Gilbert v. Forest City Furniture Co.

72 Ill. App. 186, 1897 Ill. App. LEXIS 612
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 16, 1897
StatusPublished

This text of 72 Ill. App. 186 (Gilbert v. Forest City Furniture Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gilbert v. Forest City Furniture Co., 72 Ill. App. 186, 1897 Ill. App. LEXIS 612 (Ill. Ct. App. 1897).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Windes

delivered the opinion of the Court.

Appellee, which was a manufacturing corporation, doing business at Rockford, Illinois, in February and May, 1893, sold certain furniture, in question in this case, to one Cronenberger, a retail furniture dealer having his place of business in Chicago. The furniture was to be shipped at once, but there was delay both in the shipment and also in the delivery by the railway company of parts of it, which resulted in negotiations and correspondence between appellee and Cronenberger, both regarding the return of the furniture to appellee, and also its storage with said Cronenberger, and on which there is a conflict of evidence.

A large part of the furniture was received by Cronenberger. as, early, as June, 1893, and exposed for sale in his place of business for some four or five months. There is evidence tending to show that by reason of the failure of appellee to deliver some of the furñiture according to the orders of said Cronenberger, that the sale to Cronenberger was, by agreement between him and appellee, rescinded, and the furniture stored with Cronenberger by appellee, until it could make other disposition of. it, but under this alleged arrangement there was no visible change of possession, and the furniture, after this alleged arrangement, remained in Cronenberger’s store, exposed for sale the same as his other stock in trade, for a space of some months. Appellee, also, after the time complaint was made by Cronenberger as to parts of the furniture not being delivered, in September, and as late as November 4, 1893, made attempts to collect from him the amount of its bill for the furniture and also endeavored to get his note in settlement of the account..

Under the contract of sale, it is not clear from the evidence, who was to pay the freight. Cronenberger, however, paid the freight as the goods were taken from the railway depot, but never got any credit for such payment from appellee. No request was ever made of Cronenberger by appellee that he return the goods.

Cronenberger, on November 13, 1893, being indebted to John V. Farwell Co. in an amount exceeding $10,000, a ■judgment was on that day entered against him in favor of said Farwell Co., in the Circuit Court of Cook County, for $10,725.85, on which execution was issued the same day, and a levy made by appellant as sheriff on said furniture, while in the possession of Cronenberger and exposed for sale in his store with his other goods.

Appellee brought replevin against appellant, after demand made. Appellant, among other pleas, pleaded property in Cronenberger, and 'justified under said execution. A trial resulted in a verdict finding appellant guilty, that the right of property was in appellee, and damages in its favor of one cent. On this verdict judgment was entered by the Superior Court, from which appellant appealed.

On behalf ‘ of appellee the trial court instructed the jury as follows:

“ If you believe, from the evidence, that at the time this suit was commenced and before, the defendant Gilbert was the sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, that he took possession of said goods by virtue of writ of fieri facias against the goods and chattels of one George J. Cronenberger, and that he was detaining possession thereof under said writ at the time of the commencement of this suit, and if you also find that the said Cronenberger was not entitled to possession of said goods as against plaintiff, then you are instructed that the right of defendant Gilbert was no greater than that of said Cronenberger, provided you believe further, from the evidence, that a demand was made by the plaintiff or its agent, before this suit was begun, on the defendant for the return of said goods.”

On behalf of appellant the court' also gave the following instruction, to wit:

“ The jury are further instructed that even though they should believe, from the evidence, that Cronenberger did not accept the goods, yet, if you believe from the evidence the plaintiff permitted the goods to remain in the store and stock of Cronenberger, with his other goods, without anything to indicate that they were not his property, and he was permitted to make sale of such of the property as he saw fit, then the plaintiff is estopped as against execution creditors from claiming that the title to the property never passed and the property did not belong to Cronenberger.”

The instruction for appellee does not state the law, under the evidence in this case, correctly, as it appears from the following cases : Bastress v. Chickering, 18 Ill. App. 208; Murch v. Wright, 46 Ill. 488; Brundage v. Camp, 21 Ill. 331; Stadfeld v. Huntsman, 92 Pa. St. 56; Lapp v. Pinover, 27 Ill. App. 171; Ketchum v. Watson, 24 Ill. 591; Thompson v. Wilhite; 81 Ill. 358; Orr v. Gilbert, 68 Ill. App. 429.

In the Bastress case, supra, the court said: “ Where one party, by means of contract, and without notice to the world, suffers the real ownership in chattels to be in himself, and the ostensible ownership to be in another, the law will postpone the rights of the former to those of the execution or judgment creditors of the latter, because to injure third persons by giving a false credit to such ostensible owners, is the natural and probable result of the transaction.”

In the Stadtfeld case, supra, the court said: “ No doubt a sale and delivery of personal property, with an agreement that the ownership shall remain in the vendor until the purchase money is paid,'enables creditors of the vendee to seize and sell it for the payment of his debts.”

In the Lapp case, supra, where it appeared the plaintiffs, wholesale dealers in jewelry, sold and delivered to one Corinder, a retail dealer, certain jewelry, and afterward while it was in Corinder’s possession, an arrangement was made between them by which Corinder was to hold the goods under consignment, and a memorandum to that effect was delivered to Corinder and entered upon plaintiff’s books, after which possession of the jewelry remained unchanged, and Corinder pledged the jewelry as security for a loan made to him, and later sold it, with the remainder of his stock of goods, to defendants, creditors of Corinder, who, after redemption from the pledge, took possession of the jewelry, the court said : “ The sale and delivery of the goods in question June 24, 1884, by the plaintiffs to Corinder, vested in the latter the title to the goods. And the re-sale of them back to plaintiffs July 22,1884, by Corinder, being without any change of possession of the goods, would, if entirely formal in other respects, be void as to iona fide creditors, purchasers or pledgees, Avithout notice.”

In the Ketchum case, supra, the court said : “ To pass the title as betAveen (to) third persons, there must be a change of possession, so that others will not be deceived and defrauded by the appearance of’ ownership in one, while the title is really in another.”

In the Orr case, supra, this court said: “ If the real OAvnership is suffered to be in one, and the apparent ownership in another, the latter gains credit as OAvner, and is enabled to practice deceit on mankind.”

It is claimed by appellee that there was no sale of the furniture to Cronenberger; that the transaction was merely a bailment.

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Ketchum v. Watson
24 Ill. 591 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1860)
Klein v. Seibold
89 Ill. 540 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1878)
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Orr, Saddler & Co. v. Gilbert
68 Ill. App. 429 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1897)

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Bluebook (online)
72 Ill. App. 186, 1897 Ill. App. LEXIS 612, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gilbert-v-forest-city-furniture-co-illappct-1897.