First National Bank v. Fry

115 S.W. 439, 216 Mo. 24, 1909 Mo. LEXIS 318
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJanuary 4, 1909
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 115 S.W. 439 (First National Bank v. Fry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First National Bank v. Fry, 115 S.W. 439, 216 Mo. 24, 1909 Mo. LEXIS 318 (Mo. 1909).

Opinion

GANTT, P. J.

On June 25, 1898, the plaintiff commenced its action in the circuit court of Clinton county, against Emanuel S. Fry, to recover $4,746 on notes executed by the latter to the plaintiff. An attachment was sued out in aid of the principal suit, on the ground that said defendant had fraudulently conveyed his property with intent to defraud his creditors. Among other properties the attachment was levied upon a tract of fifty-five acres of land in Clinton county, specifically described in the bill in this case. On the first trial of the plea in abatement there was a verdict and judgment for defendant, from \which an appeal was granted to this court and the judgment was reversed and the cause remanded. [First National Bank v. Fry, 168 Mo. 492.]

After the record was returned to the circuit court, a .change of venue was granted to Buchanan county, and upon a trial anew before Judge A- M. Woodson a verdict was rendered sustaining the attachment and also for the debt and interest.

The fifty-five acres involved in this suit was sold under the judgment and at the sale plaintiff became the purchaser. On the day the attachment was levied and a few hours prior thereto the defendant Emanuel S. Fry conveyed the fifty-five acres to his brother, Louis Fry. After the purchase of this tract the plaintiff brought this suit in equity to set aside the deed [29]*29of Emanuel Fry to Louis Fry on the ground that said deed was fraudulent and void as to plaintiff. A change of venue was likewise taken in this suit to Buchanan county and the suit was tried- before Judge Ramey, who dismissed plaintiff’s bill, and from that decree plaintiff, has again appealed to this court.

A full history of the debts and property of Emanuel S. Fry and of his disposition of his lands and personal property is set forth in First National Bank v. Fry, 168 Mo. 492, to which reference is made.

It is sufficient-for the purpose of this appeal to state that for many years prior to June, 1898, Emanuel Fry owned about 700 acres of land in Clinton county, on which he resided. He was possessed, also, of some cattle, hogs, com and farm implements, the whole aggregating about $30’,000 in value. At that date he was hopelessly insolvent according to his own evidence, his indebtedness amounting to $60,000, $38,000 of which was due to his children, his wife and brother Louis Fry, his codefendant herein.

It appears that on June 22d and 23d, 1898, he employed Judge Sandusky to prepare conveyances of all his real estate, but his counsel was unable to attend to the matter until the 24th of June, 1898. On this last-named date he went to the residence of Emanuel Fry and spent the evening and next morning in preparing the'conveyances of all the real estate. In the meantime defendant Emanuel disposed of all of his personal estate as follows: To his brother Abraham, he sold his cattle and corn on the 23d of June. Abraham testified: “He [Emanuel] came over to my house. He had twenty-four steers and he wanted to sell them. He said he was obliged to make some arrangements of his property; he was getting in bad shape, he couldn’t borrow money.” Thereupon Abraham bought the steers for $1,405 and the corn for $446. It appears that Emanuel had borrowed $1,300 from the Clay & Funkhouser Bank to buy these cattle, so [30]*30he requested his brother to give him two checks, one for $1,300 to pay Clay & Funkhouser and one for $105 which he wanted for “expenses.” For the corn, Abraham gave Emanuel $96 in cash, and his note or due bill for $350'. On the morning of June 24th or 25th, Abraham also bought three colts from Emanuel for which he paid him $90, because, as Abraham testified, “Pie [Emanuel] said he wanted to sell them, get everything out of the property he could.”

On the morning of June 25, 1808, Emanuel sold his hogs to Samuel Thompson for $403, for which Thompson gave his check, which was cashed June 28th. It thus appears that on the morning on which the conveyances of his lands were made by Emanuel Fry, he had checks, cash and due bills in his pocket to the amount of $2,344, out of which he afterwards paid Clay & Funkhouser $1,300. Deeds were then on June 25,1898, executed as follows: A warranty deed to the 55 acres in this suit to his brother Louis. Fry, his co-defendant herein, for $3,025; a deed to Abraham Fry for 105 acres of land, which Abraham immediately conveyed to Mrs. Fry, the wife of Emanuel for the alleged consideration of a debt due her by her husband Emanuel of $5,691.22, incurred in 1883, upon which no payment of principal or interest had been made; a deed of trust to his three children conveying 320 acres of land (subject to a prior deed of trust of $7,500 to the Massachusetts Life Insurance Company) to secure an alleged indebtedness of $6,000, on which $2,400 interest had accrued, which said indebtedness accrued in 1874, and on which neither interest nor any part of the principal had ever been paid; a deed of trust to Luther Finch, trustee for his general creditors, of 190 acres of land to the amount of $19,000 and interest thereon. In addition to these land conveyances, he executed chattel mortgages, one to his daughter for $403 on five cows; one to Thomas and John Fry on [31]*31growing com for $550'; one to plaintiff bank on corn and hogs for $389'.

The consideration for tbe fifty-five acres in suit was $3,025, and was paid by Lonis Fry cancelling an alleged indebtedness of $2,400 and by giving Emanuel $300 in currency and a note or due bill for $325. Tbe indebtedness to Louis Fry was represented by notes, some dated as far back as 1887, on which, the interest was compounded at seven and eight per cent from dates, without any credits of either principal or interest. Louis had lived with his brother Emanuel for twelve or fifteen years, and no credit was given for board, though immediately after the deed to Lotiis he rented the land to Emanuel’s wife for his board at $3 per week, and when the rent exceeded the board Louis gave the excess to Mrs. Fry. At the time defendant Louis paid Emanuel, his co-defendant, the $300' in cash and gave him his note or due bill for $325 over and above the amount Emanuel owed him for the fifty-five acres, the circuit court found “that the said Louis S. Fry knew that said Emanuel was in debt and financially embarrassed and that he, said Emanuel S. Fry, was conveying all his property to his creditors, but said Louis bought said fifty-five acres in good faith, paying full value for the same, for the purpose of collecting his debt and with no design to assist his brother, said Emanuel S. Fry, to hinder or defraud his creditors and without knowledge of any fraudulent purpose on the part of said Emanuel in deeding him said fifty-five acres of land.” While the circuit court found that Louis Fry knew at the time he took the fifty-five acres in payment of his debt and paid $300 in cash and gave his note or due bill for $325 over and above the amount of his debt, “that Emanuel was in debt and financially embarrassed,” Louis himself testified that on the 24th day of June, the day previous to his taking his deed for the fifty-five acres, “he had found out that Emanuel was terribly involved.” Indeed, taking his whole evi[32]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
115 S.W. 439, 216 Mo. 24, 1909 Mo. LEXIS 318, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-national-bank-v-fry-mo-1909.