Trabue v. Henderson

79 S.W. 451, 180 Mo. 616, 1904 Mo. LEXIS 82
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedMarch 17, 1904
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 79 S.W. 451 (Trabue v. Henderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trabue v. Henderson, 79 S.W. 451, 180 Mo. 616, 1904 Mo. LEXIS 82 (Mo. 1904).

Opinion

MARSHALL, J.

This is a bill in equity to set aside a deed dated March 28, 1898, from the defendant. John M. Henderson, to his mother, the defendant Sarah L. Henderson, to his undivided one-sixth interest in a certain four hundred and eighty acre tract of land in Bates county, of which his father, Eli Henderson, died seized on March 11, 1898, on the ground that it was a voluntary conveyance, without consideration and made for the purpose of defrauding his, John M. Henderson’s, creditors, and especially the plaintiff, to whom he was at the time indebted in the sum of five hundred dollars, and which has since been reduced to judgment, and said John M. Henderson’s interest in the land sold under execution to the plaintiff. The answers are gen[619]*619eral denials. The venue was changed from Bates county to Jackson county, where the case was tried before Hon. C. 0. Tichenor as special judge. The court made the following special finding of fact, and entered judgment thereon for the defendants:

“That on the 8th day of February, 1898, the defendant, John M. Henderson, became indebted to the plaintiff, James L. Trabue, in the sum of $500, bearing interest at the rate of 8 per cent annually, said debt becoming due in September, 1898, by an assumption in a deed to him that Eli Henderson, who was the father of said John M. Henderson, died intestate March 11, 1898, seized of in fee, the following property, to-wit: The south half of section twenty-eight, township forty-two and range thirty-three, containing 320 acres; the northwest quarter -of the northwest quarter and the north half of the northeast quarter of section thirty-three, township forty-two, range thirty-three, containing 120 acres; and the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section twenty-nine, township forty-two, range thirty-three, containing 40 acres, or 480 acres in all, in Bates county, Missouri; that the said Eli Henderson left as his heirs, his widow, the defendant Sarah L. Henderson, and six children, as follows: John M. Henderson, the defendant, Martha A. Ankrum, Elan, Asenath O., Lois Belle and Laura A. Hendrson, all of whom were on said date of age. That on the 24th day of March, 1898, the heirs above-named, except Asenath, .joined in and executed and acknowledged a power of attorney to said Asenath O., creating her their attorney in fact to manage the estate of their father, for them, and pay all the debts he owed. That on the 28th day of March, 1898, all the said children of Eli Henderson joined in a quitclaim deed which they duly executed, acknowledged and delivered, conveying all of their interest in and to said property to their mother, the defendant Sarah L. Henderson, for an expressed cash -consideration of two thousand dollars, and the assump[620]*620tion of a deed of trust for two thousand against part of the same, given to Duvall & Percival by Eli Henderson in his lifetime. That the property has ever since been managed by Asenath 0. Henderson, under said power of attorney. That said deed is the one attacked and sought to be set aside in these proceedings. That when said debt of defendant John M. Henderson to plaintiff J. L. Trabue, dated February 8, 1898, became due, September, 1898, the said John M. Henderson refused to pay same and suit was brought thereon to the February term, 1899, of the Bates County Circuit Court, and judgment thereon was had on the 18th day of July, 1899, at the June term, 1899, of said term for the sum of $561.15, debt and interest, also for his cost therein expended; that execution was duly issued thereon, and the sheriff of Bates county levied on the interest of the defendant John M. Henderson in and to the aforesaid 480' acres, and the same was duly advertised for sale, and sold on the 15th of February, 1900, at public auction, as required by law; that at said sale the plaintiff became the purchaser thereof for the sum of $12, and a deed for the same was duly executed, acknowledged and delivered to him for the same on the 22d day of December, 1900, which was duly recorded in the recorder’s office of said Bates county on the 28th day of December, 1900, in book M-l, page 205, of said records. The court further finds that the firm of Eli Henderson & Son, and composed of Eli Henderson and his son, the defendant John M. Henderson, was engaged in the business of buying and selling stock from the — day of March, 1895, to the last day of February, 1898, as shown by the books of the Merwin Bank, Merwin, Missouri, where they kept a running account during all that time and an account at the Farmers’ Bank at Butler, Missouri. That on or about the 29th of Septembei’, 1897, the said John M. Henderson, in his own name and for himself, purchased 335 head of cattle for $7,000, to pay for which he borrowed of Evans-Snider-Buell Com[621]*621mission Company the snm of $7,000, and executed his individual note therefor, being two principal notes and one commission note as follows: one note for $2,467.60, due January 26, 1898, and one note for $4,638.65, due May 27, 1898, and one note for $167.50, due August 27, 1898, all of said notes dated September 29, 1897, with 8 per cent interest thereon. That after said cattle were bought, a large sum of money was borrowed to pay for feeding the same and notes were given therefor in the name of Eli Henderson & Son, and these notes amounted to $3,350. That all of these were for the individual debts of defendant John M. Henderson. That said cattle did not sell for enough to pay the debt to Evans-Snider-Buell Commission Company. That the balance due on this account, for cattle and feed, after crediting-proceeds of the sale of said cattle, was equal to the value of the interest of said John M. Henderson in the estate of his father, Eli Henderson, placing the value of the 480 acres of land on the 28th day of March, 1898, the date of said deed, at $27.50 per acre, which the court finds to he a fair valuation on said date. That prior to the sale of any of these cattle, to-wit, on the 9th day of November, 1897, all of said cattle, together with the hogs running with them and the feed on hand, were by written agreement, turned over by said John M. Henderson to his father, Eli Henderson, and the proceeds credited on the debt due Evans-Snider-Buell Commission Company, and the balance were sold by Asenath O. Henderson after her father’s death, and the firm of Eli Henderson & Son was by the same agreement to cease on the 20th of January, 1898. The deed of trust for $2,000 assumed in the deed by the heirs to their mother has not been paid. That said deed was made without any intention on the part of any of the parties thereto, to cheat or defraud plaintiff or any one else. That said power of attorney executed by said heirs of Eli Henderson, deceased, to Asenath O. Henderson, was solely for the purpose of the administration of said [622]*622estate left by said Eli Henderson without the appoint-' ment of an administrator. That through the management of said Asenath 0. Henderson, under said power of attorney, in feeding and selling stock, as well as the products of said farm and money borrowed on the land, all the debts of said Eli Henderson have been paid, including the balance of the cost of said 335 head of cattle and the debt incurred by Eli Henderson for feed therefor.

“Wherefore, the court-finds that at the time of the death of the father, John M. Henderson was largely indebted to his father by reason of debts paid by the mother from the assets of the estate, including borrowed money, as well as from her means, and that the deed was made by him to his mother on account of said indebtedness, so satisfied and to be satisfied.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
79 S.W. 451, 180 Mo. 616, 1904 Mo. LEXIS 82, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trabue-v-henderson-mo-1904.