Guyer v. Wilson

28 N.E. 738, 139 Ill. 392
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 31, 1891
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 28 N.E. 738 (Guyer v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guyer v. Wilson, 28 N.E. 738, 139 Ill. 392 (Ill. 1891).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Bailey

delivered the opinion of the Court:

On the 10th day of December, 1877, the Bock Island Paper Company, being indebted to John H. Wilson in the sum of $10,000 for money loaned and advanced, and to be loaned and advanced, executed to said Wilson its ten promissory notes for $1000 each, bearing date that day and maturing five years after date, and bearing interest.at the rate of ten per cent per annum, and to secure said notes, executed to Thomas J. Bobinson, as trustee, its deed of trust upon its real estate, including its buildings, machinery, fixtures, etc. On the 3d day of July, 1878, said Wilson loaned to said company the further sum of $5000, to secure which said company executed to Charles H. Walker, as trustee, its five coupon bonds for $1000 each, bearing interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum and maturing five years after date, and also a second deed of trust on the same property. Both of said deeds of trust contained a covenant on the part of the grantor to keep the premises thereby conveyed insured in one or more responsible insurance companies in an amount sufficient to secure the indebtedness therein mentioned, and also a covenant that the grantor would not do or. cause to be done anything whereby the value of the premises thereby conveyed should be in any manner impeached or affected, and the lien thereby created charged or incumbered. Shortly after thé' execution of the first deed of trust, said company took out' insurance policies on said property aggregating $10,000, and' had inserted therein a'clause making the loss, if any, payable to the trustee named in said deed of trust, and shortly after the execution of the second deed of trust, it in like manner took out policies of insurance aggregating $5000, with a clause making the loss payable to the trustee in that deed. Said' insurance was kept in force by renewals until March 9, 1883, at which date the premises insured were destroyed by fire.

Sometime after said trust deed had been executed and placed on record and said $15,000 of.insurance for the benefit of Wilson had been procured, said paper company became embarrassed and various judgments were recovered against it, and thereupon said company requested Samuel S. Guyer to advance the sum of $5000 and buy in and hold said judgments, agreeing to procure and deliver to him as security for his advances policies of insurance upon its said property to the amount of $5000, said insurance policies to be so drawn as to be payable to him in case of loss as his interest might appear. Guyer thereupon advanced said sum of money and took up said judgments, and said company procured and delivered to him policies of insurance, which were additional to those obtained for the benefit of Wilson, amounting to $5000.

Shortly afterward said company took out $5000 of insurance on the same property for the benefit of Stephen A. Main and $2500 for the benefit of Mitchell & Lynde, thus making the aggregate of the insurance on said property $27,500. These policies were all kept in force down to the time of the fire, and shortly before the fire took place, said paper company procured $5000 additional insurance, on said property payable to Holmes Hakes, its president, and $2500 payable to George M. D. Hakes, a stockholder and director, thus making the total insurance in force at the time of the fire $37,000. Each of said policies, including those procured for the benefit of Wilson, contained a clause permitting other insurance, and providing that, in case of loss, each company should be liable only for its pro rata share of such loss.

After the fire an appraisement was had by appraisers appointed by the several insurance companies and the paper company, by which the total loss was fixed at $20,063.54, and the total insurable value of the property at $31,900. Upon the basis of said appraisement, the amount payable upon Wilson’s policies, under the pro rata clause, was only $9070.52. Wilson, after the fire, had the premises upon which the buildings insured stood, sold under one of his deeds of trust, realizing from such sale the sum of $2785. The indebtedness secured by said deeds of trust not being thus satisfied, he brought the present bill to enforce an equitable lien upon the moneys payable under the other policies in favor of subsequent creditors. After the fi^e, the claim under the policies in favor of Holmes Hakes was assigned to William T. Eiggs, and the claim under the policies in favor of George M. D. Hakes was assigned to Alexander Y. Bentley. Prior to the filing of said bill, Samuel S. Guyer died, leaving his last will and testament, by which he devised and bequeathed all his real and personal property to his widow, Annette Guyer, and to his son and daughter, Edward H. Guyer and Annette Guyer, and appointed his said widow his executrix.

The original bill, which was filed July 28, 1883, made the paper company, the several insurance companies, Holmes Hakes, George M. D. Hakes, Eiggs, Bentley, Main, Mitchell, Lynde, Annette Guyer, Edward H. Guyer and Annette Guyer personally and in her representative capacity, and certain other parties, defendants. The Guyers demurred to said bill and their demurrer was sustained. The bill was several times amended, and demurrers were filed to it in its amended form by the Guyers with like result. Holmes Hakes, George M. D. Hakes, Eiggs, Bentley, and Main answered and filed their cross-bill, and the cause afterward came on for hearing on pleadings and proofs, and as a result of said hearing a decree was entered June 16, 1888. At such hearing the court found that upon the bill of complaint and the amendments thereto, the equities were with the defendants, except defendants Holmes Hakes and Eiggs, and that upon the cross-bill the equities were with the complainants, except said Hakes and Eiggs; that as to the policies of insurance in which the loss, if any, was made payable to said Hakes, Hakes was chargeable with actual notice of the covenants in Wilson’s deeds of trust, and that he and his assignee were in no better position in relation thereto than was said paper company, and that said policies must be held to be issued in performance of said covenants, and for the benefit of Wilson, to the extent of the amount' still remaining due to him.

It was thereupon ordered, adjudged and decreed, among other things, that as tofsaid defendants Mitchell, Lynde, Edward H. Guyer and Annette Guyer, executrix, etc., the bill of complaint be dismissed at the complainant’s costs; that the ■insurance companies whose policies were made payable to the last named defendants and who had not paid the losses under said policies to the receiver, pay the same to the parties severally entitled thereto by the terms of said policies, and. that upon making suck payments, said insurance companies stand discharged as defendants herein; that the cause stand referred to a special master to take proof and report as to the amount of the complainant’s deficit upon the policies issued- for his benefit; also as to the amount of the paper company’s indebtedness to him secured by said policies, and the portion of said deficit caused by the issuance of the policies where the loss was made payable to Holmes Hakes, and the amount due and payable under said policies, and under the policies made payable to George M. D. Hakes and to Main. From this decree no appeal was taken by any of the parties thereto.

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Bluebook (online)
28 N.E. 738, 139 Ill. 392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guyer-v-wilson-ill-1891.