Horigan Realty Co. v. First Nat. Bank of St. Joseph

289 S.W. 352, 221 Mo. App. 960, 1926 Mo. App. LEXIS 201
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 6, 1926
StatusPublished

This text of 289 S.W. 352 (Horigan Realty Co. v. First Nat. Bank of St. Joseph) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Horigan Realty Co. v. First Nat. Bank of St. Joseph, 289 S.W. 352, 221 Mo. App. 960, 1926 Mo. App. LEXIS 201 (Mo. Ct. App. 1926).

Opinion

ARNOLD, J.

This is a suit to recover the sum of $2808.12 alleged to be a trust fund belonging to plaintiff and which is in the hands of defendant. There was a finding and judgment for plaintiff in the sum of $2637.64. A motion for a new trial was unsuccessful and defendant appeals.

*961 This is the second appeal of this suit. In the first trial plaintiff was given a judgment for the identical amount above mentioned and an appeal was taken to this court. On review the judgment was reversed and the cause remanded. A brief statement of the facts would seem to be neeessaiy at this stage, and for a detailed statement, reference is hereby made to our former opinion. [Horigan Realty Co. v. First National Bank, 273 S. W. 772.]

It appears from an agreed statement of facts upon which the cause was tried in both instances, that John J. Flynn, in March, 1920,' and prior thereto, was secretary and treasurer of plaintiff corporation which was founded for the purpose, of handling the real estate of Alice Horigan. In March, 1920, a piece of real estate belonging to plaintiff was sold for a. consideration of $6000, of which $1000 was paid in cash and $5000 in negotiable liberty bonds, payable to bearer. The proceeds of the sale were received by Flynn as secretary and treasurer. On March 30, 1920, Frazer L. Ford, president of defendant bank, at the request of Flynn, sold the said bonds and placed the proceeds in the sum of $4552.30 to the credit of Flynn’s personal account with defendant bank where Flynn had a cheeking account. The bonds were purchased by Ford & Porter, a brokerage firm of which the senior member was Frazer L. Ford. No disclosure was made at the time of the sale of the bonds as to their true ownership and that they were not, in fact, the property of J. J. Flynn.

John J. Flynn died intestate on April 6, 1921, on which date there was to his credit on the books of defendant bank the sum of $2808.12. This amount stood to Flynn’s credit on the books of the bank until April 23, 1921, when the same was credited on a certain note, being one of six notes, each for the sum- of $10,000, and all of the same tenor and effect except as to dates and maturities. The note involved in this controversy, dated January 13, 1921, is for $10,000 payable ninety days after date to defendant herein, with interest at eight per cent per annum after maturity. The note was signed' 1 ‘ Horigan Supply Company by John J. Flynn” and was indorsed on the back as follows: “Horigan Supply Company, by John J. Flynn, President, John J. Flynn.”

The agreed statement of facts shows that the Horigan Supply Company was a separate corporation in no way connected with the Horigan Realty Company, plaintiff herein, and was a wholesale dealer in plumber supplies at St. Joseph, Missouri. It appears that the said notes were rediscounted with the Federal Reserve Bank at Kansas City, Mo., and the note of January 13, 1921, was returned to defendant bank on April 13, 1921, and the other notes were similarly returned two days later.; thus again becoming the property of defendant on the dates they were so returned. The books of the Horigan *962 Realty Company did not show that Flynn had sold the bonds or any of them, but that they were still on hand.

On April 15, 1921, Frank J. Flynn, son of John J. was granted letters of administration on the estate of his father. The inventory showed the total value of the estate as finally collected was $21,534.56. Among the assets was included the item of $2808.12 cash on deposit in defendant bank. Notes similar! to those above described, payable to various persons and corporations on which John J. Flynn had placed his name in the same manner as the note above described, were probated against his estate and also allowed against the bankruptcy estate of the supply company to the amount of approximately $260,000.

The Horigan Supply Company was declared a bankrupt on August 19, 1921, and its assets amounted to about twenty-five per cent, of its liabilities which included the notes which were probated against the estate of Flynn. The Flynn estate had not been fully administered at the time of filing this suit, but settlement was thereafter made and creditors upon the general claims received .05109 per cent, of their respective claims. Defendant herein proved its claim on the notes mentioned against the Flynn estate and the bankrupt supply company.

After the death of John J. Flynn one T. P. Holland became the president of the Horigan Realty Company. About April 15, 1921, Holland told Frazer L. Ford that he was unable to locate the liberty bonds in the amount of $5000 shown in the summary of the Horigan Realty Company’s affairs which Holland had shown to Ford during the week following the death of Flynn. Upon investigation it was learned' (as shown by a letter from Ford & Porter, by G-. E. Porter, dated April 25, 1921) that the said bonds had been purchased by M)r. Ford from Flynn on March 30, 1920, and a check issued therefor payable to John J. Flynn in the sum of $4552.30. Thereafter the plaintiff herein brought suit against the administrator of the estate of John J. Flynn and defendant herein, asking that the amount realized from the sale of said bonds be declared a prior claim. It was shown in that case that the amount sued for had not been recovered by the administrator; and the court in its decree found' the money had not been traced into the hands of the administrator but that certain items in the sum of $577.33 had been paid out for the preservation of the estate, and this amount the court decreed was entitled to priority. On final settlement, there was paid to plaintiff the sum of $577.33, "allowed as a preferred claim, and also, on final settlement and distribution, the further sum of $212.55. On May 17, 1921, Holland made demand on Frazer L. Ford for the balance of $2808.12, and Ford told him there was nothing to the credit of the account.

*963 The- agreed statement of facts further states that John J. Flynn had no authority from plaintiff to use or sell said bonds or other property of plaintiff for his own use. Over the objections of defendant the original petition in this cause was introduced in evidence, also the original summons and the sheriff’s return thereon. The objection to the introduction of the original petition is as follows:

“Mr. Phillip: We want to object to it on the ground that -the paper offered in evidence by the plaintiff admitted in evidence referred to as the agreed statement of facts shows upon its face that it contains a stipulation between the parties that the judgment in this case is to be entered upon the facts therein stated and we object to the introduction of any additional evidence to supplement, change, alter, vary or in any way affect the stipulation of the parties of the facts therein stated.”

The original judgment of the trial court and the opinion and mandate of this court on the first appeal were received in evidence over defendant’s objections.' The court heard the evidence of two witnesses, to-wit, T. P. Holland and Frank J.

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Related

Horigan Realty Co. v. First National Bank
273 S.W. 772 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1925)
State ex rel. Webb v. McCune
107 S.W. 1030 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1908)
City of Stanberry v. Jordan
46 S.W. 1093 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1898)
State ex rel. Malin v. Merriam
60 S.W. 1112 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1901)

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Bluebook (online)
289 S.W. 352, 221 Mo. App. 960, 1926 Mo. App. LEXIS 201, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/horigan-realty-co-v-first-nat-bank-of-st-joseph-moctapp-1926.