Quarl v. Abbett

1 N.E. 476, 102 Ind. 233, 1885 Ind. LEXIS 39
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedJune 9, 1885
DocketNo. 9529
StatusPublished
Cited by83 cases

This text of 1 N.E. 476 (Quarl v. Abbett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Quarl v. Abbett, 1 N.E. 476, 102 Ind. 233, 1885 Ind. LEXIS 39 (Ind. 1885).

Opinion

Elliott, J.

The material facts stated in the complaint ■of the appellee are these: Vincent A. Quarl and Samuel Lefevre are non-residents of the State, and the latter endorsed to the appellee two promissory' notes, executed by Bledsoe .and others to the appellee. At the time the notes matured the makers were insolvent, and so remained. At the time of the ■endorsement made by him, Lefevre owed debts amounting to ten thousand dollars, and was the owner of twenty-four shares of the capital stock of a corporation known as the Indiana Chair Manufacturing Company, and to cheat and defraud his -creditors, entered into a conspiracy with Quarl, and, pursuant to the fraudulent purpose, did transfer and assign all of the stock to Quarl on the books of the company, which transfer was accepted with full knowledge of the assignor’s fraudulent intent. Nothing was paid by Quarl for the stock, and he appears on the books of the corporation to be the owner. The prayer is that the court will ascertain the amount due the plaintiff, adjudge the transfer of the stock to be fraudulent, and decree that the property be sold as on execution to .satisfy appellee’s claim. Concurrently with the complaint, the [235]*235appellee filed an affidavit reading thus: “ Said plaintiff says he has a good and valid cause of action against Samuel Lefevre and Vincent A. Quarl, which, as to said Lefevre, is founded upon the endorsement to this plaintiff of certain promissory notes, and, as to said Lefevre and Quarl jointly, is founded upon the fraudulent transfer to said Lefevre of certain property more particularly described in the complaint in this cause, which transfer grows out of and is connected with the endorsement of said notes by the said Lefevre to this plaintiff. And he further- says that said defendants, Lefevre .and Quarl, are non-residents of the State of Indiana.”

An affidavit and undertaking in attachment were also filed, and the writ issued at the suit of the appellee was levied on the stock standing in the name of Quarl on the books of the company. The complaint and affidavit for publication were filed on the 17th day of April, 1878. On the 11th day of June, 1878, proof of publication of notice was made. The notice reads as follows:

Oliver H. P. Abbett v. Samuel L. Lefevre, V. Augustus Quarl, Indianapolis Chair Manufacturing Company.
“ No. 21,993. Room 4. April Term, 1878.
“Be it known, that on the 17th day of April, 1878, the above named plaintiff, by his attorneys, filed in the office of the clerk of the Superior Court of Marion county, in the State of Indiana, his complaint against the above named defendants for attachment, and that on the said 17th day of April, 1878, the said plaintiff filed in the said clerk’s office the affidavit of a competent person showing that said defendants, Samuel L. Lefevre and V. Augustus Quarl, are not residents of the State of Indiana. Now, therefore, by order of said court, said defendants last above named are hereby notified of the filing and pending of said complaint against them, and that unless they appear and answer or demur thereto at the calling of said cause on the second day of the term of said court, to be begun and held at the court-house, in the city of Indianapolis, on the first Monday in June, 1878, said com[236]*236plaint and the matters and things therein contained and alleged will be heard and determined in their absence.
“Austin H. Brown, Clerk.”

On the day last named the cause was submitted to the court and .a finding and judgment entered in favor of the appellee. In December, 1879, Quarl appeared and filed a motion to open the judgment, and his motion was sustained. On the 3d day of January, 1880, he filed an answer of general denial, and on the first day of the following July, the cause was, by agreement, submitted to the court for trial. The trial resulted in a finding and judgment for the appellee. In September, 1880, a motion for a new trial was overruled, appeal was taken to the general term, and the judgment of thd special-term affirmed on the 2d day of May, 1881.

The appeilant contends that no jurisdiction of the person of the defendants was obtained, and, therefore, no personal judgment could be rendered. ~We concur with counsel that no personal judgment can be rendered in a case where there is constructive service,.but we can not concur in the conclusion which is deduced from this proposition. It does-not follow that property fraudulently transferred may not be-reached and subjected to sale in an action commenced by publication. A personal judgment is one which binds the defendant; while a judgment which operates upon property is, in its essential features, a judgment in rem. Such a judgment creates no personal liability, but operates upon the particular property which constitutes the subject of litigation. A judgment operating solely upon property can not be made the foundation of an action against the defendant; nevertheless it may effectively operate upon the particular property within the jurisdiction of the court-. If the appellant is right,, then a citizen of Indiana can never reach property within our jurisdiction, if it is claimed by a non-resident. If the-appellant is correct, then our statutory provisions providing foi' attachments against non-resident debtors is absolutely null, for in every case it is necessary to ascertain the amount [237]*237of the debt in order to make a proper order of sale; and this proves his argument to be unsound.

It is a general principle that the process of the courts may reach and seize property within their jurisdiction. A man who brings property within the territorial jurisdiction of a ■State subjects it to the laws of that State. “If a.foreigner ■or citizen of another State,” says an able court, “send his property within a jurisdiction different from that where he resides, he impliedly submits it to the rules and regulations in force in the country where he places it. What the law protects, it has the right to regulate.” Clark v. Tarbell, 58 N. H. 88. This general doctrine has been declared by other ■courts, among them our own. Ames Iron Works v. Warren, 76 Ind. 512; Green v. VanBuskirk, 7 Wall. 139; Rice v. Courtis, 32 Vt. 460. It is upon this general principle that cur statutory provisions relative to notice by publication are founded. If property of a non-resident can not be reached by legal process upon constructive notice, then our statutes were passed in vain and are mere empty legislative declarations, without either force or meaning; for, if the person is not within the jurisdiction of the court, no personal judgment can be rendered, and if the judgment can not operate upon the property, then no effective judgment at all can be rendered, so that the result would be that the courts would be powerless to assist a citizen against a non-resident.' Such a result would be a deplorable one. If the rule were that which appellant’s argument asserts, a citizen with a chattel mortgage could not enforce it on property within our borders against a non-resident, nor could a creditor enforce a claim against a man who had fled to Canada and made it his residence, although he had abundance of property within the State. Nor, if the rule were as asserted, could property of non-resident corporations within our limits be reached. But the rule is not as contended for; property within our jurisdiction may be seized upon process issued upon constructive notice.

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Bluebook (online)
1 N.E. 476, 102 Ind. 233, 1885 Ind. LEXIS 39, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/quarl-v-abbett-ind-1885.