Stewart v. Dunham

• Decision Date: 04 May 1885
• Citation: 29 L.Ed. 329,5 S.Ct. 1163,115 U.S. 61
• Parties: STEWART and others, Partners, etc., v. DUNHAM and others, Partners, etc., and others
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

5 S.Ct. 1163

115 U.S. 61

29 L.Ed. 329

STEWART and others, Partners, etc., v. DUNHAM and others, Partners, etc., and others.

May 4, 1885.

T. C. Catchings, for appellants.

John F. Hanna and James M. Johnston, for appellees.

MATTHEWS, J.

The appellees, who composed the firms of Dunham, Buckley & Co., who were citizens of New York, and of Edwin Bates & Co., who were citizens of New York and South Carolina, filed their bill in equity, on July 14, 1881, in the chancery court of Jefferson county, Mississippi, against John W. Broughton, and Andrew Stewart, Andrew D. Gwynne, and P. H. Haley, composing the firm of Stewart Bros. & Co., and others, all of whom were citizens either of Mississippi or of Louisiana.

On September 16, 1881, the complainants filed a petition for the removal of the cause from the state court to the circuit court of the United States for that district, on the ground of citizenship, the amount in controversy being in excess of $500 in value, and presented a bond in conformity with the provisions of law. This was denied, notwithstanding which a certified transcript of the proceedings in the cause was filed in the circuit court on November 3, 1881, and that court proceeded thereon to final decree. The complainants in the bill were creditors severally of Broughton, and its object and prayer were to set aside a conveyance of a stock of merchandise, made by him to the defendants Stewart Bros. & Co., alleged to be fraudulent as against his creditors, and was filed on behalf of the complainants and all other creditors who might come in and share the costs of the litigation. After the cause was removed into the circuit court, the bill was amended by permitting Sigmond Katz, Jacob Katz, Nathaniel Barnett, and Selvia Barnett, partners, as Katz & Barnett, and John I. Adams and W. H. Renaud, composing the firm of John I. Adams & Co., creditors, respectively, of Broughton, to become co-complainants. The members of the firm of Katz & Barnett are described as 'resident citizens of and doing business in the city of New Orleans, state of Louisiana, and in the city of New York, state of New York.' The citizenship of those who constitute the firm of John I. Adams & Co. does not appear.

On final hearing, on November 25, 1882, a decree was rendered in favor of the complainants, finding that the transfer and conveyance of his property by Broughton to Stewart Bros. & Co., described in the pleadings, was made with the intent to hinder, delay, and defraud the complainants and other creditors of Broughton, with the knowledge and connivance of Stewart Bros. & Co., and the same was thereby canceled, set aside, and declared to be null and void. The decree proceeds as follows: 'It appears to the court that the complainants, at and before making of said pretended transfer and conveyance, were, and still are, creditors of the said John W. Broughton, and that the amount due each of them respectively, including interest to this date, is as follows: Dunham, Buckley & Co., ten thousand two hundred and twenty-two 50-100 dollars, ($10,222.50;) Edwin Bates & Co., four thousand three hundred and ninety-one 8-100 dollars, ($4,391.08;) John I. Adams & Co., seven hundred and six 37-100 dollars, ($706.37;) and Katz & Barnett, nine hundred and thirty 82-100 dollars, ($930.82.) Total, sixteen thousand two hundred and fifty 77-100 dollars, ($16,250.77.) It appears to the court that the defendant John W. Broughton is insolvent, and without property or means, and that the defendants Stewart Bros. & Co. had in their hands and possession, at the time of filing the bill of complaint in this cause, and still have, property, assets, and money, being the same fraudulently transferred and conveyed to them by the defendant John W. Broughton, as aforesaid, and the proceeds of the same, amounting to a sum largely in excess of the said sum of $16,250.77, due complainants as aforesaid. It is therefore ordered, adjudged, and decreed, that the defendants John W. Broughton, and Andrew Stewart, Andrew D. Gwynne, and P. H. Haley, composing the firm of Stewart Bros. & Co., do pay to the complainants the above-mentioned sums respectively due them, with inter st thereon at the rate of six (6) per cent. per annum from this date until paid, that is to say: To Dunham, Buckley & Co., ten thousand two hundred and twenty-two 50-100 dollars, ($10,222.50); to Edwin Bates & Co., four thousand three hundred and ninety-one 8-100 dollars, ($4,391.08;) to Katz & Barnett, nine hundred and thirty 82-100 dollars, ($930.82;) and to John I. Adams & Co., seven hundred and six 37-100 dollars, ($706.37;) for which amounts and costs executions in favor of said creditors respectively may issue as at law.' The appeal is from this decree.

The appellants assign as error that the court proceeded to decree, after admitting Katz & Barnett and John I. Adams & Co. as co-complainants, alleging that, as the case then stood, it was without jurisdiction, as the controversy did not appear to be wholly between citizens of different states. This, ninety- one 8-100 dollars, ($4,391.08;) to objection to the removal of the cause from the state court, because at that time these parties had not been admitted to the cause; and their introduction afterwards as co-complainants did not oust the jurisdiction of the court, already lawfully...