Jackson v. Elliott
Jackson v. Elliott
Opinion of the Court
That such a judgment proforma against Jackson, the maker of the notes, notwithstanding his bankruptcy, to be satisfied only by sale of the land under the vendor’s lien, which land was sold by Jackson to Chadwick with said lien not discharged, can be' rendered, was decided by this court in the case of Elliott v. Booth, 44 Tex., 180.
Chadwick was ‘chargeable with notice of the lien at the time he purchased the land from Jackson, because the deed from Daniels to Jackson, under and through which he derived his title to the land, exhibited the fact that the notes sued on in this case were given by Jackson to Daniels in the purchase of the land, and constituted the consideration therefor; and of that fact he must be held to have had notice which, if followed up, would have given him full notice of the lien. This was held in the case of Peters v. Clements, 46 Tex., 123. The^decree of partition between Jackson and Cochrane, the grantee of the land, recorded in Washington county, was not
The defense that Elliott was not the owner of the notes, but that they belonged to Harris, the assignee of Daniels in bankruptcy, cannot avail Chadwick, because the notes were payable to bearer, and the assignee did not intervene in this suit; nor' was he, in any way, made a party to claim any right in the notes; and it was not shown that they were returned to and made a part of Daniels’ estate in bankruptcy. The assignee was not in duty bound to appear in this suit, unless he thought it would benefit the estate which he represented. (McHenry v. La Société Francaise, Sup. Ct. U. S., 5 Otto, 58.)
The plea of res judicata was not sustained by the evidence.
The record of a former suit in Austin county, which was introduced in evidence to sustain this plea, shows that the suit was dismissed as against Jackson upon his plea of bankruptcy coming in, and as to Chadwick, at the next term, without prejudice. This does not establish, either that the matter in controversy was determined by the court so as to conclude the plaintiff, or that he had conclusively surrendered his right of action in the claim sued for. (Haldeman v. The United States, 1 Otto, 584.)
There being no error in the judgment, it is affirmed.
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jackson & Chadwick v. B. F. Elliott
- Cited By
- 5 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Jurisdiction—Bankruptcy.—The Slate courts have jurisdiction, after a bankrupt’s discharge, to enforce a vendor’s lien upon land sold by the bankrupt before the proceedings in bankruptcy began, and against a purchaser with notice. 2. Lien.—Subsequent purchasers are bound by the recitals in the deeds through which they claim ; and when a deed in a title discloses the existence of purchase-money notes, the subsequent purchasers will be charged with notice of their non-payment. 3. Approved.—Elliott v. Boothe, 44 Tex., 180; Peters v. Clements, 46 Tex., 143: approved. 4. Notice—Lien.—When a vendor reserves in his deed a lien for unpaid purchase-money, the lien is preserved as against a subsequent purchaser, who is charged with notice of the lien, and this without regard to the registry of the deed. 5. D sold to J a tract of land, which J afterwards sold to C. In J’s deed, the existence of unpaid purchase-money notes, payable to bearer, was disclosed. Afterwards, in 1866, D began suit against J and C, to recover on the notes and foreclose the lien. During the pendency of this suit, in 1868, J was adjudged a bankrupt, and received his discharge in July, 1869. In December, 1869, the bankruptcy of D was suggested, and a new party (E) was permitted to make himself a party plaintiff in 1871, who claimed the ownership of the notes prior to D’s bankruptcy, and that they were not scheduled in D’s assets. The assignee of D was afterwards made a • party plaintiff. The suit was dismissed as to J on his pica of bankruptcy, and afterwards, in 1872, dismissed entirely, “without prejudice,” at plaintiff’s costs. In November, 1873, another suit was brought on'the notes by E, against J and C, and to subject the land to their payment: Held— 1. The defense that the notes did not belong to E, but to D’s assignee .in bankruptcy, cannot avail C, they being payable to. bearer, and they not being shown to have been returned as assets of D, and the assignee not being a party to the suit. 2. The defense of res judicata cannot avail, the former suit having been dismissed as to J on his plea of bankruptcy, and as to C “without prejudice.” v