Bryant v. Kelton

1 Tex. 415
Texas Supreme Court·Decided December 15, 1846·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

Lipscomb, J.

We will confine ourselves to the points made by the appellant in the argument. It appears that for the purpose of showing that Robert Kelton exercised acts of ownership over the property, after the sale, the register of the assessor of Texas, for the county of Montgomery, with the evidence of the collector that it was the one handed to him by the assessor, was offered in evidence by the plaintiff and rejected by the court. We do not think the court below erred in doing so. By the second section of the act of congress of 1837 (1 Laws Texas, 259), the assessor is required to take an inventory of all the taxable property in his district or county, and to make out duplicate registers of such property, one of which he is required to transmit to the treasury department, and the other to give to the collector. These registers are required to be made out from the original inventories which the assessor shall preserve in all cases as reference. There is no law giving the register offered the dignity of testimony; it was nothing more than a copy made out from the inventory. If the assessor had been introduced with the original inventories, and proved them, it would certainly have been better evidence than the register. The plaintiff’s counsel asked the judge to charge the jury, that if Robert Kelton remained in possession of the negroes and land, after such sale until his death, it was fraud per se against creditors; which charge was refused, and the refusal excepted to, and this we are called on to revise.

It is not improbable that questions of fraudulent sales to defeat creditors may have arisen at a very early date, as it is stated in Shepherd’s Touchstone, as a rule of law, if a debtor secretly make a general deed of his goods to one of his creditors, and continue in the use and occupation of the goods as his own, the deed is fraudulent and void against a subsequent judgment creditor, notwithstanding the deed was on good consideration ”• — p. 66. This rule seems to be so well founded in wisdom and sound morality, that it would hardly be questioned. By remaining in possession after such secret sale, and using the property as his own, he gains a credit and deludes honest men, who on the faith of such false colors credit him. It is, how[(299)]*(299)ever, to the decisions under the statute of the 13th Elizabeth we must look, as that statute, so far as the point under consideration is concerned, is not materially different from our own.

The first case under the statute, and the one that has always been considered the leading one, and as the one laying down the true rales that should govern on the question of fraudulent sales, is Twyne’s case, reported in 3 Coke, 80. It was on information filed by Sir Edward Coke, the attorney general, in the star chamber. “ One Pierce was indebted to Twyne £400, and was indebted to C. £200; O. brought an action of debt against Pierce, and pending the writ, Pierce, being possessed of goods and chattels to the value of three hundred pounds, in secret made a general deed of gift of all his goods and chattels, real and personal whatever, to Twyne on satisfaction of his debt. Notwithstanding, Pierce continued in possession of the goods, and some of them he sold and shore the sheep and marked them with his own mark; and afterwards C. had judgment against Pierce, and had a fieri facias directed to the sheriff of Southampton, who, by force of the said writ, came to make execution of the said goods; but diverse persons, by command of the said Twyne, did with force resist the said sheriff claiming them to be the goods of the said Twyne by force of the said gift, and openly declared by command of the said Twyne that it was a good gift and made on a good and lawful consideration ; and whether this gift on the whole was fraudulent and of no effect by the said acts or not was the question. It was ruled that, 1. This case has the signs and marks of fraud because the gift is general, without exception of his apparel or anything of necessity. 2. The donor continued in possession and used them as his own, and by reason thereof he traded and trafficked with others and defrauded and deceived them. 3. It was made in secret. 4. It was made pending the writ. 5. Here was a trust between the parties, for the donor possessed all and used them as his proper goods; and fraud is always appareled and clad with a trust and trust is the cover of fraud. 6. The deed contains the statement that the gift was made honestly, truly and l>ona fide.” It was ruled that notwithstanding here was a true debt due to Twyne and a good consideration for the gift, yet it was not within the proviso of the said act. This proviso is that it is not to extend to any estate in land, etc., lawfully conveyed, the purchaser not having notice of such fraud, covin, etc. (similar to our own). Twyne was convicted of fraud and he and four others of a riot.

The rules laid down in this case are acknowledged to be sound and have never been questioned, and in all the conflict of decisions that [(300)]*(300)has since arisen, they all profess to be in conformity to them; we have, therefore, thought it proper to give the case as it is found reported.

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