and cannot be, that the deed of trust was not operative' to vest in the complainant •all the equitable interest or estate in the tract of land in question, remaining in Allison after the execution sale. And if such transfer may be made, as most certainly it may, it necessarily follows, that the assignee is vested with all the rights and equities of the defendant in the execution whose land was sold. This, however, is not now to be regarded' as an open question; it was in effect, decided by this court in the case of Jones vs. The Planters’ Bank, 5 Humphreys 619; and still more recently and still more directly, in the case of Kennedy vs. Howard, 6 Humphreys 64. In the latter case it was held, that an assignment by title bond, after execution sale, vested the assignee with the equitable estate of the defendant in the execution, and clothed him with all the equities of the assignor; and entitled him to redeem from one holding the legal title in trust for the assignor, although the assignee had given no pecuniary consideration for the assignment. That case asserts a broader principle than is necessary to the
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Hepburn v. Kerr and Davidson
- Status
- Published