Mechanics Bank of Alexandria v. the Bank of Columbia

• Court: U.S. Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: JOHNSON
• Citation: Mechanics Bank of Alexandria v. the Bank of Columbia, 18 U.S. 326, 5 L.Ed. 100, 5 Wheat. 326 (1820)
• Decision Date: 13 March 1820
• Parties: MECHANICS' BANK OF ALEXANDRIA v. THE BANK OF COLUMBIA

18 U.S. 326

5 L.Ed. 100

5 Wheat. 326

MECHANICS' BANK OF ALEXANDRIA v. THE BANK OF COLUMBIA.

March 13, 1820

ERROR to the Circuit Court for the District of Columbia.

This was an action of assumpsit, brought by the defendants in error against the plaintiffs in error, on the following check:

No. 18. MECHANICS' BANK OF ALEXANDRIA.

June 25th, 1817.

Cashier of the Bank of Columbia,

Pay to the order of P. H. Minor, Esq., Ten thousand Dollars.

WM. PATON, Jr.

$10,000

This check was offered in evidence by the plaintiff below, and testimony to prove that the said Paton, before, at the time, and subsequent to the drawing of the said check, was cashier of the said Mechanics' Bank, and the said Minor the teller thereof; and in order to prove that the said check was drawn by the said William Paton in his capacity as cashier, and was so understood by him, and so understood by the said Bank of Columbia, their officers and servants; evidence was further offered to prove, that from the 5th of May, 1817, to the time of drawing the said check, there was kept in the said Mechanics' Bank, by the proper officer thereof, a book of printed checks in blank, for the purpose of being used by the cashier, in drawing his official checks; and that the check in question had been cut out of the said book: That the said Cashier, in his official character, had frequently used the blank checks out of the said book, in drawing upon other banks in the district, and there was no other difference between the checks so drawn, and the check in question, other than the letters 'Cas.' or 'Ca.' being superadded to the name of the said William Paton, Jun. in the checks

so drawn upon the said other banks: That although the said check book was intended for the use of the bank, the checks in the same were sometimes used for other purposes: That the business of the said banks was sometimes managed through the medium of letters, and in such official correspondence, it was usual to subscribe the names of the cashiers, with the addition of some letters denoting their capacity of Cashier; but such form was sometimes omitted, and was in no case deemed indispensable, when, from other circumstances, such correspondence appeared to be official. The plaintiffs further offered in evidence two letters of the said William Paton, directed to William Whann, Cashier of the Bank of Columbia, each signed with the proper name of the said William Paton, without the addition of Cashier, or the letters 'Cas.' or 'Ca.' one of which letters related to the private concerns of the said William Whann, and the other to the concerns of the bank.

Evidence was further offered to prove that the check given in evidence as aforesaid, was, (together with a number of other checks, drawn by the said William Paton upon other banks, with the addition in his signature of the letters 'Ca.' and 'Cas.' and cut out of the official check book,) sent by the said Paton, on the 12th of July, 1817, by the hands of the said Philip H. Minor, then being teller as aforesaid, to Richard Smith, Cashier of the Office of Discount and Deposit of the Bank of the United States at Washington, to be paid in liquidation of a balance due from the said Mechanics' Bank to the said Office of Discount and Deposit: That the said letter was

delivered by the said Minor to the said Smith, and the checks and moneys contained in the same were applied to the credit of the said Mechanics' Bank. That among the checks so sent, was one for $17,626 5, written upon, and cut out of the check book aforesaid, and in the words and figures following, to wit:

Mechanics' Bank of Alexandria, July 12, 1817. No. 32.

Cashier of the Branch Bank of the United States, Washington Pay to the order of Philip H. Minor, amount of discount made me, which I believe is seventeen thousand six hundred and twenty-six dollars and five cents.

WM. PATON, Jun.

That the said Richard Smith, about the 17th of July, 1817, did cause the same to be presented to the Bank of Columbia for payment, and the same was accordingly paid, and was thereupon immediately charged to the said Mechanics' Bank.

Evidence was further offered to prove that the said Richard Smith considered the said check as the official check of the said William Paton, and it was so paid by him; and that the Cashier of the Bank of Columbia also considered it as the official check of the said Paton, and it was so paid by him.

Evidence was further offered, on the part of the Mechanics' Bank, to prove that the said William Paton, at the time he drew the said check, declared it was his private individual check; that he had

funds in the Bank of Columbia to meet it, and that it was passed by him to the said Mechanics' Bank as the individual check of the said William Paton. And evidence was further offered to prove that the Mechanics' Bank paid to the said Paton the amount of the said check.

Upon the evidence thus offered by the plaintiffs below, the counsel for the defendants objected to the whole of the said evidence, and insisted, that if the said check for 10,000 dollars, could be used as evidence against the said Mechanics' Bank, that the character of the said check could only be decided by the check itself, and that no parol or other testimony could be received to explain the same, and objected to the testimony offered upon that ground. But the Court overruled the objection, and gave it as their opinion to the jury, that the said check was, in connexion with the other evidence, proper and competent evidence in this case against the said Mechanics' Bank, and that it was competent to explain the character of the said check; or, in other words, to prove, by parol or other testimony, that the said check was drawn under such circumstances, and in such a manner, as justified the plaintiffs in considering it as an official check, and paying it as such, and charging the same to the debit of the defendants. And the evidence offered as aforesaid, with the said check, was admitted by the Court, and given in evidence to the jury.

The defendants below then prayed the opinion of the Court, and their instruction to the jury, that the check for 10,000 dollars, produced in evidence by the plaintiffs, is, on the face of it, a private, and not an official check, and of itself cannot, in law, charge the Mechanics' Bank with the payment of the said 10,000 dollars; and that the said William Paton was liable in his individual character for the payment of the same. Which opinion the Court refused to give.

They also prayed the Court to instruct the jury, that the check aforesaid was, upon the face of it, prima facie evidence of its being the private individual check of the said William Paton, and the possession of the said check by the said Mechanics' Bank, if proved to be in their possession, was prima facie evidence that they had paid a value for it; and that unless the Bank of Columbia should satisfy the jury by other evidence than the said check, that it was an official...