Gaines v. Miller

Citation111 U.S. 395,28 L.Ed. 466,4 S.Ct. 426
PartiesGAINES v. MILLER, Adm'r, etc. 1
Decision Date21 April 1884
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

This bill was filed by the appellant on May 11, 1880. Its material allegations were as follows: The appellant was born in 1806, and was the daughter of the late Daniel Clark, of the city of New Orleans. On July 13, 1813, Clark duly executed his last will and testament, by which he devised and bequeathed to the appellant all his estate. He died August 16, 1813. Appellant did not know that she was the daughter of Clark until 1834. On June 18th of that year she propounded for probate in the parish court for the parish of Orleans, Louisi- ana, his last will, and after a litigation of more than 20 years it was admitted to probate on February 23, 1856. In the mean time, in the year 1827, she had become of age; in 1832 she was married to William W. Whitney, who died in 1838, and in 1846 she was married to Gen. Edmund P. Gaines. Gen. Gaines died in 1858, and appellant has since remained a widow. A short time after the death of Clark, in 1813, Richard Relf and Beverly Chew 'began to act as executors of his estate in their own wrong, and without authority of law, under a will of Clark executed in the year 1811, which had been revoked by his will of 1813.' By power of attorney they appointed Samuel Hammond, the defendant's intestate, their agent, to sell and convey the lands belonging to the estate of Clark lying in the state of Missouri. Hammond, prior to April 9, 1819, sold lands, and received therefor, over and above the credits and commissions to which he was entitled, the sum of $6,841.80. Relf and Chew sued Hammond for the money so received by him, and in August, 1819, recovered a judgment against him therefor. On October 8, 1823, an execution was issued on the judgment, and levied on lands of Hammond, being the north half of New Madrid, survey No. 2,500, which were bought in by Relf and Chew, and the purchase money thereof, to-wit, $427.77, credited on the judgment. Hammond was a resident of Missouri from about the year 1815 until December, 1824, when, being insolvent and indebted to the estate of Clark for the balance due on said judgment, he fraudulently absconded, and secretly left the state of Missouri, concealing himself from appellant by traveling to places unknown to her. He went to the state of South Carolina, where he lived until his death, which took place in August, 1842. No letters of administration were taken out on the estate of Hammond until October 25, 1879, when property of his estate in the state of Missouri having been discovered, letters were granted to the appellee, Charles Miller, by the probate court of the city of St. Louis.

The prayer of the bill was that the court would decree that the estate of Hammond was indebted to appellant in the sum of money demand, namely, $6,841.80, with the interest thereon, and that she was equitably entitled to recover the same in this suit. The defendant filed a demurrer to the bill on the following, among other grounds: (1) Because the case stated in the bill is one of which a court of equity has no jurisdiction; and (2) because the bill shows that a suit had been brought by those recognized by the court as the lawful representatives of Daniel Clark, and that more than 60 years ago judgment had been rendered therein against Hammond for the same money for which this suit was brought, and that such judgment had never been vacated or reversed. The circuit court sustained the demurrer and dismissed the bill, and the complainant appealed.

Britton A. Hill, for appellant.

Henry H. Denison, for appellee.

WOODS, J.

The demurrer was properly sustained on both grounds. The theory of the bill, as appears from its averments and as it is stated by counsel for appellant, is that appellant is the proper party to sue, in her own name, for the proceeds of the lands of her father's estate, sold by Hammond in 1819 under power of attorney from Relf and Chew, and that by bringing this suit she affirms and ratifies the sale. The appellant having ratified the sale, the only obligation which can rest upon Hammond's administrator is to pay over to the appellant the money received by Hammond as the consideration of the sale. It is, therefore, simply a case of money had and received by him for the use of appellant, and a declaration in assumpsit on the common counts would have fully stated the appellant's cause of action. Whenever one person has in his hands money equitably belonging to another, that other person may recover it by assumpsit for money had and received. Pickard v. Bankes, 13 East, 20; Spratt v. Hobhouse 4 Bing. 178; Israel v. Douglas, 1 H. B1. 239; beardsley v. Root, 11 Johns. 464; Hall v. Marston, 17 Mass. 575; Claflin v. Godfrey, 21 Pick. 1. The remedy at law is adequate and complete.

There is no averment in the bill of complaint of any ground of equity jurisdiction. No trust is alleged, no discovery is sought. The appellant has no lien on the property of Hammond's estate, and avers none. The only semblance of a fraud alleged is that Hammond fraudulently absconded, and secretly left the state of Missouri, concealing himself by traveling in places unknown to the appellant. But this averment does not relate to the cause of action. It is only made as an excuse for not bringing the suit at an earlier time, and to take the case out of the bar of the statute of limitations. The law of Missouri (Rev. St. § 3244) provides that if any person, by absconding or concealing himself, prevent the commencement of an action, such action may be commenced within the time limited by the statute, after the commencement of such action shall have ceased to be so prevented. The excuse made by appellant for not sooner bringing her suit was, therefore,...

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    • United States
    • United States Bankruptcy Courts. Sixth Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Southern District of Ohio
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    ...a money judgment it presents a claim which is unquestionably legal. We agree with that contention"); Gaines v. Miller, 111 U.S. 395, 397-398, 4 S.Ct. 426, 427, 28 L.Ed. 466 (1884) ("Whenever one person has in his hands money equitably belonging to another, that other person may recover it b......
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    ...doctrine of prescription by which judgments are presumed to have been paid after the lapse of 20 years, see Gaines v. Miller, 111 U.S. 395, 399, 4 S.Ct. 426, 427, 28 L.Ed. 466; McElmoyle for Use of Bailey v. Cohen, 13 Pet. 312, 327, 10 L.Ed. 177, being just one example. In equity they have ......
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    ...ratifies them and cures the want of previous authorization, ratification being a substitute for prior authority. Gaines v. Miller, 111 U.S. 395, 398, 4 S. Ct. 426, 28 L. Ed. 466; Menkens v. Watson, 27 Mo. 163, 166; Fritsch v. Nat'l City Bk. (Mo. App.), 24 S.W. 2d 1066, 1068[4]. The Committe......
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    ...a money judgment it presents a claim which is unquestionably legal. We agree with that contention"); Gaines v. Miller, 111 U.S. 395, 397-398, 4 S.Ct. 426, 427, 28 L.Ed. 466 (1884) ("Whenever one person has in his hands money equitably belonging to another, that other person may recover it b......
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