Cushing v. Wyman

44 Me. 121
CourtSupreme Judicial Court of Maine
DecidedJuly 1, 1857
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 44 Me. 121 (Cushing v. Wyman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Judicial Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cushing v. Wyman, 44 Me. 121 (Me. 1857).

Opinion

Appleton, J.

On the 29th of September, 1851, Messrs. Brown & Son and William H. McCrillis gave Francis Wyman, Jr., one of the defendants, a note of the following tenor:

$530,75. For value received, we promise F. Wyman, Jr., to pay him five hundred and thirty dollars and seventy-five cents, provided the drafts given by T. Cushing, for the logs cut on No. 2, range 9, are paid.

Wm. H. McCrillis.

Sept. 29, 1851. Walter Brown & Son.

On the 2d of December following, the above note was transferred, by the indorsement of the defendants, to the plaintiff, and in consideration therefor they received of him one span of black horses, valued at $250, and his note for the difference between their value and the note then transferred, which at its maturity was duly paid.

The notes of the plaintiff, Cushing, referred to in the note of McCrillis and Brown & Son, were paid by him at their maturity, on the 20th of January, 1852, at or before which time he presented their note, received from Wyman to Brown & Son, for payment, or to be allowed towards his drafts then maturing, which, for reasons disclosed in the testimony of Walter Brown, they declined doing.

Walter Brown, one of the firm of W. Brown & Son, testified that the note of September 29, 1851, had been given for the balance due F. Wyman, Jr., one of the defendants, on a lumbering operation of the previous winter; that soon after the note was given, Wyman again applied to him to supply him for another operation for the ensuing winter; that he [133]*133at first declined, but finally consented upon an agreement between him (Wyman) and Brown & Son, that he should turn out the Brown and McOrillis note (tho whole of it) to go towards supplies; that their firm should not, however, give credit for it until it was payable, according to its condition; that in pursuance of such agreement, Brown & Son did supply the defendants with two or throe thousand dollars; that tho amount of supplies furnished and remaining due and unpaid December 2, 1851, was $583,77; that tho amount due and unpaid March 18, 1852, was $1406,50; that tho amount due and unpaid October 5, 1853, was about $1700; that the amount duo and unpaid at the time of the trial, April, 1857, was $302,67; that no sum had as yet been credited for or on account of this note, for the reason that it had never been of fered or surrendered to them; that no sum had ever been paid by the defendants toward this account, except what had been received from the lumber sold, being the proceeds of said operation; that as security for these supplies, they had taken an assignment of the permit under which they were cutting, and of all logs and lumber cut under it, and that they had, by virtue thereof, the logs to market; that after the agreement with Francis Wyman, Jr., he took as partner his brother, Andrew W. Wyman, the other defendant, and the two were in the place of Francis, who originally made tho bargain, that the goods were charged to the Wymans; that though often urged, they had never offered to settle with Brown & Son, and that the makers of the note, Brown & Son and McOrillis, were, and still are, solvent.

The plaintiff insists that these facts disclose a good defence to tho note of Brown and McOrillis; that the note having been paid, was valueless at the date of its transfer; that this being the case, he had a right to rescind the contract; that having this right, he seasonably gave notice to the defendants of his intention so to do, and tendered to them the note in question, and demanded his property; and the samo not having been surrendered on demand, that he can main[134]*134tain the present action, which is assumpsit, for the price of the horses, and for the money by him paid.

Assuming the offer to rescind seasonably made, which is a matter of grave doubt, the inquiry arises whether this form of action can be maintained for the value of the horses, the title to which, if the rescisión was valid, reverted to the plaintiff. In such case there is neither an express sale, nor any facts shown from which a promise can be implied. The defendants have made no new bargain, and the original one has been rescinded. If the contract was legally rescinded, the defendants, by refusing to restore the property, became' wrong doers, not purchasers. The rescisión must be entire, not partial.

But waiving all merely technical objections, the important question recurs, whether the facts disclosed in the testimony of Brown show any defence to the note of McCrillis and Brown & Son, and thus justify the plaintiff in his attempted rescisión. If the note of September 29, 1851, transferred to the plaintiff, has not been paid, or there was or is no valid, subsisting defence to it, he can have no grounds upon which to rescind. The rights of the parties depend upon the testimony of Brown, and whether that shows a defence to the note.

The agreement between the parties, as stated in his testimony, was purely executory. Nothing is better established, by the entire concurrence of authorities, than that an executory agreement would constitute no bar to a suit upon a note. In Cary v. Bancroft, 14 Pick. R., 315, a negotiable note was made to the plaintiff by the defendant, who held a note made by the plaintiff, but not having it with him at the time, it was agreed that the two notes should be set off one against the other, so far as the smaller would pay the larger. It was there held that this agreement was executory, and therefore was not an extinguishment of the smaller note. In reference to this agreement to offset, so far as the smaller note would pay the larger, Shaw, C. J., said, that “ if avail[135]*135able at all, it was an executory contract, requiring some further act to be done before the one would operate as payment or extinguishment pro tanto of the other.” In Richardson v. Cooper, 25 Maine R., 450, Tenney, J., says, “ in the case at bar, it was agreed by the parties and the witness, that an exchange of their several claims should bo made, which, if made, would have been a discharge of the contract declared on; but this contract not being present at the time of the agreement, the exchange did not take place. Something further was to be done, to make this oral agreement effectual; it was executory; until executed, all former liabilities remained.” “ It appears,” says Tindal, C. J., in Bagley v. Homan, 32 E. C. L., 379, “by a long train of authorities, commencing with that of Dyer, 35G, that a plea of accord, to be a good plea, must show an accord which is not executory at a future day, but which ought to be executed, and has been executed, before the action brought.” In that case the court came to the conclusion that a plea of an accord executory, made upon mutual promises, was bad. In the case before us, no credit was to be given for the note until it should, after its maturity, have been turned out to the firm of Brown & Son, and by them passed to the credit of the Wymans, which was never done. 1 Ev. Pothier, 339; Goodrich v. Stanley, 24 Conn. R., 623.

The note in question was assigned to the plaintiff before its maturity, and on the 2d of December, 1851. At this time the defendants were indebted to the firm of Brown &, Son, in the sum of $583,77, which exceeded the amount due on the note.

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Bluebook (online)
44 Me. 121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cushing-v-wyman-me-1857.