Weyer v. Second National Bank

57 Ind. 198
CourtIndiana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 15, 1877
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 57 Ind. 198 (Weyer v. Second National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Weyer v. Second National Bank, 57 Ind. 198 (Ind. 1877).

Opinion

Howe, J.

The appellant, as plaintiff, sued the appellees, as defendants, in the court below.

Each of the appellees demurred separately to the appellant’s complaint, for the want of sufficient facts therein to constitute a cause of action.; each of which demurrers was sustained by the court below, and to these decisions the appellant excepted. And thereupon judgment was rendered by the court below, upon said demurrers, in favor of the appellees and against the appellant, from which this appeal is here prosecuted.

In this court, the appellant has assigned, as alleged. errors, the decisions of the court below upon the separate demurrers of the appellees to appellant’s complaint. The questions thereby presented for our consideration relate exclusively to the sufficiency of the facts stated in said complaint to constitute a cause of action. To the proper consideration of these questions, a summary, at least, of [200]*200the facts alleged in appellant’s complaint is indispensable; and we therefore adopt the abstract of the complaint in appellant’s argument, which we have found, by comparison, to be substantially correct.

The complaint alleges substantially, that the testatrix, Ruth B. Shippen, deceased, in her lifetime, was the owner of fifty shares of stock in the Second Rational Bank of Eranklin, for which she held a certificate dated December 13th, 1865, signed by the president and cashier, and sealed with the corporate seal of said banking corporation.

That said testatrix died February 16th, 1868, the owner of said stock; that her will was duly proved, and admitted to probate, on the 31st day of March, 1868; that, by her said will, she appointed Edwin G. Whitney her executor, to whom letters testamentary were issued by the clerk of ■the common pleas court of Jefferson County, Indiana, where the will was proved; that said letters were confirmed by said court, and said Whitney qualified as such executor.

That said certificate of stock came to his hands as executor and was inventoried and appraised by him.

That on the 17th day of January, 1872, the said Edwin G-. Whitney sold at private sale, without any notice whatever, said fifty shares of stock in said bank to the defendant William C. Wheat; that said Whitney did not, before making such sale, obtain an order from the Jefferson Common Pleas Court, or any other court, authorizing such private sale.

That, pursuant to such sale, said Whitney as executor transferred said certificate of stock to said William C. Wheat for a large sum of money, to wit, - dollars, for which said Wheat gave said Whitney his note payable in thirty days, which he afterward paid said Whitney; that said transfer was made by a blank indorsement, as follows:

“E. G. Whitney, executor under the will of the estate, of Ruth B. Shippen.”

[201]*201And said certificate, so endorsed, was delivered to said ‘Wheat, who surrendered the same to said hank, which, by a two-thirds’ vote of its board of directors, transferred said stock from the name of Ruth B. Shippen to said William C. Wheat; but said bank did not then, and has not since, issued a new certificate to said Wheat.

That said Edwin G. Whitney made no report of the said sale of said stock to said court, or any other court, but converted the proceeds of the sale of the same to his own use, and became wholly insolvent, and the legatees named in said will received no manner of benefit from said sale or the proceeds thereof. And the sole legatees of said testatrix at the time of said sale were, and still are, minors of tender years, and were until a long time after said sale, to wit, until the year 1875, without guardianship.

That said sale of stock was not necessary for the payment of debts or for any other purpose under said will, which contains no power or direction of sale whatever; that said Edwin G. Whitney had no interest in said estate other than a naked trust as executor; that said sale was in no manner confirmed by said court; that said Whitney, at the time of said sale, was a director of said bank and a stockholder therein, and, as such director, sat with the board of directors and voted upon the transfer of said stock.

That said Whitney became insolvent, and, his surety upon his bond as executor having become insolvent and being out of the jurisdiction of the State of Indiana, said Whitney was removed from his trust as such executor by the judgment of the Jefferson Circuit Court, at its February term, 1875; that afterward, to wit, on the 22d day of March, 1875, said court appointed the plaintiff administrator, with the will annexed, de bonis non, of the said estate of Ruth B. Shippen, deceased, and he qualified as such administrator; that plaintiff made demand before bringing this suit.

[202]*202That said stock, at the time of said sale, was worth seven thousand five hundred dollars, and that said bank has declared dividends thereon since that time, amounting to two thousand five hundred dollars, which said Wheat received.

Upon the facts alleged in his complaint, the appellant prayed judgment, that said transfer of said shares of stock be decreed to be null and void, and that the appellees be compelled to re-transfer the same to the estate ■of said Ruth B. Shippen, and that the said bank, appellee, be compelled to reissue a certificate for said fifty shares of stock to the appellant, as administrator, etc., of ■said estate; or, if that could not be done, then for judgment for the value of said stock, to wit, for seven thousand five hundred dollars, against said bank, and that an account be taken of the dividends declared on said stock, and that the appellant recover judgment for the amount ■of said dividends, with interest thereon from the time they were severally declared, and for other proper relief.

The real question presented by the record of this cause, .and by appellant’s assignment of errors thereon, for our consideration, may be ■ thus stated: Were the sale and transfer of the bank-stock, described in the complaint, a valid, legal and binding sale and transfer, or were they inoperative and void?

By the 12th section of the act of Congress, approved ■June 3d, 1864, under which the appellee The Second National Bank of Eranklin was incorporated, it is provided, that the capital stock of such a bank “ shall be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, and be deemed personal property, and transferable on the books of the association in such manner as may be prescribed in the by-laws or articles of association.” Acts of Congress 1864, p. 102; R. S. U. S., p. 999, sec. 5139.

The shares of bank-stock described in appellant’s .complaint in this action, at the death of Ruth B. Shippen, were personal property belonging to the estate of said [203]*203decedent. It was averred in appellant’s complaint, and admitted by appellees’ demurrers thereto, that the will of said decedent gave no power or direction whatever for the sale of said bank-stock to the executor named in the will. It follows, therefore, that the proper answer to the question before stated involves the consideration-^of, and depends upon, the powers of an executor or administrator, under the law of this State, over the personal property which belongs to his decedent’s estate. We say •“ executor or administrator,” because the law is, that, after administration has been granted, “ the power of an administrator is equal to, and with, the power of an executor.” 2 Williams Executors, 6th Am. ech, p. 992.

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57 Ind. 198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/weyer-v-second-national-bank-ind-1877.