Ellington v. Currie

• Decision Date: 31 December 1847
• Citation: 5 Ired.Eq. 21,40 N.C. 21
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: ALFRED W. ELLINGTON et al. v. JAMES CURRIE et al.

5 Ired.Eq. 21

40 N.C. 21

ALFRED W. ELLINGTON et al.

v.JAMES CURRIE et al.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

December Term, 1847.

Where a bill seeks to recover slaves, and alleges that a deed for them to the plaintiff's was signed and sealed by the father to whom they belonged, but was never actually delivered, but goes on to state that the deed was duly proved and registered at the instance of the father. Held, that this amounted to a delivery and conveyed the legal title, so that the plaintiffs' remedy was at law and not in Equity.

Equity will not interfere with the operation of the statute of frauds, at the instance of either party to a fraudulent conveyance.

The case of Snider v. Lackenour, 2 Ire. Eq. 360, cited and approved.

Cause removed from the Court of Equity of Rockingham County, at the Spring Term, 1846, by consent of parties.

James Patrick, the elder, had three children, named Mary, James the younger, and David S; and on the 17th of May, 1842, he executed three deeds of gift to them. By one, he conveyed to his daughter Mary a slave called Louisa, and several articles of household furniture. By another, he conveyed to his son James, a negro called Clem, and sundry articles of furniture, and plantation utensils, and stock. By the third, he conveyed to his son David S. three negroes called Theny, Livey, and Demanda, and some furniture and other chattels. The three children were, at the time, infants, and lived with their father, and he kept the negroes in his possession after he made the deeds of gift, and used them as he had done before, up to the time of his death, which happened in February, 1844. He died intestate, leaving his three children surviving him; and the defendant Currie took administration of his estate and took into his possession the slaves, and other things, so conveyed to his children by James Patrick. The daughter Mary intermarried with the plaintiff Alfred W. Ellington. The son James died intestate after his father, and Alfred W. Ellington administered on his estate. And the defendant Currie was appointed the guardian of the son David S. and has all the negroes in his possession.

The bill is filed by Ellington and his wife, against Currie and David S. Patrick. It states that at the time James, the father, executed the deeds of gift, he was very much in debt, and that he made the deeds, “and caused the same to be registered with a view to keep his creditors from selling said slaves;” but that he never delivered either of them, or intended to make any difference between his children, and that neither of the deeds has been found among his papers, or elsewhere, since his death. It states further that “the defendant, Currie, is assured that his intestate did not intend to divide the negroes among his children by means of said deeds, and that he had no purpose but to keep them out of...