Cameron v. Tompkins

30 Abb. N. Cas. 434, 25 N.Y.S. 305, 72 Hun 113, 79 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 113, 55 N.Y. St. Rep. 537
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 15, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 30 Abb. N. Cas. 434 (Cameron v. Tompkins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cameron v. Tompkins, 30 Abb. N. Cas. 434, 25 N.Y.S. 305, 72 Hun 113, 79 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 113, 55 N.Y. St. Rep. 537 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1893).

Opinion

FOLLETT, J.

At the close of the trial the plaintiff asked the court to direct a verdict in his favor and the defendant moved that a verdict be directed in his favor. The court granted the plaintiff’s motion and the defendant excepted, and thereupon the defendant’s exceptions [438]*438were ordered to be heard at the General Term in the first instance.

This action was brought on a promissory note, of which the following is a copy:

$5,027.50 New York, March 14,1890.

Fifteen days (without grace) after date I promise to pay to the order of Sir Roderick W. Cameron .... Five thousand and twenty-seven ^ dollars at Hanover National Bank, New York. Value received.

C. H. Tompkins.

Due March 29, 1890.

The defendant admitted the making, delivery and nonpayment of the note, and alleged that it was given in consideration of an oral agreement between the litigants, that the defendant would on March 29, 1890 (the date when the note fell due), purchase of the- plaintiff certain shares of stock on delivery of the certificates properly signed, which, it is alleged, the plaintiff did not do, and that the oral agreement was void under the Statute of Frauds, and the note was without consideration. This note arises out of the following transaction : The defendant was the owner of shares, or was engaged in procuring subscriptions for unissued shares of the Idaho Mining & Irrigation Company, a domestic corporation, and on November 18, 1889, the plaintiff acquired from or through the defendant 784 shares of the stock for $5,000, and on the same day a certificate for 484 shares was issued to R. W. Cameron & Company, and another certificate for 300 shares to R. McLeod Cameron, the plaintiff’s son. The agreed price of the shares was paid on or about the date of the certificates. In January, 1890, the defendant orally agreed that he would at some future date take back the shares and repay the purchase price.

On January 24, 1890, the plaintiff wrote the defendant as follows:

[439]*439“ R. W. Cameron & Co.,
23 South William Street,
“ New York, January 24, 1890.
“ General C. W. Tompkins :
DEAR General :—Agreeably with your considerate promise to relieve me of my subscription to the Idaho Irrigation Co., I ask you to make an entry of it in your Journal and kindly write me a reply, naming a date on which you will repay me the amount. I do not seek any interest on the amount paid, but if you will include my son’s subscription also it would be a favor.
“Your proposition was 30 days from the 7th instant, but if you prefer to extend the time you can make it from this date. I am,
“ Faithfully yours,
“ R. W. Cameron.”

The defendant received the letter and endorsed thereon “ Replied Jan. 30, 1890, agreeing to take stock by Feb’y. 24.” The following is a copy of the defendant’s answer :

“No 15 Cortlandt Street,
“ New York, Jan’y. 30, 1890.
“ Dear Sir Roderick :—I beg to acknowledge your favor of 24th inst., and in reply to state that I will undertake to accede to your request to relieve you and your son of your subscriptions to the stock of the Idaho Mining & Irrigation Co. on or before Feby. 24th, 1890.
“ Very truly yours,
“ C. H. Tompkins.
“ Sir Roderick Cameron.”

The shares were not taken back on February 24, 1890, and other conversations were had on the subject between that date and March 14, 1890, when the parties met and the note in suit was executed and delivered. The certificates for the shares were not present when the note was executed, and have never been delivered to the defendant, [440]*440although they were tendered at the Hanover Bank on the date the note fell due and payment was demanded. The principal question presented on this appeal is, was there a sufficient memorandum in writing to save the contract from the condemnation of the third section of the Statute of Frauds, which provides :

“ § 3. Every contract for the sale of any goods, chattels, or things in action, for the price of fifty dollars or more, shall be void, unless,
“ 1. A note or memorandum of such contract be made in writing, and be subscribed by the parties to be charged thereby: or,
“ 2. Unless the buyer shall accept and receive part of such goods, or the evidence, or some of them, of such things in action : or,
“ 3. Unless the buyer shall at the time pay some part of the purchase money.’’

A contract to sell shares of stock in a private corporation is within the third section of the Statute of Frauds of the State of New York (Johnson v. Mulry, 4 Robt. 401 ; Affd. 51 N. Y. 634; Baltzen v. Nicolay, 53 Id. 467, 470; Brownson v. Chapman, 63 Id. 625 ; Dos Passos S. & S. 765 Cook S. & S. 339; Reed St. Fr. 234).

The defendant did not accept the certificates for all or any of the shares, nor were they or any of them assigned to him at the date of the agreement to sell, nor at any time thereafter; nor were they or any of them transferred to him on the books of the corporation and no part of the purchase money was paid by him. The contract is not valid under the second or third subdivision of the section, and the defendant cannot be held liable to pay for the shares unless there is a sufficient note or memorandum in writing to satisfy the requirements of the first subdivision. The only memoranda relating to the sale which were introduced in evidence are the letters before quoted and the note on whi.ch the action was brought. The letters referred to each other and may be read together, but it [441]*441will be observed that the price at which the shares were sold is not stated in either letter. The promissory note is not referred to in the letters, and there is nothing in them or in the note showing that the sum for which the note was given represents the price of the shares; or, indeed, that the note arose out of the transaction. The only way in which we are informed that the note was given for the agreed price of the shares is by the testimony given on the trial. It was not competent for the plaintiff to show by oral evidence that the note was given for the purchase price of the shares, and though that fact was proved without objection, and also by the defendant, it did not validate the contract, and the defendant having pleaded that the contract out of which the note arose was void by the Statute of Frauds, he is in a position to take advantage of the fact. In order to satisfy the requirements of the third section of the Statute of Frauds, all of the material provisions of the contract must be contained in some note or memorandum, and in case any material provision is omitted from the writing or writings, its terms or the nature of the provision cannot be established by testimony (Wright v. Weeks, 25 N. Y. 153, 159; Stone v. Browning, 68 Id. 598 ; Drake v. Seaman, 97 Id.

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Bluebook (online)
30 Abb. N. Cas. 434, 25 N.Y.S. 305, 72 Hun 113, 79 N.Y. Sup. Ct. 113, 55 N.Y. St. Rep. 537, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cameron-v-tompkins-nysupct-1893.