Dickinson v. Clement

12 S.E. 105, 87 Va. 41, 1890 Va. LEXIS 87
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedNovember 6, 1890
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 12 S.E. 105 (Dickinson v. Clement) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dickinson v. Clement, 12 S.E. 105, 87 Va. 41, 1890 Va. LEXIS 87 (Va. 1890).

Opinion

Fauntleroy, J.,

The female appellee, Mrs. Clement, is the sister of the appellant, Randolph Dickinson, who became indebted to her some time before the late civil war for upvrards of three thousand dollars for money lent, as alleged. The debt fell due on January 1st, 1862. She indulged him for some thirteen years, he paying in the meantime a part of the debt. In a suit at law against him for the unpaid balance-of the said debt, she recovered a judgment on the 13th day of April, 1875. Failing to get satisfaction of this judgment by execution out of appellant’s personal estate, she and her husband, in 1878, filed their bill in equity to enforce the lien of their judgment against appellant’s real estate. The suit was in the form of a general creditor’s bill, though' the liens, other than the judgment of Clement and wife, were insignificant.

The appellant, Dickinson, was the owner of valuable lands in Franklin county, bound by these liens. He had sold several parcels of his land to different persons—three parcels prior to the judgment of Clement and wife, and two parcels subsequent thereto. The sales were on credit, and the purchase-money aggregated about two thousand three hundred and forty dollars, the title being retained until the purchase-money should be paid. The lands retained by appellant were more than sufficient in value to satisfy the liens sought to be enforced against them. Accounts of the lands thus retained by appellant, and of the liens thereon, and their respective priorities, were ordered and taken, and the report thereof, made on the 25th of April, 1879, was confirmed by the court. Whereupon a decree was made directing a sale of the lands to satisfy the liens. The sale was made by the commissioner appointed for the purpose on the 18th day of January, 1882, on the terms prescribed by the decree, on a credit of one, two and three years for equal interest-bearing instalments of the [43]*43purchase-money (except as to a small amount in cash), the purchasers giving bonds, with security, and title retained by the court. The land was sold in parcels. The appellee, Mrs. Clement, bought one parcel, and, jointly with Martha C. Dickinson, another; and a third parcel was bought by Creed H. Adams, the prices of the three parcels sold aggregating one thousand six hundred and eighteen dollars and fifty cents. The whole of the residue of the land, which was the bulk of it, was bought by the owner, Randolph Dickinson, appellant, at five thousand and thirty-three dollars and fifty cents. These sales were reported; and, there being no exception or objection to the sales, they were confirmed by the court. When Dickinson’s first purchase-money bond became due he defaulted, and a rule for resale was made against him. He answered the rule, setting up as a defence that Clement and wife had sued out, on their judgment, process of garnishment against his debtors, who had purchased lands from him, of whom they, he alleged, had made collections to which he was entitled as credits on what he owed them by judgment; and he asked for an account of these alleged collections. The court, deeming the answer to the rule insufficient, on the 13th October, 1883, ordered the resale. Upon the petition of Dickinson, asking the court to review this decree or order for a resale, to set it aside, and order the accounts asked for, and meantime to enjoin the execution of the decree, an injunction was awarded; and on the coming in of the answer of Clement and wife to the petition, admitting the suing out of the process of garnishment, but denying that anything had been realized thereby, and averring that the garnishment proceedings had been dismissed, the court, by its decree of 20th of May, 1884, dissolved the injunction and denied the rehearing. Thereupon Dickinson appealed to this court, which reversed the decree of the circuit court and remanded the cause for further proceedings. Pursuant to the decree of this court, the circuit court ordered the accounts and inquiries directed by this court, and [44]*44Master Commissioner Jackson made his report, which, upon exceptions by Dickinson, was recommitted. He made a sec-, end report, which was excepted to by Dickinson, and the cause was recommitted to another master commissioner (Carper), who made his report, and to this, also, Dickinson excepted. The court, by its decree of May 19th, 1888, adopted “Statement No. 1” of Carper’s report, which showed the purchase-money owing to the court by Dickinson, and approved and adopted a statement which it ordered to be made out at the bar—“ Statement G. C.”—showing the balance due Clement and wife on their judgment, and ordered that the lands purchased by Dickinson at the former sale be resold, unless, within the time prescribed, Dickinson, the defaulting purchaser from the court, should pay to the receiver the purchase-money shown by Statement No. 1 of commissioner’s report to -lie due to the court; the decree reciting that this amount of purchase-money, due by Dickinson, “ was not more than sufficient to pay off the liens proved against him in this cause now remaining unpaid, and the unpaid costs of this suit.”

It is from this decree that this appeal is taken.

There is no error in the decree complained of which will justify or move this court to reverse it. The appellant, Dickinson, is a defaulting purchaser at a judicial sale, regularly made, duly reported to and confirmed by this court, without exception, of his own land, to satisfy admittedly just and solemnly adjudicated debts due by him—one of them a large sum, which he has owed to the female appellee, his sister, for over twenty-eight years.

The original amount of the judgment due to his sister, Mrs. Clement, is not disputed; and the statement, “G. C.,” made and adopted by the court, showing the balance due Clement and wife in their judgment, is admitted to be correct; except that, appellant claims, that he is entitled to other credits for collections alleged to have been made by the garnishment pro[45]*45ceedings, which were not allowed in that statement, and which he could and would have established, if the proper accounts had been ordered and the opportunity allowed him. - It was, in fact, upon this allegation, assigned as error, that the decree of 28th of May, 1884, was reversed by this court upon former appeal, and the case remanded to the circuit court to inquire into the matter of these garnishment proceedings and their fruition. The circuit court did order the inquiry, and Commissioner Jackson made the inquiry and reported that nothing was realized or collected on them. That- report was recommitted to Commissioner Jackson, expressly in the language-of the order, “ in order to allow Dickinson time to take proof,”' and the commissioner was “ordered, on re-opening of said account, to give said Dickinson notice thereof.” Commissioner Jackson, after giving Dickinson the notice required,, renewed the inquiry directed by the court; and he reported that he was “ unable to report any other facts not stated in his prior report, and which he sees no cause to amend.” Then,, even this second report of Commissioner Jackson was recommitted to Commissioner Carper, and he made the report which was approved and adopted by the court as the basis of its decree.

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Bluebook (online)
12 S.E. 105, 87 Va. 41, 1890 Va. LEXIS 87, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dickinson-v-clement-va-1890.