Mead v. Jones
Mead v. Jones
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
Bouldin, J. This is an appeal from a decree of the Circuit court of Bedford county, rendered on the 5th day of October 1868, in two suits in said court pending, and presents for our consideration questions growing out of the various and multiform transactions in Confederate States treasury notes during the late war.
The first of the two suits was a proceeding in chancery by H. C. Dickinson, trustee, to subject to sale certain property conveyed by the grantor, Quarles, to secure the paymeat of debts as therein mentioned; and on the 4th day of May 1860 a decree was entered ordering the sale of the property and appointing the appellee, H. C. Dickinson, a special commissioner to make it, on terms set forth in the decree. On the 4th of August thereafter the sale of the tract of land, which is the main subject of controversy, was made by the commissioner, and the appellant, Mead, became the purchaser. He promptly complied with the terms of sale, paying in cash the sum of $2,665.58J, being one-fourth of the purchase money; and for the residue executed his three bonds with security, payable in one, two and three years
“It being represented to the court that Oliver O. Mead, the purchaser of the tract of land in the bill mentioned, is ready to make payment of his first bond for the purchase money, and the commissioner appointed to collect the same now being in the army of the Confederate States, payment thereof cannot be made to him, the court doth adjudge, order and decree, that the said Oliver G. Mead do deposit in the Bedford Savings Bank at Liberty the principal and interest of said bond to the credit of this suit, and take a certificate of deposit therefor and file it with the papers in this cause. And the said Oliver G. Mead is at liberty in like manner to deposit in the Bedford Savings Bank at Liberty such other sums of money as he may deem proper, in payment of his second bond, due the 4th day of August*351 1862, taking like certificate of deposit therefor and filing them with the papers in this cause.”
On the third of October eighteen hundred and sixty-two, the day before the date of the above order, as it appears in the record, Mead deposited the amount of the first bond and interest ($3,011.25) in the Bedford Savings Bank, to the credit of the cause, as required by the order; andón 35 th of the same month filed a certificate of the deposit among the papers in the cause. The discrepancy in date is immaterial, and we think may readily be explained by supposing that the order was in fact announced and complied with on the 3d of October, but not formally entered on the order-book until the 4th.
At the date of this order, the intelligent and able judge who entered it, and the learned counsel in the cause, all knew, as matter of public history to be judicially noticed, that the common and almost the only currency in Virginia was Confederate States treasury notes; and Mead had a right to regard himself as authorized and ordered to pay in that curreucy, as he did pay.
Very soon thereafter, to wit: on the 12th of December 1862, Mead deposited in the Bedford Savings Bank, to the credit of the cause under the same order, the further sum of $3,041.13, amount of second bond and interest, and filed a certificate therefor among the papers in the cause. The clerk certifies that the certificate was filed on the “9th,” of December; but this is evidently a mistake for “19th,” as the deposit was not made until the twelfth. Both deposits were made in •Confederate States treasury notes, the certificate for the latter showing that fact on its face; and the certificates remained thereafter on file with the papers in the cause.
The last bond for the purchase money of the land fell due August 4th, 1863, and Commissioner Dickinson hap
The bond fell due, as we have seen, on the 4th of August 1863 — not on the 6th, as inadvertently stated in the commissioner’s report; and on the 7th of the same month, as we have seeu, he collected the amount due, principal and interest, $3,145.81, and deposited it in bank as aforesaid. On the same day he made report of this collection and deposit, and filed his report among the-papers of the cause. There is no memorandum of the' clerk of the time of filing; but Dickinson swears, in his-answer, that it was immediately filed, and, from his-prompt and conscientious action throughout the cause, we have no doubt that such was the fact. This report states “ that all the purchase money of said land is now paid, the amount of two bonds having been deposited in. bank during last year under a special order.”
The next time we hear from Commissioner Dickinson-was on the 19th of March 1864, when he appears to have-been again at home. On that day he presented to JudgeWingfield a petition, giving the previous history of the case somewhat in detail, setting forth the sale above referred to, the purchase by Mead, the confirmation of the-sale, and the order to the petitioner-to withdraw and. and collect the bonds, the absence of the petitioner in the army, and tbe payment by Mead into bank of the-amount of the two first bonds in Confederate States treasury notes, under an order of the court in the cause,
The petitioner further states, that since that time he had, as commissioner, collected from another source, A. M. Lowry, the further sum of $1,096.66, Confederate States treasury notes, and had made a like deposit thereof. These deposits were made under the impression that it was so ordered by the court; as to which he had discovered he was mistaken; misled, doubtless, by the order requiring Mead, the purchaser, to make deposits in that bank.
The petitioner calls the attention of the court to the fact that the fund does not bear interest, the bank being unwilling to pay it; that the respective interests of the parties in the fund had not been ascertained; and prays that the commissioner be allowed, “ by an order of this court,” to withdraw the fund from bank, and invest it “ in Confederate four per cent bonds, or in such other manner as the court may direct.” This was presented to the Judge, -we presume, in vacation, but evidently was, and was intended to be, a petition and report in the cause, as it was only by a decree or order in' the cause that the funds to the credit of the court in that cause could be withdrawn and otherwise invested. The judge, however, seemed to treat it as an exparte application, under the then recent act of assembly, and made thereon the following endorsement: “ I do not think this case comes within the purview of the act of assembly authorizing the investment of funds by fiduciaries. The petition, is, therefore, denied.”
“ March 18, 1864. G. A. Wingfielf.
The petition was on the same day filed by the commissioner with the papers in the cause, and we think
In this state of things the Circuit court, with the facts set forth in the petition aforesaid, recently and clearly presented to the mind of the judge, and with the reports and papers showing those facts all on file in the cause, entered on the 28th day of April 1864, the following decree, all parties being then before the court, viz:
“Thomas H. Nelson and Tandy K. Jones, two of the ■defendants, having departed this life,” (being, we would remark, the first suggestion of their death), “ by consent this cause is revived in the name of William L. Cog-gin, administrator of Thomas H. Nelson, deceased, and Isabella Jones, administratrix of Tandy K. Jones, deceased; and thereupon, this day this cause came on again to be heard on the papers formerly read, and the report of Henry C. Dickinson, the commissioner, to*355 collect the purchase money for the tract of land in the bill and proceedings mentioned; to which report there is no exception, and was argued by counsel. Upon consideration whereof the court, approving said report, doth confirm it. And it appearing by said report, that all the purchase money for the said tract of land purchased by Oliver G. Mead, has been paid, the court doth adjudge, order and decree, that Rowland D. Buford, who is hereby appointed a commissioner for that purpose, do convey to Oliver G. Mead, the purchaser, by proper deed for that purpose, with special warranty, at the costs of said Mead, the said tract of land containing four hundred and seven acres, two roods and thirty-eight poles, describing the same by metes and boundaries as set forth in the paper filed with the complainants’ bill, as Exhibit A.” And the court further ordered certain accounts preliminary to the distribution of the fund.
How, it will be observed, that when this decree was entered, finally disposing of all questions as to the sale of the land to Mead, the collection of the purchase money, and the conveyance of the land to the purchaser, all the parties were before the court, and the attention of the personal representatives of T. H. Edison and T. TT- Jones, or their counsel, must have been directly drawn to the terms and character of the decree, for their consent was required to mature the cause for a hearing; and we are justified in saying that they must have understood it. One of those representatives, Mr. William L. Goggin, was himself an experienced lawyer and a gentleman of State reputation; and we must presume that he and the other, parties to the cause knew what they were doing when they consented, with full knowledge of the facts, that the cause should be matured; and when, without exception to any thing that had been
They sought to set aside that decree, to obtain from Mead a second payment of the money paid by him on his bonds, and to hold Dickinson responsible for any
1st. That Confederate States treasury notes were not money, and constituted no payment.
2d. That the order of the 4th of October 1862, authorizing Mead to pay the amount of his two first bonds in bank to the ci'edit of the cause, was made after the death of Thomas H. Nelson and Tandy K. Jones, and before their representatives were before the court, and was ex parte and void.
3d. That the report of Commissioner Dickinson, of the 7th of August 1863, in which he reports that the purchase money for the land had all been paid, a portion to himself and the residue by deposit in bank by Mead, the purchaser, was calculated to mislead the court; because it did not state in totidem verbis, that the entire collection of the three bonds was made in Confederate States treasury notes.
These were the grounds mainly relied on to impeach the decree of April 28th, 1864; and all that was offered to sustain them was what appeared on the record in the first suit, as above set forth. There was no charge nor any attempt to prove, fraud or bad faith on the part of either Mead or Dickinson. On the contrary, in speaking of the latter, they say in the bill “ they believe him incapable thereof;” yet, in the absence of any such allegation or proof, and in the face of the advice and approval of the court itself, as above set forth, the Circuit court, by the decree of the 5th day of October, 1868, entered in the two causes heard together, set aside and annulled as ex parte and void, the order of the 4th day of October 1862, authorizing Mead to pay into bank to the credit of the cause, the amount of his two first bonds: set aside the decree of the 28th of April 1864,
By the same decree Commissioner Dickinson was held responsible for, and decreed to pay the gold value of all Confederate States treasury notes received by him. From this decree Mead appealed to this court; and Dickinson has assigned errors also, under the rule of the court.
Ve have been more minute in stating the proceedings in these causes than might be necessary, because the rights of the parties depend on a correct understanding of those proceedings; and because we think a fair presentation of the facts is all that is necessary to bring the case directly within the influence of the principles established by this court in the cases of Davis v. Harman, 21 Gratt., 194; Dixon, &c.,v. Mc Cue's administratrix, Id. 373, and Walker's ex'or v. Page & als., Id. 636; and other cases which have followed them. Both purchaser and commissioner in these cases seem to have acted throughout, with abundant good faith — uberima fide— and all their acts in relation to the subject of controversy
We cannot regard the reasons thus suggested by the learned judge of the Circuit court, as sufficient grounds to set aside a decree so deliberately made and so long acquiesced in. Whatever doubts and perplexities as to the character of Confederate States treasury notes and the validity of proper payments therein, may have attended the administration of justice at an early period after the close of the late war with the United States, there cannot, at this day, be a doubt that they constituted a valid consideration; and that transactions therein closed in good faith during the war by parties understanding them and competent to contract, will not be reopened by this court, because they were based on Confederate States treasury notes. Hale v. Wilkinson, 21
Nor do we think there is any force in the suggestion in the decree, that Commissioner Dickinson had reported “that all the purchase money had been paid, when in fact nothing but Confederate States treasury notes had been paid.” That statement of the commissioner, we are well satisfied, misled no one; and we are bound to hold, from the facts appearing on this record, that the Circuit court knew, both judicially and in fact, and that all the parties knew, by counsel, when the decree of April 28th, 1864 was entered, confirming Commissioner Dickinson’s report of collections, and ordering a conveyance to Mead, that every dollar of Mead’s three bonds had been paid in Confederate States treasury notes. We say, judicially, because, when the court, by its order of October 4th, 1862, allowed and ordered Mead to pay the amount of his two first bonds into the Bedford Savings Bank, it knew judicially that Confederate States treasury notes constituted not only the general, but almost the only, currency in Virginia; and the plain and irresistible presumption was, that the payments were intended to be made, and would be made, in that currency; because, in obedience to the order of the court, the certificates of payment into bank were promptly filed by Mead among the papers in the cause; and there remained more than a year before the decree of confirmation, one of them showing on its face that it was payable in Confederate States treasury notes; and the court was bound to know judicially, what thus appeared by papers regularly filed, in the cause under its own order; and because the last
Nor do we think there is more in the objection that at the date of the order of the 4th of October 1862, allowing Mead to pay the amount of his two first bonds into bank, Thomas H. Nelson and Tandy K. Jones were dead, and had no personal representatives before the court. The fact is not established in the cause. The ■death of those parties was not suggested until the 28th of April 1864, and there is no proof in the cause of the date of their respective deaths; and this court will make no presumption to operate an injustice, unless compelled so to do by some inflexible rule of law. But if the fact were as alleged, we are not prepared to say that the death
These objections aside, the case as to Mead, the purchaser, stands upon the facts above detailed: payment by him of one-fourth his purchase money in cash, and of the residue in the currency of the country at the time; the payments .ordered, approved and confirmed by the court; approved by the parties interested and acquiesced in for years; a deed made to the purchaser; the fund held for years exclusively under the control of the court for the benefit of creditors, and allowed by them to perish ultimately with no shadow of fault on the part of the purchaser. To make him under such circumstances, pay his money a second time, when it is impossible to restore him what he paid, we think would be manifestly unjust; and in conflict with the principles-established by this court in the cases we have cited. The language of Judge Staples in Dixon, &c., v. Mc Cue’s administratrix, &c., speaking for the whole court at p. 381, although applied in that case to the commissioner, would have been equally applicable to the purchaser, had the exigencies of the case, as here, called for its appli
We are of opinion, therefore, that the Circuit court erred, to the prejudice of the appellant, Mead, in setting aside the order of the 4th of October 1862, and the decree of the 28th of April 1864, in the first cause, and in decreeing that he should pay the sum of $11,485.96, with interest on the principal, instead of dismissing the bill as to him, as it should have done.
And now as to the decree against Commissioner Dickinson. What has been held above as to Mead must necessarily lead to a reversal of the decree against Dickinson, so far, at least, as relates to collections from Mead. Eor all his acts in relation to that matter he had the deliberate sanction and approval of the court whose officer he was; the tacit approval and long acquiescence of all
The decree as to the appellant, Mead, must be reversed with costs in this court against all the appellees except Dickinson and Lowry; and as to the said appellees, Dickinson and Lowry, the decree must be corrected, as above indicated, and affirmed.
The decree was as follows:
This day came again the parties by counsel, and the court having maturely considered the transcript of the record and the arguments of counsel, is of opinion, for reasons stated in writing and filed with the record, that the Circuit court erred: 1st, insetting aside the order of the 4th day of October 1862 and the decree of the 28th day of April 1864, entered in the first of these causes, and in annulling the deed to the appellant Mead, and requiring him to file his bonds again in the cause, and ordering him to pay again the amount thereof, instead of dismissing the bill as to him; 2d. In holding the appellee, Dickinson, responsible for the gold value of the Confederate States treasury notes collected by him as commissioner of the court, and deposited in the Bed-ford Savings Bank to the credit of the first of these causes; 3d. In holding Lowry responsible, under the circumstances of the case, for that portion of the purchase money of the land purchased by him, which was paid by him to Commissioner Dickinson in Confederate States treasury notes and deposited by the latter in bank to the credit of the cause. That amount should, under all the circumstances of the case, have been credited to his purchase at fair value. It is therefore decreed and
And as to the residue of said decree of the 5th of October 1868, it is further decreed and ordered that the same be corrected and amended as to Dickinson, by crediting the amount of $918.86, decreed against him, by the sum of $512.05, as of the 1st of June 1868, being the aggregate of the values erroneously charged to Dickinson at that date for collections from Mead and Lowry; so as to leave a balance due from Dickinson, as of that date, of only $406.81, with interest from June
Decree reversed.
Reference
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- Mead v. Jones & als.
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