Lancaster v. Corsicana Nat. Bank
Lancaster v. Corsicana Nat. Bank
Opinion of the Court
The Corsicana National Bank, the appellee in this appeal, sued J. A. Lancaster and the appellant A. B. Lancaster on two promissory notes secured by a mortgage upon some mules and a wagon. The first note described was for $73.25 and bore the signatures of both J. A. Lancaster and A. B. Lancaster. The second note was for $61.50 and was signed by J. A. Lancaster alone. The bank also joined in the suit M. A. Cox and sought a recovery upon some vendor’s lien notes theretofore executed by Cox to J. A. Lancaster and which had been pledged as collateral security for the two notes above mentioned. It was alleged in the original petition that while A. B. Lancaster had not signed the note for $61.50, he had promised to sign and pay it as a consideration for the money loaned at the time the note was executed. It was also alleged in the plaintiff’s petition -that the Lancasters and Cox had entered into a conspiracy to defraud the bank by pledging worthless security for the payment of the indebtedness evidenced by the two notes sued on. At the instance of the bank a writ of attachment was issued and levied upon a small stock of goods claimed by A. B. Lancaster, H. C. Lancaster, and 0. E. Lancaster. No answer was filed by either J. A. Lancaster or Cox. A. B. Lancaster denied under oath that he had ever signed the note for $73.25, and further denied that he had promised to sign or pay the note for $61.50 signed by J. A’ Lancaster. He pleaded in reconvention that the writ of attachment was wrongfully sued out, that the affidavit was false, and the levy upon his stock of goods unlawful. He claimed damages for the value of the stock of goods and for the loss of time by reason of his business being destroyed. H. C. and C. E. Lancaster appeared as interveners and adopted his cross-bill as their answer and joined in the prayer for damages. The proof showed that the note for $73.25 bore the signature of both J. A. and A. B. Lancaster. There was testimony tending to show that A. B. Lancaster had promised as a consideration for the loan of the money evidenced by the note that he would pay it, and that the bank looked to him as the principal obligor. In response to a general charge the jury found against J. A. Lancaster and Cox for the amount sued for, and against A. B. Lancaster on the note for $73.25 together with the principal interest and attorney’s fees which had accumulated. They failed to find any damages for the defendants on their plea in reconvention. A. B. Lancaster and the interveners have appealed.
In submitting the issues presented in the plea in reeonvention the court gave the following:
“(5) You are instructed that unless you find that A. B. Lancaster signed the $73.25 note; *582 or unless you find that he induced and procured the Corsicana National Bank to lend J. A. Lancaster the money represented by the $61.50 note, and agreed to sign same with J. A. Lancaster; or unless you find that A. B. Lancaster, J. A. Lancaster, and M. A. Oox entered into a conspiracy to induce the Cor-sicana National Bank to lend money on worthless security and collateral, and that the Cor-sicana National Bank relied upon such representations and made the loan to J. A. Lancaster as a result thereof — then in such event, if you so find that A. B. Lancaster did no one of these things, you are instructed that the writ of attachment was illegal and wrongfully sued out.
“(6) You are instructed that if you find that A. B. Lancaster did sign the $73.25 note, or if you find that he did induce and procure Corsi-cana National Bank to lend to J. A. Lancaster money on the '$61.50 note and agreed to sign same, or if you find that he did enter into a conspiracy with J. A. Lancaster and M. A. Cox to induce Corsicana National Bank to lend money to J. A. Lancaster on worthless security and collateral, and that Corsicana National Bank, relying upon such representations made by A. B. Lancaster, did lend money to J. A. Lancaster, in either such event you will determine and state in your verdict whether the statement made by E. N. Johnson in the affidavit for attachment as the grounds for the issuance thereof was true or untrue on March 27, 1917.”
Paragraph 6 is assailed, not because of any affirmative defect, but because not more comprehensive in submitting the issues presented by the appellants’ plea in reconvention. The objections presented in the group of assignments raising those questions are untenable.
The judgment will therefore be affirmed.
<§u»Eor other oases see same topic and KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes
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Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.