Melick v. Varney

59 N.W. 521, 41 Neb. 105, 1894 Neb. LEXIS 134
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJune 6, 1894
DocketNo. 4935
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 59 N.W. 521 (Melick v. Varney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Melick v. Varney, 59 N.W. 521, 41 Neb. 105, 1894 Neb. LEXIS 134 (Neb. 1894).

Opinion

Ryan, C.

This action of replevin originated in the district court of Lancaster county, and was brought by the defendant in error against. the plaintiff in error for the possession of certain horses, wagons, cattle, and farming implements. The right of possession upon which the above claim was resisted was, that plaintiff in error held his possession under and by virtue of a levy thereon made by plaintiff in error, as sheriff, of a certain execution issued on a judgment in favor of J. Fred Hutchins and James D. Parker agaiust Leroy S. Varney and John P. Varney. Hannah J. Varney, the defendant in error, is the wife of John P. Varney, and the mother of Leroy S. Varney. The property replevied had formerly been owned by John P. Varney, by whom, on February 25, 1889, it had been conveyed by bill of sale to Hannah J. Varney. This bill of sale was filed for record in the office of the county clerk of Lancaster county on June 20, 1889. It was agreed on the trial, in open court, that on April 8, 1888, John P. Varney and Leroy S. Varney executed their promissory note for $300, with ten per cent per annum interest; that said note was not paid when due, and that suit was brought in the county court of Lancaster county on May 8, 1889, and judgment rendered June 20, 1889, for $336.60, with costs $36.30. In connection with and immediately following the above stipulation there was introduced in evidence the execution under which levy was made, indorsed with the return of the plaintiff in error, evidencing the fact of such levy. It is clear from the testimony that at the time the note above executed was given, the property replevied was owned by John P. Var[107]*107ney,and continued to be his property until the execution of the aforesaid bill of sale. There was no evidence indicating any change in the management or control of the chattels described in the bill of sale aftér its execution. There was evidence, too, that just before the execution of the note, upon which judgment was rendered against John P. Varney, he stated to the parties contemplating taking the note, and who were afterwards therein named as payees, that he was the owner of the property which was after replevied, and that he was taken as one of the makers of said note in payment for the property sold. The defendant in error had no knowledge of these representations, however, so far as the evidence shows. Plaintiff in error examined John P. Varney as his own witness, from whose undisputed testimony it appears that the note, on which judgment was afterward rendered, was signed by John P. Varney as surety for his son, Leroy S. Varney, at least to the value of a team which was part of the consideration. What proportion of the note referred to was for the team sold Leroy S. Varney was not disclosed in evidence.

It was claimed by the defendant in error that in Cedar county, Iowa, her father and mother conveyed to her and her husband forty acres of land in June, 1871, which land in March, 1873, was sold for $1,400, of which defendant in error received $1,000, which she loaned to her husband. There were introduced in evidence deeds showing transfers as above recited. While the deed first above referred to was made to Hannah J. Varney and John P. Varney jointly, there was ample unquestioned evidence that the land was intended as a gift by the father of defendant in error to her. For the money intrusted to John P. Varney by his wife no evidence of indebtedness was given or asked, neither was any interest paid or required to be paid. To rebut these claims of the defendant in error no evidence was introduced, the sole reliance of plaintiff in error was on the inherent improbability of the evidence introduced [108]*108as to their existence and history. These questions of fact were submitted to the jury for determination; the verdict, sustained by amply sufficient evidence, was in favor of the defendant in error. In the course of the trial there was introduced in evidence a scrap of paper on which was a written assurance by the father of defendant in error.of what he proposed as to making a conveyance to her of the land which afterward formed the subject-matter of the deed which he executed. Possibly, if it was sought to enforce a specific performance of the undertaking of which assurance of performance was given, the terms thereof would have been too indefinite, but, as indicating an intention afterward executed, though not in exact accordance with the terms of such writing, it was competent. The court properly permitted this memorandum to be introduced in evidence for consideration by the jury. A receipt was allowed in evidence which recited that a deed had been made by the father and mother of the defendant in error and intrusted- to John P. Varney, by whom said receipt was executed. This receipt recited the sale of the land by John P. Varney to Luke Enlow in consideration of the sum of $1,400, of which sum $1,000 was to be held by John P. Varney for the use of Hannah J. Varney. It is true that the deed to Enlow was dated March 26, 1873, while the receipt last named bore date the 12th day of the same month. This discrepancy was one of the facts proper to be considered by the jury, and undoubtedly it was given due weight. This receipt was competent as showing that it was understood, long before any of the transactions out of which the levy involved herein took place, that Hannah J. Varney was entitled to receive of the sale of the land to Enlow the sum of $1,000, as in her oral testimony she claimed.

The.criticisms of the instructions are very general. As to one, it is insisted that it assumed that the father, gave the defendant in error forty acres of land, and because it [109]*109recognizes the receipt above mentioned as a valid and binding obligation for the payment of money. We do not understand how any misconstruction could have arisen aá to this instruction. The evidence showed that the deed was made to defendant in error and her husband in consideration of the relationship of defendant in error to the grantors. As to the receipt, the instruction was, that if it was taken with the intention that it should be enforced, it would be legal and binding, and she could in good faith receive the property of her husband in payment thereof as against other creditors. No error is perceived in this instruction.

There is complaint made of the refusal of the court to give the ninth instruction asked by the plaintiff in error. This was in the following language: “You are instructed that if a married woman places her money or property in the hands of her husband for the purpose of enabling him to carry on his business, under such circumstances as to enable him to obtain credit on the faith of his being the owner of such money or property, and he does thereby obtain credit, she will not be permitted to assert her claim to the prejudice of other creditors of her husband; and if you believe from the evidence that the plaintiff did so advance to her husband any money, and that such money was used by the said John P. Yarney in purchasing a farm and stock and implements, and that the said John Pi Yarney was enabled to obtain, and did obtain, credit by means of the farm and stock so purchased and on the faith of his ownership of the same, then the plaintiff will not be permitted to assert her claim as against the claims of such creditors of her husband; and if you find from all the evidence that Hutchins and Parker were such creditors, your verdict will be for the defendant.” This instruction was properly refused, for by the rule therein laid down there is an inhibition upon the loan of money by a wife to her husband, since if such a loan is made for business uses [110]

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

Related

Wilson v. Gerhard
270 N.W. 309 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1936)
Christensen v. Smith
243 N.W. 118 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1932)
Schott v. Machamer
74 N.W. 854 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1898)
Cram v. Sickel
71 N.W. 724 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1897)
Clarke Drug Co. v. Boardman
70 N.W. 248 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1897)
National Bank of Commerce v. Chapman
70 N.W. 39 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1897)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
59 N.W. 521, 41 Neb. 105, 1894 Neb. LEXIS 134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/melick-v-varney-neb-1894.