Henderson v. Foster

124 S.E. 463, 139 Va. 543, 1924 Va. LEXIS 128
CourtSupreme Court of Virginia
DecidedSeptember 18, 1924
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 124 S.E. 463 (Henderson v. Foster) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Henderson v. Foster, 124 S.E. 463, 139 Va. 543, 1924 Va. LEXIS 128 (Va. 1924).

Opinion

Campbell, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

C. A. Foster, the defendant in error, instituted in the Circuit Court of Bedford county his action of detinue against the plaintiff in error, to recover seventy-five shares of $tock of the Barksdale-Foster Hardware Company, Inc., of the value of $7,500.00.

Hereafter Foster will be referred to as plaintiff and Henderson as defendant.

Upon the trial, on the issue joined, the jury found a verdict in favor of the plaintiff, and the court rendered judgment thereon, and thereupon the defendant applied for and obtained a writ of error.

The facts in evidence are as follows: C. A. Foster, C. E. Tucker and W. R. Holland were the principal stockholders and of&c'ers in the Big Four Grocery Company; the relations existing between the three were intimate and friendly.

In April, 1921, W. R. Holland became indebted to F. H. Henderson, the defendant, in the sum of $2,750.00, and also was indebted to W. C. Henderson, a brother of defendant, in the sum of $3,250.00, both debts being evidenced by the notes of Holland. The defendant demanding that his note be more firmly secured, Holland applied to his associate in business, the plaintiff, for assistance in securing collateral, and was. loaned seventy-five shares of the capital stock of the Barksdale-Foster Hardware Company, with permission to use this stock as collateral to secure the note held by the defendant.

Holland, on April 6,1921, deposited his stock with defendant and took from him a receipt, which reads as follows : “Received of Will R.Holland one stock of theBarks[548]*548dale-Foster Hardware, seventy-five shares at. $100.00 each, to use as collateral security. This is to state positively that Will R. Holland has not sold this stock to F. H. Henderson this April 6, 1921. • F. H. Henderson.”

In January, 1922, defendant notified Holland he had become the owner of the note executed to W. C. Henderson and again demanded of Holland that he more firmly secure this note. Holland wrote to plaintiff asking permission to use the stock as collateral security for the W. C. Henderson note. This request plaintiff positively refused to comply with, stating he perhaps would have to borrow money for himself. This refusal was communicated to defendant. However, some time thereafter, either in February or March, Holland offered his brother, John T. Holland, as security to protect the loan of the stock and the following agreement was drawn up:

“Brookneal, Virginia.
“This article of agreement entered into this 23d day of March, 1922, between C. A. Foster, party of the first part, and Will R. Holland, party of the second part,
“Witnesseth:
“The party of the second part agrees to give the party of the first part his note for $7,500.00, endorsed by J. T. Holland to be used only as collateral security for an amount not to exceed $5,000.00 by the party of the first part.
“This note is given to secure the party of the first part for $7,500.00 of Barksdale-Foster Hardware Company stock that the party of the second part is using as collateral for $5,000.00 which is the property of the part of the first part.
(Signed) “C. A. Foster, “Will R. Holland.
“Witness C. E. Tucker.”

[549]*549This note of indemnity was never delivered to plaintiff for the reason that John T. Holland refused to endorse the same. From this point the evidence is conflicting.

The plaintiff contends that this agreement of March 23rd was put in a safe and nothing more thought of it until in April, 1922, his son, in looking over some papers, called his attention to the fact that there was no such note as the agreement called for, whereupon he ■ told his son the said John T. Holland note had never been delivered. He then told C. E. Tucker to call Holland’s attention to his failure to deliver the collateral note called for in the agreement. This Tucker did and Holland sent him, some sixty days after the agreement of March 23rd, a note for $7,500.00 endorsed by Nannie V. Holland, his wife. He retained this note as collateral until the return of his stock but not with any intention of authorizing Holland to hypothecate his stock for the W. C. Henderson note.

In June, 1923, plaintiff further contends he heard for the first time that his stock was up to secure the W. C. Henderson note; that he also heard that the stock was being offered to secure a loan of W. C. Henderson’s in the bank. Upon receipt of this information, he went to see defendant and asked how much Holland owed him, to which defendant replied $1,500.00; he then told defendant: “I will get Holland to pay you, and if he will not I will do so and take up the stock.” To which defendant replied: ‘ ‘But that is not all of it; it is up to secure the $3,250.00 note of Walter’s.”

It is virtually admitted by defendant that in the month of July plaintiff offered to pay him the sum of $1,500.00, the balance due on the note executed to him, and redeem the stock, but he declined to surrender the stock unless the $3,250.00 note was also paid; and that [550]*550this offer of payment was also made by Mr. Kiser, the attorney for plaintiff, but was refused for the same reason given plaintiff.

The testimony of Holland, which conflicts with that of plaintiff, is that after his brother refused to endorse his note to secure plaintiff, he offered Nannie V. Holland, his wife, as endorser, and that plaintiff accepted this note and authorized him to inform defendant that the stock could stand as collateral security for the entire debt due by him to defendant.

The following instructions were given by the court upon motion of the defendant:

“The court instructs the jury that if they believe from the evidence that C. A. Foster endorsed the said certificate of stock in blank and delivered the same to Will R. Holland to be used by the said Will R. Holland as collateral security for a debt due by said Will R. Holland to F. H. Henderson, in the sum of $2,750.00, and that at a later time the said Will R. Holland got the consent of the said C. A. Foster to use the said stock as collateral security for a note in the sum of $3,250.00 held by the said F. H. Henderson, with the understanding that Will R. Holland would deliver to the said C. A.' Foster a note in the sum of $7,500.00, endorsed by John T. Holland; that said John T. Holland did not endorse such a note and. that subsequently the said C. A. Foster consented to the use of said certificate of stock by the said Holland, the said Foster taking as security therefor the note of the said Will R. Holland and Nannie Y. Holland, his wife; that said certificate of stock was delivered by said Holland to said Henderson as security to the said note, and that the said note in the sum of $3,250.00 has not been paid, then the said C. A. Foster is estopped from asserting claim to the said stock until [551]*551the $3,250.00 note is paid, and if the said note has not been paid the jury must find for the defendant.
“The court instructs the jury that the burden is on the plaintiff to make out his case by a preponderance of the evidence.”

Over the objection of the defendant, the court, of its own motion, gave this instruction:

“A.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
124 S.E. 463, 139 Va. 543, 1924 Va. LEXIS 128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/henderson-v-foster-va-1924.