County of Williamson v. Farson, Leach & Co.

199 Ill. 71
Illinois Supreme Court·Decided October 25, 1902·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Mr. Justice Hand

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an action of assumpsit brought by the plaintiff in error, against the defendants in error, to recover the amount of the interest, at eight per cent per annum, from January 1, 1895, to July 1, 1895, upon thirty-nine railroad bonds, of $1000 each, issued by the plaintiff in error, which it is claimed was paid out of thé funds of the plaintiff in error by the State Treasurer by reason of the failure of the defendants in error to have on deposit with the American Exchange National Bank, in New York City, by February 1,1895, funds with which to pay the principal of said bonds and interest thereon to February 1, 1895, in accordance with their agreement with plaintiff in error for the refunding of said bonds. A jury was waived and the cause was tried before the court, and a judgment was rendered in favor of the defendants in error. An appeal was perfected to the Appellate Court, where the judgment of the circuit court was reversed and a judgment rendered in that court in favor of the plaintiff in error for the sum of $260, and a writ of error has been sued out by the county of Williamson from this court to review said judgment.

On the first day of January, 1872, by virtue of an act entitled “An act to incorporate the Murphysboro and Shawneetown Railroad Company,” approved March 7, 1867, and an act entitled “An act to change the name of the Murphysboro and Shawneetown railroad to that of the Carbondale and Shawneetown railroad, and to make valid the subscription and agreement of the county court of Williamson county in regard to said railroad, and to further amend the act of incorporation approved March 7, 1867,” approved March 10, 1869, and in pursuance of an election held in the month of November, 1868, under the provisions of the first entitled act, the county of Williamson subscribed to the capital stock of said railroad company $100,000, and issued in payment thereof $100,000 in bonds due in twenty years, bearing interest at eight per cent per annum, payable semi-annually on the first days of January and July in each year, said bonds, principal and interest, being payable at the American Exchange National Bank, in New York City. The principal of said bonds remaining unpaid on the first day of January, 1895, in pursuance of a vote of the legal voters of the county the plaintiff in error, for the purpose of refunding its railroad bonded indebtedness, issued one hundred bonds, of $1000 each,' bearing interest at four and one-half per cent per annum. Both series of bonds were duly registered in the Auditor’s office of the State of Illinois. On January 23 of that year the plaintiff in error negotiated a sale of said four and one-half per cent bonds to the defendants in error at a premium of §370. By the terms of the agreement of sale the bonds were to be placed in escrow with the Illinois National Bank of Chicago, to be exchanged, bond for bond, for the old bonds when paid and canceled. The defendants in error, to effect the exchange, agreed to deposit with the American Exchange National Bank, in New York City, by February 1, 1895, the sum of §100,666.67 with which to pay the old bonds and interest thereon to February 1, 1895, the sum of §666.67 having" been advanced to the defendants in error by the plaintiff in error with which to pay the interest on the old bonds for the month of January, 1895. Thereupon the following call for the old bonds was published in the Neiu York Tribune on January 25, 28 and 31, 1895:

“Call tor Bonds.

“Marion, Ill., January 19, 1895.

“Notice is hereby given that Williamson county, Illinois, eight per cent bonds, dated January 1, A. D. 1872, Nos. 1 to 100, inclusive, will be paid on or after February 1, 1895, upon presentation at the American Exchange National Bank, or the office of Farson, Leach & Co., New York City, interest to cease on above date.

J. A. Felts, County Clerk Williamson Co., Ill. ”

The defendants in error failed and neglected to make the deposit with the American Exchange National Bank, but notified the bank that it had funds at its New York office with which to pay the old bonds on presentation, and requested the bank, if any bonds were presented for payment, to refer the parties presenting them to their New York office, where they would be paid. The request was complied with, and sixty-one of the bonds were taken up by the defendants in error upon payment of the principal and interest to February 1, 1895, prior to July 1,1895, and the balance upon payment of principal prior to February 16, 1896, and canceled, and the new bonds were delivered to them in lieu thereof. The State Treasurer of Illinois had an office in the building occupied by the American Exchange National Bank, in the city of New York, where he went on January 1 and July 1 of each year for the purpose of paying the semi-annual interest on municipal securities which had been registered in the Auditor’s office. The record fails to show that he was notified that the old series of Williamson county railroad bonds had been called in, and on or about July 1, 1895, there were presented to him for the payment of the semi-annual interest due thereon on July 1 of that year the thirty-nine unpaid bonds, and he paid six months’ interest thereon, which aggregated $1560, and is the amount for which the defendants in error are sought to be held liable by reason of their failure to make the deposit with the American Exchange National Bank as per their agreement with plaintiff in error.

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County of Williamson v. Farson, Leach & Co., 199 Ill. 71 (Ill. 1902).

199 Ill. 71 (County of Williamson v. Farson, Leach & Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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