Ashworth v. Crockett
| Decision Date | 31 July 1848 |
| Citation | 11 Mo. 636 |
| Parties | ASHWORTH v. CROCKETT. |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
APPEAL FROM ST. CLAIR CIRCUIT COURT.
JOHNSON, for Appellant.
1. I contend that by the statute in reference to the assignment of Bonds and Notes, the assignment must not only be in writing, but the name of the assignor must be signed, to enable the assignee to maintain an action as the legal owner of the note, by assignment. Rev. Code, p. 190, § 2. 2. The assignment of a bond or note must be in writing; the writing itself should show whether the assignment has been legally made, and parol evidence is not admissible to prove the fact. Miller v. Paulsell & Newman, 8 Mo. R. 355; 2 Starkie, 345-6, side paging. 3. At common law, bonds and notes were not assignable to vest the right of action in the assignee's own name. This right is given by the statute in a particular manner, and the requisitions of the statute must be complied with to vest the right of action in the assignee. Passim, on the Construction of Statutes.
HENDRICK, for Appellee. The court did right in admitting parol evidence to be made, and in allowing the note and assignment to be read in evidence. The signature is not the assignment, but the evidence of it. If in fact the assignment was made by the payee, the note became the property of the assignee thereby. The signature of the payee to the assignment, is evidence of the assignment, but not the only evidence; it may be proved by parol.
Crockett brought an action before a justice of the peace, against Ashworth, and obtained judgment, when Ashworth appealed to the Circuit Court of St. Clair county, when judgment having again been had against him, he moved to set the same aside, and on the refusal of the court to set aside the judgment, he excepted and appealed from the judgment to this court. The action was founded on a note given by Ashworth to one William Ainsworth, and has indorsed on it the following, “For value received, I assign the within note to R. G. Crockett, this 20th Dec., 1846.”
The question is does the indorsement vest in the plaintiff below the right to maintain the action in his own name? The statute regulating the Assignment of Bonds and Notes, Rev. Code, 1845, p. 190, § 2, provides, “that all bonds and promissory notes for money or property shall be assignable by an indorsement on such bond or promissory note, and the assignee may maintain an action thereon in his own name against the obligor or maker, for the recovery of the money or property...
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