Frakes v. Brown

2 Blackf. 295, 1830 Ind. LEXIS 2
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 4, 1830
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 2 Blackf. 295 (Frakes v. Brown) 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
Frakes v. Brown, 2 Blackf. 295, 1830 Ind. LEXIS 2 (Ind. 1830).

Opinion

Blackford, J.

This was a hill in chancery, in which Brown, the complainant, prays that a conveyance of a tract of land, made by Reuben Jones to the defendant, may be set aside as fraudulent and void.

The bill states, that, at the September term, 1825, of the De[296]*296catur Circuit Court, Martha Jones filed a petition against her husband, Reuben Jones, for a divorce and alimony; that, during the same term, the Court made an order upon the defendant, not to dispose of his property until the suit should be determined; that, at the March term, 1826, the petitioner obtained a divorce, and a judgment for the sum of 550 dollars as alimony; that, by virtue of a fieri facias, issued upon this judgment, the land in question was sold in November, 1826, and the complainant was the purchaser. The bill further states, that, during the pendency of the suit for a divorce, viz. in November, 1825, the said land was conveyed fraudulently and without consideration, by Jones to Frakes, to avoid the consequences of Mrs. Jones' suit. Both the parties to the deed are charged by the bill with notice of the pendency of the suit, and with fraud.

A demurrer and plea to the bill were filed; but these may be considered as overruled by the answer, which covers the whole case. The defendant, in his answer, insists that he is a bona fide purchaser for a valuable consideration; denies all fraud; and avers that he had no knowledge of the order of the Court, nor of the pendency of the suit, referred to in the bill.

The material facts in this case are as follows:—A short time before the sitting of the Circuit Court in Decatur county, in September, 1825, Reuben Jones and his wife had a dispute and-separated. At that term of the Court, Mrs. Jones filed a petb tion for a divorce and alimony; and obtained an order against her husband, restraining him from disposing of his property until the cause should be decided. At the March term, 1826, the petitioner obtained a divorce, and a judgment for the sum of 550 dollars as alimony. Upon this judgment, an execution of fieri facias issued, and was levied upon the land in dispute as the property of Jones. The complainant purchased it in November, 1826, at the sheriff’s sale.

During the pendency of this suit for a divorce, and subsequently to the restraining order, viz. about the first of October, 1825, Jones, the husband, executed a bill of sale to Frakes, the defendant in the present suit, for the whole of his personal property, except a few small articles which he sold to others. The property thus sold to Frakes, consisted of horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, corn, and beds. Jones stated at the time of this sale, [297]*297that he was putting his property out of his hands to prevent his wife from getting any of it. About the same time, Jones took his children to Frakes' house to be taken care of, and went himself not long afterwards to the county of Ripley, and resided with Frakes' son. Frakes, having sold a considerable part of this property, and received the money for it, went into Ripley county to see Jones, who had then been there eight or ten days. On the evening of his arrival, he told Jones that he had brought him the money to pay him for the land; and, the hi ext morning, he and Jones went together to Versailles. There, the conveyance of Jones' land to Frakes, charged in the bill to be fraudulent, was written at their request by the clerk of the Court. At this time, Frakes, in presence of the clerk, paid Jones about 40 dollars, and gave him a note for some amount besides. This conveyance is dated the 21st of November, 1825. Immediately after this transaction, Frakes returned to his home in Decatur county; and, in the latter pari of December following, Jones also returned to that county.

At the.time of the separation of Jones and his wife, Jones and Frakes resided in the same neighborhood. Their circumstances were moderate. Frakes owned 80 acres of land and some personal property; but he was not able to buy any more land without first selling his own.

Some time after these things had taken place, Nathan Grume, the son-in-law of Frakes, heard both Jones and Frakes say, at different times, that all the buying and selling between them, was for the purpose of preventing Mrs. Jones and her lawyers from getting any of her husband’s property. He also heard Frakes say, that he received the money from Jones, and paid it back to him for the land in the presence of the clerk of Ripley county. Both Nathan Grume and his wife, the daughter of Frakes, heard Jones tell Frakes that he wished him, when he sold the land, to pay Joseph Jones his money; and that the balance he, Reuben Jones, would put in his pocket and go away. To which Frakes replied by saying—yes. They also heard Frakes say, that were it not for his daughter Betsy he would give up the property to Jones.

There is a great deal of evidence as"Jo whether Jones and Frakes, at the time when the land was conveyed, knew of the pendency of the suit for the divorce, and of the restraining or[298]*298der mentioned in the bill. Taking all the depositions on the subject together, we are satisfied that they both knew, at that time, that there were some proceedings depending in Court against Jones at the suit of his wife, in consequence of his ill-treatment of her, which'might affect his property. But, at the same time, there is no sufficient proof that they knew what was the precise nature of those proceedings, or that the Court had made the order alluded to.

The case'was submitted to the Circuit Court upon bill, answer, and depositions. That Court set aside the deed from Jones to Frakes as fraudulent; and decreed that Brown was the owner in fee-simple of the land, and that he should forever be ■quieted in his title acquired under the sheriff’s sale. Frakes and all claimants under him, were also perpetually enjoined from disturbing Brown's possession of the premises. From that decree the defendant has appealed to this Court.

The first objection "to the complainant’s claim is, that the sheriff had no authority to sell the land, admitting it to have •belonged to Jones. It is said, that real estate is not liable on a decree for a divorce and alimony. The answer to this is, that here is a judgment against Jones for a certain sum of money, rendered by a Court having jurisdiction of the cause; and that every judgment of this kind is, by statute, a lien on real estate. It is not for this Court to look beyond the judgment in the case before us. It must be considered as having the same effect as áll other judgments for the payment of money, whilst it stands unreversed and remains unsatisfied. Indeed, were the judgement erroneous, and had it been reversed since the sheriff’s sale, that circumstance would not affect the purchaser’s title. Manning's case, 8 Co. Rep. 187.—R. C. 1824, p. 195.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Sinclair v. Gunzenhauser
98 N.E. 37 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1912)
Carolina Real Estate Co. v. Bland
67 S.E. 483 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1910)
Rogers v. Rogers
89 N.E. 901 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1909)
De Ruiter v. De Ruiter
62 N.E. 100 (Indiana Court of Appeals, 1901)
Burt v. Hasselman
38 N.E. 598 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1894)
Conrad v. Everich
50 Ohio St. (N.S.) 476 (Ohio Supreme Court, 1893)
Stock-Growers' Bank v. Newton
13 Colo. 245 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1889)
Twell v. Twell
6 Mont. 19 (Montana Supreme Court, 1886)
In re Lowe
19 F. 589 (D. Indiana, 1884)
Lott v. Kaiser
61 Tex. 665 (Texas Supreme Court, 1884)
Beckwith v. Burrough
14 R.I. 366 (Supreme Court of Rhode Island, 1884)
Willis v. Thompson
93 Ind. 62 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1884)
Bishop v. Redmond
83 Ind. 157 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1882)
Orendorf v. Budlong
12 F. 24 (U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Eastern Michigan, 1882)
Turner v. First National Bank of Madison
78 Ind. 19 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1881)
Smith's v. Cockrell
66 Ala. 64 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1880)
Potter & Son v. Gracie
58 Ala. 303 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1877)
Sellers v. Union Lumbering Co.
39 Wis. 525 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1876)
Maxwell v. State ex rel. Baldwin
40 Md. 273 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1874)
White v. Cronkhite
35 Ind. 483 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1871)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 Blackf. 295, 1830 Ind. LEXIS 2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frakes-v-brown-ind-1830.