Duvall v. Farmers' Bank

9 G. & J. 31
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedJune 15, 1837
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 9 G. & J. 31 (Duvall v. Farmers' Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Duvall v. Farmers' Bank, 9 G. & J. 31 (Md. 1837).

Opinion

Archer, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court.

When this case was last before this court, on appeal, the court gave a construction to the agreement of 17th of July, [45]*451827, and determined, that certain inferences of fact were deducible from the agreement.

The construction placed upon the agreement was, that on the note not due, both demand and notice were dispensed with; and, that on the other note, which was due, when the contract was entered into, notice was dispensed with; and it was further decided, that the inference, as an inference of fact, to be drawn from the acts of the parties in this agreement was, that there had been a demand, and of course that the agreement was evidence of a demand. But it was not meant to be intimated, that this inference of a fact was to be conclusive ; on the contrary, the court below have rightly interpreted the opinion of this court, in deciding that such inference may be rebutted.

The cause having been remanded to the court below, and rebutting evidence having been offered, the plaintiff deemed it necessary to take the opinion of the court, whether under the evidence in the cause any demand was necessary to be made, or notice given.

This we think it was entirely competent for the plaintiff to do. We do not perceive any thing in the agreement of the 17th of July which prevents it. That agreement was, however, certainly made under the impression, by the parties, that the bank, but for the agreement, was under the usual obligation to make demand, and give notice on both notes. The agreement, however, notwithstanding its construction, and the inferences which may be drawn from it, cannot prevent the plaintiff from showing, if he can show, that the acts and agreements of the parties anterior to the agreement of the 17th of July, have dispensed with demand and notice, and rendered them unnecessary: nor do we perceive, that because the plaintiff had offered evidence of a demand, that he could be precluded from showing, that no demand was necessary to have been made; and accordingly the plaintiff has relied on several matters, each of which, it is alleged, is sufficient to enable the plaintiff to recover in the same manner as if a .demand had, in fact, been made,

[46]*461. That the defendant knew that the notes were not to be paid at maturity, and that they were, but for the agreement, to be renewed.

2. That all the endorser’s property had been conveyed as an indemnity, and to secure the payment of the endorser’s liability.

3. That by the deed of mortgage of 1825, the defendant has placed it out of his power to sue the drawer in case of his default, till 1829.

As to the first proposition, without an inquiry into the legal effect of a knowledge on the part of the defendant, that the notes would not be paid, it may be sufficient to observe, that we can perceive no evidence in the cause from which it can be inferred, that when the first note arrived at maturity it was known to the defendant, that it was not to be paid. The agreement, it is true, stipulates that it was to lay over; but that was not entered into for several days after the note had .arrived to maturity. There is evidence that the notes were renewals of former accommodations, and that they were to be renewed from time to time. But with whom was this understanding that the notes were to be renewed ? There is no evidence to shew, that the defendant was, in any manner, a party to such agreement. The accommodation was for the benefit of the drawer, and although he might have entered into an agreement with the bank, that his note should be renewed, it could not affect the endorser, unless he was in some way privy to, or participated in the agreement for such renewal. Giving the greatest legal efficacy to such an agreement, as between the immediate parties to it, the endorsers, strangers to it, at the maturity of one of the notes, must still be considered, so far as this question is concerned, as standing upon their conditional liability as endorsers, and entitled to have a demand made on the drawer, and to have notice given to them. The deeds offered in evidence do not appear to throw any light on this branch of the case. The covenant by the drawer, in his deed of mortgage, to pay his liabilities to the bank in 1829, viewed in the light of an agreement by [47]*47them to give him time to pay, and indemnify them in case they should be compelled to pay as his security, does not look to any agreement existing between the bank and the drawer for a renewal of those notes; but on the contrary, it is plain from the deed, that the parties looked to the probability of payment by the drawer, before the time when the mortgage should be forfeited. As it regards the agreement of the 17th of July, it may be sufficient to remark, that we have heretofore determined, that it might be inferred from it, that the notes were, but for its stipulations, to have gone through the customary forms of demand and notice ; and we cannot therefore, deduce from it now, an inference directly the contrary. The notes in controversy were at their maturity, according to the usage of all banks, to be either paid or renewed. The note over due at the date of the agreement, had not been paid, and anxious to avoid a protest, the defendant had only stipulated that the bank should waive its practice in this respect, of either protesting, or of asking a renewal, and ought not to be considered as evidence, that any arrangement had existed between the endorsers and the bank, either at the maturity of the note, or at any anterior period, that the note was to be renewed.

2. The position that a transfer of all the drawer’s property to the endorser to indemnify him against loss for his liability, exempts the holder from the necessity of making a demand, might, perhaps, if it were a new question, admit of some discussion, unless shown to be amply sufficient to meet the notes. But then there are respectable authorities which sanction the doctrine. Bond et al vs. Farnham, 5 Mass. 170. Morton vs. Lewis, Conn. Rep. 478. 3 Kent Com. 113. Barton vs. Baker, 1 Serg. and Rawl. 334. And it is important that the law in relation to commercial paper should be uniform in the states of the union. We therefore adopt the judgments of the Supreme court of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. And on this branch of the case, the only question remaining is, whether there was evidence that all the property of the drawer had been assigned to the defendant.

[48]*48The plaintiff who desires to exempt himself from the necessity of proving a demand, must prove the facts necessary to make his case an exception to the general rule. The onus is on' him, and is rightfully upon him. Does he offer sufficient evidence of the fact when he shows the deed for the maker’s plantation, excepting seventy acres, and all his personal property? Certainly not. The very evidence offered showing unassigned property — and yet, that is the only legitimate evidence offered to prove the fact here, for the deed of the 5th July, 1827, conveying the seventy acres to Richard and Grafton Duvall, is a mortgage for a then existing debt of $10,000, alleged to be due them from Lewis Duvall. And if the terms of the deed are to be regarded, it could not prima facie have reference to these claims, for which they were only security, and towards which, they had not paid a dollar.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 G. & J. 31, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/duvall-v-farmers-bank-md-1837.