Chapman v. Chapman

• Decision Date: 24 October 1906
• Citation: 132 Iowa 5,109 N.W. 300
• Parties: CHAPMAN v. CHAPMAN ET AL.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

132 Iowa 5

109 N.W. 300

CHAPMAN

v.CHAPMAN ET AL.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Oct. 24, 1906.

Appeal from District Court, Monona County; Wm. Hutchinson, Judge.

Action at law upon two promissory notes given by defendants to one G. W. Chapman, now deceased. Trial to the court, judgment for plaintiff, and defendants appeal. Affirmed.Prichard & Newby, for appellants.

C. E. Underhill, for appellee.

DEEMER, J.

The action is upon two negotiable promissory notes, one for $300 and the other for $100, each signed by the defendants and due in one year from July 15, 1901, and November 11, 1901, respectively. The notes were made to Geo. W. Chapman, who is now deceased, and this action is by the legatee under his will. The defendants admitted the execution of the notes, pleaded that they were not given as evidence of an indebtedness but for the purpose of indicating the interest which the deceased had in certain real property in Sioux City, Iowa, and that defendant E. R. Chapman, who held the legal title to the real estate, was ready and willing to deed a two-fifths interest therein, which, it is claimed, was G. W. Chapman's share as evidenced by the notes, to the plaintiffor the deceased's legal representative. Upon these issues the case was tried to the court and resulted in a judgment for plaintiff for the amount of the notes. Defendants introduced testimony to show that defendant E. R. Chapman and deceased, Geo. W. Chapman, entered into a contract to purchase certain real estate in Sioux City, agreeing to pay therefor the sum of $1,000, and that Geo. W. Chapman paid $400 of the purchase price, and the defendant E. R. Chapman the remainder; he (E. R.) taking title to the property in his own name.

It is claimed that the notes in suit were made by E. R. Chapman and Rose Chapman simply to show the amount advanced by Geo. W. Chapman upon the land, and not as evidence for any indebtedness upon the part of the defendants. The questions presented on this appeal relate to the competency of certain witnesses and of the testimony offered to sustain defendants' contentions. Of course, neither of the defendants was a competent witness as to any personal transactions or communications with the deceased, Geo. W. Chapman. Code, § 4604. But it is claimed that plaintiff went upon the witness stand and gave testimony, and that this made defendants' testimony competent. It is true that plaintiff was a witness, but she did no more than to state how she obtained the...