Eaton & Hamilton R. R. v. Hunt

20 Ind. 457
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1863
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 20 Ind. 457 (Eaton & Hamilton R. R. v. Hunt) 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
Eaton & Hamilton R. R. v. Hunt, 20 Ind. 457 (Ind. 1863).

Opinion

Perkins, J.

On the 1st day of November, 1852, there existed a corporation in the State of Indiana, created under a law of the State, with power to construct a railroad from Richmond, Indiana, to the Ohio State line, a distance of about six miles. The corporation was known by the name of the Richmond and Miami railroad company.

On the day named, that corporation issued sixty bonds of 1000 dollars each, payable to George Carlisle or bearer, and on the same day executed to said Carlisle, as trustee, a mortgage on the six miles of road named, as security for the payment of the principal and interest of the bonds. The bonds were guaranteed by a railroad company in Ohio, called the Hamilton and Eaton railroad company, created by or under a law of that State, and vested with power to construct a railroad from Hamilton, Ohio, to the State line of Indiana, in the direction of Richmond in the latter State. In 1853, the Richmond and Miami road was completed.

On the 1st day of January, 1854, forty additional bonds were issued by the Richmond and Miami company, and a second mortgage was executed thereby to Carlisle, upon the six miles of their road, to secqre the payment of them.

The first mortgage bonds became due on November 1,1862, and the interest on them was payable semi-annually, but was not paid.

John Hunt and others, plaintiffs below in this suit, are owners of fifty-seven of those first mortgage bonds. The plaintiffs had required Mr. Carlisle, the trustee, to proceed to enforce their rights against the railroad company, under the mortgage, and he had refused to do so.

Legislative acts of Ohio and Indiana authorized the Eaton and Hamilton and the Richmond and Miami railroad companies to consolidate, upon such terms as might be agreed upon, but neither of those acts contained any provisions surrender[460]*460ing the jurisdiction of either State to the other over the consolidated company. At their date, the two companies executed the following articles of consolidation:

“An agreement made and entered into by and between the' Richmond, and Miami railroad company, duly incorporated by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, of the one part, and the Eaton and Hamilton railroad company, in like manner incorporated by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, of the other part, witnesseth : That,
First, These companies, their capital stock, their roads, debts, dues, rights in action, franchises, interests, and property of every kind, character and description, shall be, and hereby are, merged, united and consolidated, into one joint-stock company, one road, one interest, and one property, upon the terms following, that it is to say: .
Second, The corporate name, franchises, rights, immunities and organization, of the Eaton and Hamilton railroad company, shall be preserved and remain intact, and the said consolidated company shall be known by, and its business transacted, in that name, in every sense, as if this consolidation had not taken place, except so far merely as the enlarged interests of the company, and a compliance with the laws of Indiana, may modify the same.
Third, The debts, dues and rights in action, owing to, and accruing in favor of, the said Richmond and Miami railroad company, all and singular the rights and franchises, the road with its right of way, fixtures and appurtenances, depot and other station grounds, buildings and water tanks, with all other rights and interests and property, real, personal, and mixed, of every kind, character, and description, and all and singular, the interest, right and titles therein, whether legal- or equitable, of the said Richmond and Miami railroad company, are to be, and are hereby, granted,, transferred and con[461]*461veyed to, and merged in, those of said Eaton and Hamilton railroad company, its successors and assigns forever, as fully and completely, to all intents and purposes, as they are now vested in the said Richmond and Miami company.
Fourth, The said Eaton and Hamilton railroad company is to, and does hereby, assume the franchises, rights, immunities and liabilities of the said Richmond and Miami railroad company, and especially is to assume, liquidate and pay all debts, dues, and liabilities, outstanding against it, and to that end is, so far as the unfunded indebtedness extends, to apply semi-annually, to its liquidation, an amount equal to one-seventh of the net surplus earnings of the entire road, until-the whole shall be paid, and is, upon the surrender of certificates, or other evidence of ownership of the capital stock of the said Richmond and Miami company, to issue to -the party in interest evidence of ownership of a like amount of the capital stock of said Eaton and Hamilton railroad company.
Fifth, This agreement shall take effect and be in force on and after the 1st day of December, 1854, at which time the name and organization of the Richmond and Miami company shall cease, and its separate legal identity, franchises, rights, interests, property, &c., vest and merge into those of the said Eaton and Hamilton company. In witness,” &c.

November 21st, 1854, signed, sealed, &c., by the officers of the companies.

Prior to the consolidation, bonds and mortgages had been issued by the Hamilton and Eaton company, which were liens upon the road of that company in Ohio.

After the consolidation, bonds were issued, secured by mortgages on the entire line of the road, in addition to those issued prior thereto by the separate companies. At the Spring term, 1860, Hunt and others, the plaintiffs in this suit, brought their action in the Wayne Circuit Court, Indiana, to enforce the lien of the first mortgage bonds, owned by them, [462]*462upon the six miles of railroad constructed in Indiana, by the Richmond and Miami railroad company. The suit was brought against Mr. Carlisle, the trustee, and the Raton and Hamilton railroad company.

The company appeared and answered. But what company was it that thus appeared ? Were there, after the consolidation two Raton and Hamilton railroad companies, one in Indiana and one in Ohio ? Did the Miami company still exist, with her separate property, as a distinct corporation, but under the new name of the Raton and Hamilton railroad company ? See the Ohio and Mississippi R. R. Co. v. Wheeler, 1 Black (U. S.) Rep. 286. And was the suit against that corporation? If so, the suit was regularly brought against the old company by its new name. The President, &c. v. Jackson et al., 7 Blackf. 36. But did the consolidation merge the Richmond and Miami company in the Raton and Hamilton

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Bluebook (online)
20 Ind. 457, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eaton-hamilton-r-r-v-hunt-ind-1863.