Brainerd, Shaler Hall Quarry Co v. Brice

Decision Date02 June 1919
Docket NumberNo. 431,431
Citation63 L.Ed. 951,39 S.Ct. 458,250 U.S. 229
PartiesBRAINERD, SHALER & HALL QUARRY CO. v. BRICE et al
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

Mr. E. D. Worcester, of New York City, for plaintiff in error.

Mr. Bronson Winthrop, of New York City, for defendants in error.

Mr. Justice DAY delivered the opinion of the Court.

The Quarry Company brought an action at law in the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York to recover $20,000 and interest from Wilson B. Brice as executor of Henry Van Schaick, deceased, and the American Surety Company. Answers were filed and the case was at issue, and came on for trial, when, upon motion of the defendants, the action was dismissed for want of jurisdiction. The only question here concerns the correctness of this ruling of the District Court. The ground of the dismissal is thus stated in the record:

'In this cause I hereby certify that this writ of error is allowed solely, and that the order herein dismissing the complaint was based solely, on the ground that no jurisdiction of the District Court existed; that this question has been determined by me on the following grounds:

'This action is brought on a surety bond made by one Henry Van Schaick (since deceased) as principal, and the defendant the American Surety Company of New York, as surety, for the purpose of securing the due payment, at Henry Van Schaick's death, of the remainder interests in a certain fund of money held by Henry Van Schaick as life tenant; that one Eugene Van Schaick (since deceased) was at the time of the assignment below mentioned the owner of one of the remainder interests secured by said bond; that Eugene Van Schaick, during the continuance of the life estate, assigned to the plaintiff a portion of his said remainder interest, and thereafter survived the said Henry Van Schaick, and this action is bases on such assignment; that Eugene Van Schaick was in his lifetime a citizen and resident of the state of New York, and both of the defendants are citizens and residents of the state of New York; that this suit could not have been prosecuted in this court upon said remainder interest and said bond if no such assignment had been made.'

Section 24 of the Judicial Code (Act March 3, 1911, c. 231, 36 Stat. 1091 [Comp. St. § 991]), among other things, provides:

'No district court shall have cognizance of any suit (except upon foreign bills of exchange) to recover upon any promissory note or other chose in action in favor of any assignee, or of any subsequent holder if such instrument be payable to bearer and be not made by any corporation, unless such suit might have been prosecuted in such court to recover upon said note or other chose in action if no assignment had been made.'

To determine the character of the action for the purposes of jurisdiction recourse must be had to the allegations of the complaint. They are quite voluminous, but for our purposes may be summed up as stating: The plaintiff is a corporation of the state of Connecticut. The defendant the American Surety Company is a corporation of the state of New York. The defendant Wilson B. Brice is a resident and citizen of the state of New York. (It was conceded for the purposes of the motion that Eugene Van Schaick was a citizen of New York.) Jane C. Van Schaick died May 20, 1893, seized of certain real estate in the state of New York. By her last will and testament she gave one-half of her real estate to Henry Van Schaick, of New York, during his life, with remainder to his descendants who should be living at the time of his decease and living also at the time of the testatrix's decease, if she should survive him. The will was duly probated on June 28, 1893. Henry Van Schaick survived the testatrix, and had living children, one of whom was Eugene Van Schaick. The complaint then recites certain conveyances, and the prosecution of a partition suit, the decree in which was, by order of the court, considered upon the motion to dismiss. In that suit it was adjudged that Henry Van Schaick had an estate as tenant for life in one-half of the said real estate; that among others Sarah Van Schaick, wife of Eugene Van Schaick, had an estate in remainder in the land to commence in possession upon the death of Henry Van Schaick. It being found that the land could not be divided, it was ordered sold. The sale for $134,369.74 is recited. One-half of the proceeds, $67,184.87, was found to belong to Henry Van Schaick for life, at his death to vest in the descendants of Henry Van Schaick as should be then living, or in such persons as should then be the legal owners of said shares. The decree provided that the fund might be paid to Henry Van Schaick upon his giving security to the...

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7 cases
  • United States v. Tyler
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Northern District of Iowa
    • July 23, 1963
    ...the assignment of a claim carries with it the security on the claim which was held by the assignor. Brainerd, Shaler & Hall Quarry Co. v. Brice, 250 U.S. 229, 39 S.Ct. 458, 63 L.Ed. 951; United States v. Fleming, D.C., 69 F. Supp. 252; Bank of Wadesboro v. Northwestern Casualty & Surety Co.......
  • Feutz v. Massachusetts Bonding & Ins. Co., 5873.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Missouri
    • July 27, 1949
    ...of the surety company given to secure the faithful performance * * *", was the holding in Brainerd, Shaler & Hall Quarry Co. v. Brice, 250 U.S. 229, 39 S.Ct. 458, 460, 63 L.Ed. 951, loc. cit. 953. In United States v. Rundle, 9 Cir., 100 F. 400, loc. cit. 403, the Court "The general rule is ......
  • Newell Brothers v. Zuar Hanson
    • United States
    • Vermont Supreme Court
    • January 4, 1924
    ... ... Company, 79 N.J.Eq. 247, 82 A. 36; Brainerd, etc., ... Quarry Co. v. Brice, 250 U.S. 229, 63 L.Ed ... ...
  • Strosberg v. Brauvin Realty Services, Inc.
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • February 25, 1998
    ...of his assignor, including the right to receive such collateral as his assignor may have had. Brainerd, Shaler & Hall Quarry Co. v. Brice, 250 U.S. 229, 39 S.Ct. 458, 63 L.Ed. 951 (1919); Marx v. McKinney, 23 Cal.2d 439, 144 P.2d 353 (1943); Kornitz v. Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co.,......
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