State ex rel. Fosdick v. Mayor of Perrysburg

14 Ohio St. (N.S.) 472
Ohio Supreme Court·Decided December 15, 1863·Published

Opinion

Brinkerhoee, C.J.

The alternative writ in this case sets forth:.

“ That on March 5, 1851, and from that time until May 3, 1852, Perrysburg, aforesaid, was an incorporated town in the State of Ohio, and that ever since May 3,1852, it hath been, and yet is, an incorporated village of said state.

“ That on March 5,1851, the general assembly of Said state passed an act to incorporate the Dayton and Michigan Railroad Company.’ ; -

“ That on June Í, 1851, said company organized under said charter, and hath ever since been a corporation, entitled to all the franchises, rights and privileges conferred by said charter, or otherwise by law.

“ That at the annual fall election, held in said village of Perrysburg, on the second Tuesday of October, 1852, a vote of the qualified electors of said village was duly taken and de[474]*474dared, pursuant to due notice thereof given, upon'the question whether the corporate authorities of said village should bo authorized to subscribe $50,000 for and on behalf of said village, to the capital stock of said railroad company: and a majority of said electors then and there voting, voted in favor of and to authorize such subscription.

“ That, pursuant to the authority vested in them by the premises, and particularly conferred upon them by the fifth section of the railroad company’s charter, aforesaid, the corporate authorities of said village, for and on its behalf, did on or about November 8, 1852, subscribe $50,000 to the capital stock of said company.

“ That aftenvard, to-wit, on May 13,1853, the corporate authorities of said village, by virtue of the premises, and of the authority conferred upon them by law, did, for and on behalf of said village, cause to be executed divers bonds of said village, sealed with its corporate seal, and subscribed by its mayor and recorder, and having annexed to the same respectively divers interest warrants, or coupons, duly signed by said recorder; the aggregate of the principal sums of said bonds being $50,000, bearing interest at the rate of seven per centum per annum, as therein stated; and did then issue, negotiate and deliver all said bonds, with the interest warrants, or coupons thereunto attached (said bonds, warrants, or coupons, being regular upon their face), to the said railroad company, in full payment of said subscription to the stock of said company; and the said company, then and there, received the same as such full payment, and delivered to the corporate authorities of said village, certificates of stock in said company, amounting to $50,000.

“ That by each of said bonds, the said village, by the description of ‘ the town of Perrysburg, in the county of Wood,’ acknowledged itself to owe, and promised to pay to the treasurer of said railroad company, or bearer, the sum of money therein mentioned, on January 1,1873, at the treasury of said county, with interest thereon, at the rate of seven per centum per annum, from the first day of January, 1853. The interest to be paid annually, on the 1st day of January, on presenting [475]*475the coupon for the same at the office of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company, in the city of New York.

“ That exhibit £ A,’ hereunto attached, is an exact copy of one of said bonds, and also of all the others, except that the numbers of the others, and the denomination of some of them, for aught said relator knows, are different.

“ That exhibit£ B,’ hereunto attached, is an exact copy of a coupon attached or belonging to said bond, of which exhibit £ A’ is a copy: and all the coupons attached thereto, or to the other bonds, are similar in form, varying from this only in their numbers and date of payment, and in their amount, if the bonds are of different denominations.

££ That said village regularly paid the interest that accrued on said bonds, for eight years, to-wit, for the years 1853 to 1860, both inclusive; but the interest that has since accrued remains unpaid.

££ That before any default in the payment of said interest, said Samuel Eosdick, in the usual course of business, and in good faith, without any notice of any infirmity therein, and for a valuable consideration, purchased seven of said bonds, each for one thousand dollars (exhibit£ A’ being a copy of one of them), with the coupons thereunto attached, and is still the owner and holder thereof, with the unpaid coupons thereunto attached or belonging.

“ That the remaining bonds, amounting to forty-three thousand dollars, principal, with the unpaid coupons, thereunto belonging, are outstanding in the hands of like bona fide purchasers, for a valuable consideration.

“That, relying on the validity of said subscription and bonds, said railroad company constructed its road from Dayton to Toledo, by the way of said village of Perrysburg, and has ever since its completion, about three years ago, maintained and operated the same.

“ That said Samuel Fosdick has duly demanded payment of the interest remaining due to him as aforesaid, but payment thereof has been refused.

“ That the corporate authorities of said village have hitherto failed, neglected and refused, and do still fail, neglect and re[476]*476fuse, to levy any tax, or otherwise to provide for the payment of the interest that has accrued on said bonds since 1860; and give it out in speeches that they never will pay either principal or interest of said bonds; falsely pretending that said bonds and coupons have no validity.”

The alternative writ then directs the corporate authorities of the village of Perrysburg to levy a tax sufficient to pay the interest accruing and accrued on said bonds, or. to show cause, etc.

The defendants answer, in substance :

1. That the “grand levy” of Perrysburg for 1852, was, '$127,392; for 1853, $149,033 ; for 1860, $171,363; for 1861, $173,591; and for 1862, $178,488, and no more.

2. That defendants have no moneys belonging to the village, applicable to the payment of the relator’s claim.

3. That defendants have been advised, by counsel learned in the law, and they believe, that the said bonds and subscription of stock in the said writ mentioned are illegal and utterly void, and that the said incorporated village had no power by law to make the same, and that these respondents have no power to levy a tax to pay the same.”

The case has been argued and submitted on the alternative writ, and the answer thereto.

The allegations of the alternative writ, as to matters of fact, are not denied in the answer; nor are the matters of fact set forth in the answer controverted by the relator; and the matters of fact set forth in both, therefore, are here taken as true; and the questions before us are questions of law, arising upon the state of facts thus mutually admitted. And these we will now proceed to consider.

The act of March 5,1851, “ to incorporate the Dayton and Michigan Railroad Company” (49 Ohio Laws, 440), among .other things not necessary to extract, provides :

Sec. 5. “ The county commissioners of any county through or in which said road may be located, shall be, and they are hereby authorized to subscribe to the capital stock of said company, any sum not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars ; the corporate authorities of Dayton, Troy, Piqua, Sid[477]

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State ex rel. Fosdick v. Mayor of Perrysburg, 14 Ohio St. (N.S.) 472 (Ohio 1863).

14 Ohio St. (N.S.) 472 (State ex rel. Fosdick v. Mayor of Perrysburg) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.