Wise v. Ferguson
Wise v. Ferguson
Opinion of the Court
This suit was instituted by Louis C. Wise against J. C. Ferguson, ■E. C. Fleming, T. M. Finley, and others. The plaintiff alleged, and it was shown without dispute, that on February 1, 1908, J. C. Ferguson executed and delivered to John O. Wise six promissory notes each for the sum of $216.66%, due, respectively, on the 1st day of February, 1909 to 1914, inclusive, each note providing for interest thereon from date until paid at the rate of 10 per cent, per annum payable annually as it accrued, and containing the further stipulation that a failure to pay each or any of said notes at their maturity or any installment of interest when due should at the option of the holder mature them all; that said nptes were given as part of the purchase money for lot 10 and the south one-half of lot 9, of subdivision out of lot 4, block 185, in the city of Abilene, Tex., which was on the date of the notes conveyed by John C. Wise to said J. C. Ferguson, the vendor’s lien being retained in said conveyance to secure the payment of the notes; that later, viz., on January 21, 1908, J. C. Ferguson, joined by his wife, E. C. Ferguson, conveyed the above-described real property to E. C. Fleming, Fleming as part of the consideration expressly assuming to pay the above-described notes and acknowledging the vendor’s lien to secure their payment; that yet later, viz., on November 24, 1908, E. O. Fleming, joined by his wife, May Fleming, conveyed the said real property to T. M. Finley, who also as part of the consideration assumed the payment of the amount due upon the above-described notes, acknowledging and agreeing to the vendor’s lien for their payment; that afterwards, to wit, on the 7th day of February, 1910, all of the above notes by formal transfer had been conveyed by the said John O. Wise to Louis O. Wise, who sued to recover from Ferguson upon the notes and upon the assumptions above stated, with prayer for foreclosure of the vendor’s lien on the property. Plaintiff further alleged and sought to foreclose an attachment lien secured by the levy of a writ of attachment' sued out at his instance upon the S. % of the S. W. % of sec *818 tion 44, lunatic asylum land, containing 80 acres of land, and the S. E. % of the 'S. E. % of section 43, lunatic asylum land, in Taylor county, containing 40 acres, more or less, also lots 25 and 26, subdivision of lot 3, block 189, in the city of Abilene. The defendant E. 0. Fleming made default. The defendant J. C. Ferguson filed his answer, admitting his liability on the notes, and asking for judgment over against his codefend-ants Fleming and Finley. The defendant T. M. Finley and Mrs. Fannie Finley, who had been made a party upon the allegation that she was asserting some right or claim to the land, answered, admitting the assumption and liability on the notes sued on, but alleged that, while the property upon which the plaintiff sought to foreclose liens stood in the name of T. M. Finley, the equitable title thereto was in certain minor children of Mrs. Fannie Finley. Mrs. Fannie Finley further pleaded by way of cross-action that at the time of the purchase of the lots in controversy for the said minors from E. 0. Fleming the improvements on said lots were insured in a solvent insurance company for the sum of $1,500; that the policy of insurance was written by J. C. Wise, the payee in the notes sued on by the plaintiff; that the “said J. O. Wise was the duly and legally acting and authorized agent of said insurance company in Abilene, Tex., and had the legal authority to issue policies of insurance on residence property, and in fact did issue said policy to said Fleming, said policy was issued to said Fleming payable to J. O. Wise as his interest might appear and said policy expired on or about the 19th day of January, 1909; that J. 0. Wise agreed with this defendant and with the defendant E: C. Fleming to keep said improvements insured in said company for the said sum of $1,500 and to issue a new policy thereon to this defendant payable to J. O. Wise as his interest might appear.” It was further alleged that this agreement to renew the policy had been relied upon; that the plaintiff L. C. Wise and John O. Wise at the time of making the contract for renewed insurance were partners in the business as insurance agents, and that said contract made by said J. 0. Wise with this defendant was a contract of said partnership; that the plaintiff L. O. Wise had bought the notes from John O. Wise with full knowledge of all the facts; that about the 10th of February, 1909, her home and all furniture situated upon said property had been destroyed by fire and became a total loss to her by reason of the breach of the above-stated agreement to x-einsure the property on the expiration of the policy to Fleming, and she sought to recover the difference, $300, between the amount sued for and the value of the property so destroyed. The plaintiff’s demurrers to the special answer of T. M. and Fannie Finley were overruled, and the case was tried before a jury, special issues being submitted by the court relating to the alleged contract of insurance and the ownership of the minors in the property levied on under the writ of attachment, which issues were found in favor of the defendants, and the court rendered judgment against the plaintiff in favor of all the defendants and in favor of defendant Mrs. Fannie Finley on her cross-action over against the plaintiff for the sum of $300, dissolving the writ of attachment, and from this judgment the plaintiff has prosecuted this appeal.
Beversed and remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WISE v. FERGUSON Et Al.
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published