Hubbard v. Hubbard

• Decision Date: 29 July 1859
• Citation: 14 Md. 356
• Parties: JAS. P. J. HUBBARD v. ENNALLS HUBBARD.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

14 Md. 356

JAS. P. J. HUBBARD v. ENNALLS HUBBARD.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

July 29, 1859

Appeal from the equity side of the Circuit Court for Caroline County.

This appeal is from an order granting an injunction and appointing a receiver upon a bill filed by the appellee against the appellant on the 16th of April 1857.

The bill alleges that the defendant is indebted to the complainant in the sum of $914.97, on a note in his favor and on a note and open account in favor of Thomas Lockerman and assigned to the complainant; that complainant has repeatedly called upon the defendant for a settlement of these claims and he pretended to have some set-off against the note in favor of Lockerman, and though informed by Lockerman that such was not the fact, complainant proposed to refer the matter to arbitrators for adjustment, which was agreed to by the defendants, and many of the preliminaries arranged, the referees agreed upon, the necessary bonds and papers drawn up, and appointments made from time to time for a meeting to complete the arrangements, but the defendant though repeatedly at the place of meeting, never did complete the agreement, and, finally, repudiated the arrangement and refused to have anything to do with it, and ceased to communicate with complainant upon that or any other subject that, subsequently, complainant authorized Lockerman to call on the defendant for a settlement of his claims, but the latter not only refused to pay the same, or any part of them but said he never would pay them, or any part of them, and that complainant could get them as he could, and that he, the defendant, meant to take care of himself. The bill further charges that some time before the occurrence of a fire at Keene's Landing, by which the store goods of the defendant were destroyed, the latter remarkd to one Jas Collins, as complainant is informed that he intended to wind up his business in the spring and leave the place, and since this fire, he, in conversation with one J. H. Spence, as complainant is also informed, while talking about complainant's claim, said he should never pay one dollar of it, and complainant might get it as he could. The bill also further charges that the defendant was carrying on merchandizing in a store-house at Keene's Landing, belonging to complainant, since September 1855, and, during the past month, his goods, which were insured with the store which was not insured, were consumed by fire, and the defendant has made a claim on the Baltimore Fire Insurance Company, in which he was insured, for the amount of his damages, and, in addition to this claim, he has various claims against citizens of Caroline County, in the neighborhood where he transacted his business, for goods sold on credit. The complainant charges, for so he is informed and verily believes, that the defendant is now diligently collecting the debts due him with a view to remove from his present location, and for the purpose of defrauding complainant or any other creditor he may have, by placing his means beyond the process of the law; complainant, therefore, charges that, from the acts and doings of the defendant as above stated, he has great reason for fearing, and he believes, that it is the object of the defendant to defraud him by refusing to pay any amount of his aforesaid claims, and to place, before complainant can reduce his claims to judgments and take process by execution or attachment, his debts, and goods and chattels, where complainant will not be able to reach them, and that he is and will be remediless without the interposition of a court of equity, by reason of the fraud, which the defendant is, as complainant verily believes, about to perpetrate upon him, in manner and form as before stated.

The bill then prays for the appointment of a receiver to take charge of all the books, accounts, notes, papers, goods and effects of the defendant, collect the same and dispose of them under the direction of the court, and for an injunction restraining the defendant from collecting, assigning, transferring or releasing any debt, bill, note, account, or claim, or demand, due to him, and from disposing of any of his goods and effects, and to deliver the same to the receiver, and further enjoining the Baltimore Fire Insurance Company from paying to the defendant or to any one for him the amount claimed of them by him as aforesaid, and for general relief.

The bill was sworn to, and, on the 15th of April 1857, the day before the bill was filed, the court (Hopper, J.) endorsed upon it an order appointing a receiver, and granting the injunction as...