Beckwith v. English

Decision Date30 September 1869
Citation1869 WL 5287,51 Ill. 147
PartiesHIRAM W. BECKWITHv.JOSEPH G. ENGLISH.
CourtIllinois Supreme Court

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE

APPEAL from the Circuit Court of Vermilion county; the Hon. JAMES STEELE, Judge, presiding.

This was an action of assumpsit brought by English, against Beckwith, as county treasurer of Vermilion county, to recover money alleged to have been paid under duress. The money so sought to be recovered had been collected from the plaintiff by the collector, under a levy of a tax alleged to have been made by the board of supervisors. The trial resulted in a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff, and the defendant appealed.

Mr. O. C. DAVIS, for the appellant.

Mr. R. W. HANFORD, for the appellee.

Mr. CHIEF JUSTICE BREESE delivered the opinion of the Court:

This was an action of assumpsit in the Vermilion Circuit Court, by Joseph G. English, against Hiram W. Beckwith, to recover back money paid to him under duress, and a recovery by the plaintiff.

To reverse the judgment the defendant appeals to this court. Many of the questions arising in this case, were discussed and settled in The People ex rel. Stine v. The Supervisors of Vermilion County, 47 Ill. 256.

It was there held, for reasons given, that the board of supervisors could not be compelled to levy a tax to build the bridge in question.

It appears, that at one of their sessions, the board had agreed to levy the tax, and on the next day it was reconsidered, and the resolution to that end laid on the table before it was entered of record.

The clerk of the board, disregarding this action of the board, extended this tax upon the collector's book, of the township of Danville.

The property of the plaintiff was levied on by the collector, or threatened to be, when he paid the amount to the collector under protest. The collector paid it to the treasurer, appellant here, who now holds the money, and this suit was brought to recover it back.

The only important question raised is, as to the power of the board of supervisors to reconsider the resolution to levy the tax for this bridge. The resolution was reconsidered and tabled before it had become a record of the board, and before any rights had accrued under it, or duties imposed by it.

The clerk had no right, of his own mere motion, to extend the tax upon the collector's book, and thus coerce the property owners to pay a tax for which they were not legally liable.

The judgment of the court below is affirmed.

Judgment affirmed.

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7 cases
  • State ex rel. Dos Amigos, Inc. v. Lehman
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • 22 Noviembre 1930
    ...County, 6 Wall. 166, 18 L.Ed. 768; State v. City of Milwaukee, 25 Wis. 122; Vance v. City of Little Rock, 30 Ark. 435, text 440; Beckwith v. English, 51 Ill. 147; Savings Fund Society v. Philadelphia, 31 Pa. 175, 72 Am. Dec. 730; White v. Mayor & Council of Decatur, 119 Ala. 476, 23 So. 999......
  • State v. Morgan
    • United States
    • Kansas Court of Appeals
    • 16 Mayo 1910
    ... ... before any rights accrue thereunder. Matthews v. Cook ... County Com'rs, 87 Ill. 590; Beckwith v ... English, 51 Ill. 147; Dresden v. County ... Com'rs, 62 Me. 365; Makemson v. Kauffman, ... 35 Ohio 444; Neal v. County of Franklin, 43 ... ...
  • City of Kansas v. Hannibal & St. Joseph R.R. Co.
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • 31 Octubre 1883
    ...on Tax Titles, (2 Ed.) p. 155; 2 Dillon Corp., (2 Ed.) § 610; Westfall v. Preston, 49 N. Y. 353; Moser v. White, 29 Mich. 59; Beckwith v. English, 51 Ill. 147; National B'k v. Cook, 77 Ill. 622. But the certificate read in evidence from the city clerk as to the rate of taxation for the year......
  • St. Louis & San Francisco Railway Co. v. Apperson
    • United States
    • Missouri Supreme Court
    • 4 Febrero 1889
    ...to the attempt to exercise it.' Campbell County Ct. v. Taylor, 71 Ky. 206, 8 Bush 206, 208; Westfall v. Preston, 49 N.Y. 349; Beckwith v. English, 51 Ill. 147. In case there was no levy of the tax whatever. The clerk certified the amount of taxes due, but it clearly appears, is conceded, th......
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