Stout v. Philippi Manufacturing & Mercantile Co.

23 S.E. 571, 41 W. Va. 339, 1895 W. Va. LEXIS 96
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 29, 1895
StatusPublished
Cited by53 cases

This text of 23 S.E. 571 (Stout v. Philippi Manufacturing & Mercantile Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Stout v. Philippi Manufacturing & Mercantile Co., 23 S.E. 571, 41 W. Va. 339, 1895 W. Va. LEXIS 96 (W. Va. 1895).

Opinion

Brannon, Judge:

B. B. Stout brought a suit in equity in the Circuit Court of Barbour county against the Philippi Manufacturing & Mercantile Company, a corporation, and others, to recover a debt due Stout from the corporation, alleging that said corporation had become embarrassed to insolvency and that it had executed a deed of trust upon certain personal property to secure a debt to the Farmers’ Bank of Philippi, and later a deed of trust upon all its real estate and machinery attached thereto, to secure various debts, in certain order, preferring a large indebtedness to said bank over Stout’s debt; that both said deeds of trust, for certain reasons stated, were fraudulent and void as to creditors other than the bank; and that the bank and the trustees were participants in the fraudulent transactions culminating in and including said deeds of trust.

The bill prayed that said deeds of trust be annulled, and the properties of the corporation subjected to the payment of Stout’s debt,

[342]*342Later, other creditors of the said corporation brought several separate suits, of like character, to recover their respective debts, and to overthrow said deeds of trust and subject the said property to their debts. These cases were jointly heard, and a decree dated 17th March, 1888, declared both of said deeds of trust fraudulent and void as to Stout and other general creditors of the Philippi Manufacturing & Mercantile Company, set them aside, and also the sale under one of them, and subjected the said real estate to pay certain creditors—those so suing.

The trustees in the deeds of trust and the bank were parties to these suits, and Stout recorded a notice of Us fen-dens of his suit, but the Douglasses were not made parties. Later, they filed a petition to be subrogated to a lien, and later still, a petition for rehearing, but otherwise were not parties.

Pending the suits the trustees under the deed of trust conveying the real estale sold it to S. C. Douglass and T. B. Douglass, who took possession, and held under their purchase from the trustees until it was sold later by the commissioners under the decree above mentioned. Under that decree the commissioners sold the property to S. C. Douglass, but he did not complete this sale by complying with the terms of sale prescribed by the decree, by giving notes with security; and a few days later, by consent of the parties by their attorneys, the property was resold, without re-advertisement or order of resale, and purchased by S. C. Douglass at a price less by one thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars than his former bid, and this sale was reported to the court and confirmed, reserving to the creditors any right to hold Douglass for the said difference. Both sales were reported b3? separate reports—filed, it seems, at the same time—and both heard together. Later, the Farmers’ Bank of Phillippi moved for a rule against Douglass to show cause why he should not be compelled to pay the said difference between his first and second bids for said property. Later, a decree was entered which required Douglass to pay the said difference, with interest; and it required S. C. Douglass and T. B. Douglass to pay one thousand and five hundred dollars, with interest, for rents and profits of [343]*343said mill property from the date of tlieir purchase from the trustees to the date of S. C. Douglass’ purchase of it of the commissioners under the decree.

From this last decree, dated 24th February, 1894, S. C. Douglass has appealed. I have stated only so much of the large record as 1 deem necessary to reflect the adjudication of law made in the case.

The appellant assigns errors in the first decree. Neither he nor T. B. Douglass was a formal party at its date. S. C. Douglass became quasi a party at later date, as purchaser under the decree, and the two filed two petitions, one of them asking re-hearing; and S. C. Douglass became a party to the rule to compel him to pay the difference between his two bids. As such purchaser, he could not appeal from former decree. Per Miller, Judge, Blossom v. Railroad Co., 1 Wall. 655. As a pendente lite purchaser he could not appeal. Those under whom such a purchaser holds represent him. Benn. Lis. Pend. § 325. But, waiving the question whether otherwise he was such a party as can assign error in that decree, there is the bar of time, precluding review of any error in that decree—almost seven years; two years being the limitation. Code, c. 135, s. 3. But counsel says that an appeal from a final decree brings up for review all preceding decrees out of which any error complained of in such final decree has arisen. This statement is too broad. An appeal taken in time from a decree will bring up for review every former order or decree not itself appealable, no matter when entered, and every appealable order or decree entered not more than two years before the appeal; but it will not bring up lor review any appealable order or decree entered more than two years before the appeal. Nor can any error in the decree or order appealed from in time be reviewed, if that error be solely based on an appealable order or decree entered more than two years before the appeal. The error in the former decree can not be corrected, because an appeal from that decree itself is barred; and the error in the later decree, though the appeal be within two years from its date, can not be corrected, because that would be a reversal of the former decree, and thus nullify the statute defending its error. And, furthermore, no errone-[344]*344ons decree prior to such appealable former decree can be reviewed. Tiernan’s Adm’r v. Minghini’s Adm’r, 28 W. Va. 314; Lloyd v. Kyle, 26 W. Va. 534. Tlie only question, then, is whether the decree of March 17, 1.388, is appeala-ble. Here we can have no trouble. That decree adjudicated the principles of the cause—its soul and substance—in adjudicating that the deeds of trust were fraudulent and void; setting- them aside; setting aside the sale made under one of them to the Douglasses; decreeing debts, and their order against the property; and subjecting it to sale. Hoy v. Hughes, 27 W. Va. 778; Buster v. Holland, Id. 510. And it just now occurs to me, its the decree requires land to be sold, it is appealable, under the letter of clause 7, s. 1, c. 135. Indeed, is it not a final decree, according to Core v. Strickler, 24 W. Va. 689? No matter in what light we may view the decree as to the Douglasses, an appeal, when resorted to to reverse or avoid a decree, is under the limitation. For these reasons, if not for others, we can not look into that decree of March 17, 1888.

We will now look into the decree of 24th February, 1894. The questions of liability for rent, and difference between S. C. Douglass’ first and last bids, were not passed on in the former decree, nor did that decree settle principles touching them, or from which the liability imposed by the latter decree legally and logically resulted; and therefore any error in the latter decree imposing liability therefor does not come from the former decree, and we can review the later decree.

Are T. B. and 8. C. Douglass liable for rent while they occupied under the sale under the deed of trust ?

Stout recorded a notice of lis pendens before the sale by the trustees, and they and the beneficiaries under the trust were parties to his suit; and, though the Douglasses were not formal parties, they are as fully bound by the decree as if parties, because

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Bluebook (online)
23 S.E. 571, 41 W. Va. 339, 1895 W. Va. LEXIS 96, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stout-v-philippi-manufacturing-mercantile-co-wva-1895.