Smith v. Kent Lumber Co.
Smith v. Kent Lumber Co.
Opinion of the Court
Appellants sought in this action to obtain an accounting of all the affairs of the respondent lumber company from the time of the death of their father and husband, George A. Smith, in October, 1898; alleging that, at the time of his death, George A. Smith was the owner of ten shares of the capital stock of the lumber company,' of the par value of $100 per share; that, at such time, the lumber company was possessed of a valuable milling property and various lands and timber rights of great value; and that,
There was no evidence on the part of the appellants that supported the charge of conspiracy made in the complaint, or the allegations of value of the Kent Lumber Company and its holdings at the time of the death of George A. Smith. On the contrary it is shown that the lumber company, which was practically the Smith family incorporated, was then insolvent, its lands mortgaged and subsequently lost on foreclosure ; the mill itself was burned down. And we can find no evidence that would justify us in finding that, at the time George A. Smith died, the shares of stock then standing in his name were of any value. In fact, it might be said the corporation was abandoned prior to his death. Albert E. Smith, who has at all times been the main business head of the lumber company and director of its activities, had gone to Alaska seeking to retrieve his fortunes, and George A. Smith had virtually left the company, which was then indebted to him in the sum of $1,100; and not being able to obtain any payment for this indebtedness, he, on behalf of the company, executed to himself a note for $600 and took five shares of stock for the remaining $500, and went east on a visit.
When the widow was remarried, it seems to have been agreed that Albert E. Smith should act as guardian for the three children, and he was appointed as such, and thereafter paid to the widow $13.50 a month for the support of the two girls and $15 a month for the support of the boy. These payments aggregated approximately $3,000, and the lower court has found that they more than equaled the value
The son attained his majority in November, 1909, and shortly thereafter he received from his uncle an itemized statement of the moneys paid out in his behalf, with an offer of $300 additional for a transfer of his interest in the five shares. This offer was accepted by the son, after he had made some investigation into the affairs of the lumber company and the value of its stock. When the oldest daughter came of age, she desired to make the same arrangement with her uncle as had been made by her brother, and likewise transferred her interest in the five shares to her uncle for a like sum. The youngest daughter desired to get married before she became of age, and, together with her mother, requested the uncle to make the same payment to her as had been made to her brother and sister, agreeing that she would, when she became of age, make a like transfer of her interest in the five shares. The uncle accepted this offer and paid her at the time $150, and subsequent to her marriage offered to pay the remaining $150, which payment, together with the transfer of the stock, was refused. In April, 1912, a decree was entered in the guardianship proceedings, approving the account of Albert E. Smith as guardian for the three minors and transferring to him the one-third interest in the five shares of stock represented by the interest of the youngest daughter, in full settlement of the moneys paid out by the guardian for her support during her minority.
From these facts, the lower court has concluded that the complaint should be dismissed, with which conclusion we concur. It is plain that the appellants have received more than the full value for the estate left by George A. Smith,
The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.