Voris v. Harshbarger

2 Ind. App. 555
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 16, 1895
DocketNo. 1,415
StatusPublished

This text of 2 Ind. App. 555 (Voris v. Harshbarger) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Voris v. Harshbarger, 2 Ind. App. 555 (Ind. Ct. App. 1895).

Opinion

Davis, J.

Appellant filed in the court below, on the 11th day of December, 1893, a claim against the estate of said Daniel Arnold, deceased, founded on a note executed by said Arnold to one Buckley, on the 16th day of December, 1892, for two hundred dollars, payable in one hundred and eighty days at a bank in this State, which, before maturity, was indorsed by the payee to appellant.

The first paragraph of the answer was that at the time said Daniel Arnold executed the note he was a person of unsound mind and incapable of transacting business, and that said note ivas wholly without consideration. A demurrer to this answer was overruled and proper exception reserved. This ruling is the basis of one of the errors assigned.

In an action by an indorsee before maturity, on a note negotiable by the law merchant, an answer is not sufficient which avers only that it was executed without consideration. Galvin, Admr., v. Meridian Nat’l Bank, 129 Ind. 439.; First Nat’l Bank v. Ruhl, 122 Ind. 279.

In order to constitute a good defense on the ground that the note was executed without consideration, the answer, in such case, should aver that the plaintiff was not a purchaser for value in good faith.

In an action on a note, an answer that the maker, at the time of its execution, was a person of unsound mind [557]*557constituted a good defense. Reinskopf v. Rogge, 37 Ind. 207; Wilder v. Weakley’s Estate, 34 Ind. 181; Copenrath v. Kienby, 83 Ind. 18; Musselman v. Cravens, 47 Ind. 1.

This rule applies where, as in this case so far as disclosed by the complaint and answer, the contract is wholly executory. Fay v. Burditt, 81 Ind. 433.

The purchaser of commercial paper takes with constructive notice of all legal disabilities of the parties, such as infancy, coverture and unsoundness of mind. McClain, Guar., v. Davis, 77 Ind. 419.

The general rule applicable in actions brought against persons of unsound mind is stated in Hull v. Louth, Guar., 109 Ind. 315, as follows: “When persons of unsound mind are brought into court by a suit to enforce contracts made by them it will not do to hold that they may not, by their guardian, make the defense that, when the contract was made, they were of unsound mind.”

When the action is brought by or in behalf of a person of unsound mind, a different rule has been recognized. In such actions it is necessary to aver that the insanity continued, and disaffirmance before suit by the guardian or representative of the person of unsoun4 mind, or that after restoration to reason there was a disaffirmance of the contract by the person. Hardenbrook v. Sherwood, Guar., 72 Ind. 403; Louisville, etc., R. W. Co. v. Herr, 135 Ind. 591.

The answer was sufficient.

The second paragraph of the reply to the first paragraph of the answer alleged in substance that Daniel Arnold, at the time he executed the note, was not possessed of a high order of intellect, but that he was, and had been, for thirty years engaged in transacting a large and profitable business, in the same neighborhood, under his own management and with such mind as he had when he executed the note; that he had accumulated a large [558]*558amount of money and property, and that he received full value for the note and used the consideration so received in his lifetime, well understanding the whole transaction and never attempted or offered to rescind or disaffirm said contract, and that he never was, at any time, adjudged to be a person of unsound mind, and that he was never considered a person of unsound mind by his family or friends.

The court sustained a demurrer to this paragraph of reply. This ruling is properly assigned as error.

In Reinskopf v. Rogge, supra, the answer was that the decedent, when he executed the note, was so intoxicated as to be incapable of executing the same.

The reply was that the note was executed for a stock of merchant tailoring goods, sold by appellants to said .Rudolph Rogge in his lifetime; that they were delivered to him and he used the same, and that neither he nor his representative returned or offered to return the same or any part thereof to appellant. The court held the reply insufficient.

In Wilder v. Weakley’s Estate, supra, which was an action on an account, it was alleged in the reply, that at the time of the sale and delivery of the goods the plaintiff had no knowledge of any insanity or mental imbecility of said Thomas Weakley, and in other respects the reply was in substance the same as in Reinskopf v. Rogge, supra.

The reply was held sufficient. The court said: “We think it may be safely stated, both on principle and authority, that where a person apparently of sound mind, and not known to be otherwise, and who has not been found to be otherwise by proper proceedings for that purpose, fairly and bona fide purchases property, and receives and uses the same, whereby the contract of purchase becomes so far executed that the parties can not be [559]*559placed in statu quo, such contract can not afterwards be set aside, or payment for the goods be refused, either by the alleged lunatic or his representatives.”

In Boyer v. Berryman, 123 Ind. 451, the court says: “It is now settled by our decisions that a deed of a person of. unsound mind, made before office found, to one who has no knowledge of the grantor’s incapacity is only voidable, and that, in order to avoid it, the consideration received must be tendered to the grantee.”

In Louisville, etc., R. W. Co. v. Herr, supra, it was held that knowledge did not change the rule on the question of disaffirmance.

In Nichol v. Thomas, 53 Ind. 42, it was held necessary to disaffirm the contract, but that it was not necessary, in that case, to restore the consideration.

In Fay v. Burditt, supra, appellant brought an action for the wrongful taking and detention of personal property, alleging that appellee detained the same under color of a pretended chattel mortgage, executed by him when he was of unsound mind and wholly incapable of understanding the transaction; that appellee knew he was then utterly insane; that he had, at the time of the commencement of the suit, so far recovered the use of his mental faculties as to be able to comprehend the ordinary affairs of life and to make contracts and prosecute the suit in his own behalf; that the mortgage and note secured thereby were executed without any consideration what-' ever.

It was alleged, in the answer, that appellee was ignorant of the fact that appellant was of unsound mind when he executed the note and mortgage; that, at the time, appellant appeared to be rational and competent to transact ordinary business; that appellee had known him for five years, and during all that time his soundness of mind was not questioned to appellee’s knowledge until a short [560]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Wilder v. Weakley's Estate
34 Ind. 181 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1870)
Reinskopf v. Rogge
37 Ind. 207 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1871)
Musselman v. Cravens
47 Ind. 1 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1874)
Nichol v. Thomas
53 Ind. 42 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1876)
Hardenbrook v. Sherwood
72 Ind. 403 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1880)
McClain v. Davis
77 Ind. 419 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1881)
Fay v. Burditt
81 Ind. 433 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1881)
Copenrath v. Kienby
83 Ind. 18 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1882)
Fulwider v. Ingels
87 Ind. 414 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1882)
Woods v. Brown
93 Ind. 164 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1884)
North-Western Mutual Fire Insurance v. Blankenship
94 Ind. 535 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1884)
Hull v. Louth
10 N.E. 270 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1887)
First National Bank v. Ruhl
23 N.E. 766 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1890)
Boyer v. Berryman
24 N.E. 249 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1890)
Galvin v. Meridian National Bank
28 N.E. 847 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1891)
Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railway Co. v. Herr
35 N.E. 556 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1893)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 Ind. App. 555, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/voris-v-harshbarger-indctapp-1895.