Citizens' Street Railway Co. v. Robbins

12 L.R.A. 498, 26 N.E. 116, 128 Ind. 449, 1891 Ind. LEXIS 353
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 6, 1891
DocketNo. 13,872
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 12 L.R.A. 498 (Citizens' Street Railway Co. v. Robbins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Citizens' Street Railway Co. v. Robbins, 12 L.R.A. 498, 26 N.E. 116, 128 Ind. 449, 1891 Ind. LEXIS 353 (Ind. 1891).

Opinion

Coffey, J.

The amended complaint in this cause consists of two paragraphs. The first alleges, substantially, among other things, that Henry H. Cathei’wood, deceased, at the time of his death was the owner of three hundred and eight shares, of the par value of one hundred dollars each, of the capital stock of the Citizens’ Street Railway Company ; that he died intestate on the 31st day of August, 1872, leaving as his only surviving heirs at law Lucy D. Cather-wood, his widow, since married to one Phelps, and two infant children, namely: Ellen B. and John C. Catherwood ; [451]*451that said Lucy I). Catherwood was duly appointed and qualified as the administratrix of the estate of the said Henry H. Catherwood, deceased, and on the 12th day of July, 1873, upon petition to the circuit court of Marion county, procured the following order from said court, namely :

Comes now Lucy D. Catherwood, administratrix of Henry H. Catherwood’s estate, and files her petition praying that she be allowed to dispose of 308 shares of the stock of the Citizens’ Street Railway Company of Indianapolis, of the par value of $100 per share; and which has been appraised at the value of 15 cents on the dollar, and to sell the same at private sale for the appraised value thereof; and now the court having heard said petition, and being fully advised in the premises, and satisfied that the interests of said estate will be best served by selling the same at private sale, the said administratrix is, therefore, ordered and empowered to sell the said stock at private sale for the appraised value thereof, taking good and sufficient security for the payment of the purchase-money; and said administratrix is further ordered to make a return of her proceedings within 90 days from this date.”

That the administratrix made no sale of said stock whatever pursuant to the terms of said order, and made no sale of said stock in compliance with the terms of the statutes of the State of Indiana regulating the sale of personal property of a decedent’s estate at private sale, nor did she make any sale of said stock at public sale; that she, without any authority so to do, assigned and delivered to one John Car-lisle said certificates of stock without receiving any pay therefor and without taking any security of any sort for the purchase-money therefor, taking merely as evidence of said attempted sale, and of the supposed indebtedness therefor, the promissory note of Carlisle for $6,160 due ten years from date, no part of which note has ever been paid; that no return of said attempted sale to Carlisle, nor of any sale of said stock, nor of the proceedings of the administratrix in [452]*452reference thereto, was ever made to the court, and no entry in relation thereto was ever made; that after the attempted sale to Carlisle, the administratrix made out, under oath, a return of said sale to the effect that she had sold said stock to John Carlisle for the sum of $6,160 for cash, but the same was never filed or approved by the court; that long after the attempted transfer of said stock to Carlisle, the street-railway company, upon his request, wrongfully issued certificates for said stock to him, and, that he, about the year 1875, sold and assigned the same to appellant Tom L. Johnson, who bought the same with knowledge that they were issued in lieu of the certificates formerly held by Henry H. Catherwood, deceased, and that said stock had belonged to his estate, and with knowledge of the order for the sale of the same above set out, and with knowledge that no return of said sale had been made and confirmed by the court; that at the time he so purchased said stock he was a stockholder and director in said street railway company; that said street railway company has declared dividends in a large sum, which have been paid to the said Carlisle and the said Tom L. Johnson, and that before the commencement of this suit the appellee demanded said stock of the appellants, and each of them, which they each refused to surrender.

The second paragraph of the amended complaint does not differ materially from the first, except in that it alleges that on the 16th day of July, 1873, the Citizens’ Street Railway Company, upon the request of Carlisle, having knowledge of the fact that said stock belonged to the estate of Henry H. Catherwood, and having knowledge of the pending administration of said estate, and of the order of sale of said stock, and the terms thereof, and having knowledge of the fact that no return of any sale under said order had as yet been made to the court, wrongfully issued certificates of stock to Carlisle, who sold and assigned the same to Johnson.

To this complaint the appellant the Citizens’ Street Railway Company filed an answer consisting of three paragraphs.

[453]*453The third paragraph avers,.substantially, that, on the 16th day of July, 1873, Lucy D. Catherwood, as the administratrix of the estate of Henry H. Catherwood, obtained the order set out in the complaint, authorizing her to sell the 308 shares of the capital stock of the Citizens’ Street Railway Company named in the complaint that said stock was represented by certificates numbered 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 and 101 for fifty shares each issued to H. H. Catherwood, November 18th, 1867, certificates numbered 33, 35 and 36 for one share each, issued to E. B. Martindale, February 13th, 1865, and endorsed in blank by Martindale, and certificate numbered 37, for five shares, issued to R. B. Catherwood, February 13th, 1865, which was endorsed in blank by said Catherwood; that said Lucy D. Catherwood, as authorized and empowered as such administratrix to sell said stock a,t private sale, made the following endorsement upon each of said certificates numbered 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 and 101:

I hereby transfer all my interest in the within stock to John Carlisle. July 16th, 1873.
“ Lucy D. Catherwood.”
For value received I assign and transfer to John Carlisle three hundred shares of the capital stock of the Citizens’ Street Railway Company, this July 16th, 1873.
“ Lucy Catherwood,
“Adm’x of H. H. Catherwood.”

And upon certificates numbered 33, 35 and 36 she made the following endorsement:

“1 hereby transfer all my interest in the within stock to John Carlisle, July 16th, 1873.
“ Lucy D. Catherwood.”
“ For value received I assign and transfer to John Carlisle three shares of the capital stock of the Citizens’ Street Railway Company, this 16th day of July, 1873. •
“ E. B. Martindale,
“ By Lucy D. Catherwood, Att’y in fact.”

And a similar endorsement on certificate numbered 37, and [454]*454delivered the said certificates to John Carlisle, to be brought by him to the office of said company, and to have the same transferred to him as the owner thereof on the books of said company; that said Carlisle brought said stock to the office of the company, and requested that the same be.

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Bluebook (online)
12 L.R.A. 498, 26 N.E. 116, 128 Ind. 449, 1891 Ind. LEXIS 353, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/citizens-street-railway-co-v-robbins-ind-1891.