Ackerman v. King
Ackerman v. King
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiffs in error replevied the steamboat Fort Henry on the 24th day of November, 1855, and gave bond to King, conditioned to save him harmless from all loss, damages, debt, and expenses that might thereafter be incurred for or on account of the interest of King in the boat. Upon the libel and complaint of Jacob Porter, made in the federal court at Galveston, the boat was seized, under admiralty process of attachment, and, on the 11th March, 1856, was condemned to he sold, in satisfaction of the claims of Porter and other intervenors, amounting to $4,391 21, costs included. The auditor reports, that it did not appear that more than $581 14 of this amount was for liabilities incurred before the date of the replevy of the boat. She was sold on the 15th March, 1856, by the United States marshal, at public auction, and purchased by the defendants below, Ackerman & Baldridge, for $6,000, which was applied to the payment of the debts; and the residue was paid over to the defendants below, including that part belonging to the plaintiff", King. This seizure, condemnation, and sale were set up by the defendants below in this case, and they contended that the plaintiff, King, was bound by the amount for which the vessel was sold in estimating the amount due him. This view of the case the court refused to give the jury, but instructed them that the rights of the parties were to he determined as they stood at the date of the replevy, in November, 1855, and
It is urged, that the verdict is excessive, and unsupported by evidence.
It was shown that the boat cost $13,000, and at the date of the replevy, and a few months after the purchase, had undergone no material injury; that King was interested in the boat $3,463 63-| of that amount, paid by him, and that the boat was indebted to him for wages and advances $897; and, upon calculation, it will appear that, after deducting from the costs of the boat all the debts due the defendant and other persons, the amount of King’s share in the residue, when added to what is due him of the $897 debt, he should have a verdict for at least as much as was found by the jury; and in this estimate the defendants
There being no error apparent for which the judgment will be reversed, it is
Aeeirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Verplank Ackerman v. John H. King
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Where a part owner of a steamboat brought suit against the other part owners, setting forth his interest, and alleging that the defendants were so managing it that it would result in ruinous loss, and prayed for an injunction, unless the defendants should indemnify him, and to prevent the injunction the defendants executed to the plaintiff a bond, in which they stipulated to save the plaintiff harmless from all loss, damage, debt, and expense incurred for or on account of the said plaintiff in the steamer, the bond becomes the contract for settlement, and the plaintiff is not liable for subsequent, but only for his pro rata of existing, charges at the date of the bond. The fact that the boat was afterwards libeled in an admiralty proceeding, and sold, did not oust the jurisdiction of the State court over the parties, the plaintiff not having propounded his interest in the admiralty court. In such a suit, the measure of the plaintiff's demand is his interest in the boat at its value at the date of the bond of indemnity, subject to the then existing debts.