Steptoe v. Pollard

71 Gratt. 689
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Steptoe v. Pollard. Read the opinion of the Court — 30 Gratt. 689
Supreme Court of Virginia·Decided September 26, 1878·Published

Opinion

Moncure, P.,

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an appeal from certain decrees and orders of the circuit court of Roanoke county. The facts of the case, and the pleadings and proceedings in it, so far as it is material tó state them, seem to be substantially as follows :

About the 26th of March, 1872, Shepherd Pollard contracted with John M. Brosius to purchase of the latter one steam saw-mill and fixtures, one wagon, one log carrier and one extra large saw; the first at $1,500, the second at $145, the third at $125, and the fourth at $20, all aggregated together, at $1,790 or thereabouts, all on time. The said pi’operty was to have been delivered on or before the 20th of April, 1872, but was not in fact delivered until the 11th of June, 1872, on which day the said Pollard executed his negotiable note at ninety days for $145, and his three bonds each, for $546.66, with interest thereon from the- date thereof till paid, and payable ■eight, sixteen and twenty-four months after date,- respec[691]*691lively. The said negotiable note was endorsed or assigned by said Brosius to John R. Steptoe, and the said bonds were made payable to said Steptoe—the said Brosius being, it seems, indebted to the said Steptoe on account of the said mill. On the same day on which the said property was delivered, and the said bonds were executed, to-wit: on the said 11th day of June, 1872, the said Pollard executed a deed of trust conveying the same property and a tract of land, two mares and two horses, to Robert S. Quarles, in trust to secure the payment of the said debts to the said Steptoe.

The said Pollard having, as was alleged, made default in the payment of a part of said debt, the said trustee, Quarles, on the 23d of June, 1874, in pursuance of the said deed of trust, advertised for sale the property thereby conveyed; but before it was sold, and on the day on which the sale was advertised to have been made, to-wit: the 14th of July, 1874, the said Pollard applied for and ■obtained an injunction of said sale from the judge of the circuit court of Roanoke county.

In the bill on which said injunction was obtained, the said Pollard, the complainant, charged, among other things, that “ the said property was to be delivered on or before the 20th April, 1872, and to be delivered in good working order, all to be taken to pieces, overhauled, repaired, put in number one working order, and put up again so as to work in good condition on or before said 20th April, 1872, all whereof said Brosius guaranteed to complainant; that on the 11th June, 1872, the said property was all delivered, except a few parts of the wagons, which never were delivered; that the extra large saw never was put up and could not be got to work, but heated and bent and got warped and limber, and would not work and was perfectly worthless, whereby complainant was damaged $145; that complainant wrote to said Brosius three different times requesting [692]*692Mm to take the said extra saw back or compensate complainant in some way, so that he would not be a loser thereby, but received no answer; that the engine had never been overhauled and repaired and put in good working order, as agreed upon, before its delivery to the complainant, but only blacked up, so that one of the flues'was in such condition that it had to be plugged by the said Brosius himself after its delivery, and never has been and could not be used at all since its delivery, and that in other respects it was defective and out of order, so as greatly to impair its value to the amount of at least $350; that from the 20th April, 1872, complainant was expecting the said steam saw-mill and other property, and was induced so to expect it by frequent letters from the said Brosius promising to deliver same from week to week, and so was kept from farming and other business to his damage to the extent of at least $200; that complainant paid a negotiable note for $145, given on said purchase; that one bond executed by complainant for $546.66, due 11th June, 1874, was assigned to Charles L. Cocke, to pay which complainant has already made arrangements or has actually paid the whole; that soon after the delivery of said property complainant paid $65 in one milch cow to said Brosius; that complainant knew nothing of steam saw-mills and engines and fixtures at the time of the purchase and delivery thereof to Mm by said Brosius; that said Step-toe and Brosius were present together at the time of the sale of said property to complainant, but the latter was not aware of the connection of said Steptoe with the transaction until afterwards. “ Complainant looked upon said Brosius as the actual owner of the said property, and gave the deed of trust as aforesaid merely to gratify him, and therefore let him have the cow at $65; that he was induced so to look upon said Brosius by the actions of said Brosius and said Steptoe; that it was not until [693]*693•six months or more afterwards that complainant found out that the said Steptoe was the real owner of the said property,” &e., &c.

The said Steptoe, Quarles and Brosius were made defendants to the said bill and answered the same. The said Brosius in his answer, among other things, says: “ That in March, 1872, this respondent being indebted to his co-defendant, John R. Steptoe, and desiring to make an arrangement to pay the debt by appropriating the proceeds of the sale of the property specified in the bill, met the plaintiff and said Steptoe at Salem depot some few weeks after having bargained with the" plaintiff' for a sale of said property, and bn that day and at that place delivered the property to the plaintiff in the exact condition in which he had purchased it, and by agreement then and there between them the plaintiff executed his notes or bonds, not to this respondent, hut to the said Steptoe, and to secure their payment, the plaintiff that day, in pursuance of an agreement then made at the depot with said Steptoe, executed the deed of trust in the bill mentioned. This respondent was no party to that deed, and is in no way interested in it, the same being matter ■of arrangement and contract between Pollard and Step-toe to their mutual satisfaction. This respondent denies most positively that there was any warranty of the engine or any of the machinery, and affirms that he refused to warrant it, but left the plaintiff to judge of its value. He denies that there was any delay in its delivery, as charged in the bill, but that the property was delivered at Salem depot on the day the notes or bonds and deed of trust were executed, and was there and then received and hauled away by the plaintiff without objection or complaint of any kind,” &c., &c. “Respondent denies that any of this property was owned by bis co-defendant, Steptoe, when sold to the plaintiff, but was the bona fide property of this respondent, and Steptoe, as a creditor of [694]*694respondent, agreed to take the notes or bonds of the plaintiff, properly secured, and give respondent credit therefor. Respondent denies the allegation that the plaintiff sustained damage in his farming operations by any delay in receiving the mill, but on the contrary, told respondent if he had had it sooner than he got it, he could not have used it by reason of other engagements. Respondent denies that there was any partnership between himself and said Steptoe up to and at the time of these transactions, or in the ownership of said property.” “ This respondent denies in toio

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