Romans v. Maddux

• Decision Date: 07 March 1889
• Citation: 77 Iowa 203,41 N.W. 763
• Parties: ROMANS v. MADDUX ET AL.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

77 Iowa 203

41 N.W. 763

ROMANS

v.MADDUX ET AL.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

March 7, 1889.

Appeal from district court, Boone county; J. L. STEVENS, Judge.

This is an action in equity, by which the plaintiff, who is a judgment creditor of the defendant Thomas A. Maddux, seeks to subject certain real estate, the legal title to which is in the defendant Ezra T. Maddux, to the payment of plaintiff's judgments. There was a hearing upon the merits, and a decree for the plaintiff. Defendants appeal.E. L. Greene, for appellants.

Crooks & Jordan and Shaw & Kuehnle, for appellee.

ROTHROCK, J.

1. In the year 1869 the defendant Thomas A. Maddux was the owner of the land in controversy. He held the legal title to the greater part of it, and had purchased the remainder, but had not then acquired a deed for the same. There was a mortgage upon that part of the land to which he held the legal title. An action for the foreclosure of the mortgage was pending, and on the 18th day of September, 1869, three days before the decree of foreclosure was entered, Thomas A. Maddux conveyed the land to Elizabeth Maddux, his wife, by a deed with covenants of general warranty, excepting as to said mortgage. Elizabeth Maddux died intestate in March, 1870, leaving several children, the oldest of whom was the defendant Ezra T. Maddux, who was then about 20 years of age. In April, 1871, Thomas A. Maddux conveyed an undivided one-third interest in the land to one Gamble by a deed of general warranty. In 1873, Gamble made a quitclaim deed of his interest in the land to the defendant Ezra T. Maddux. In 1884, Thomas A. Maddux, and the surviving children of Elizabeth Maddux, except E. T. Maddux, by a quitclaim deed, transferred all of their interest in the land to Ezra T. Maddux. By these several conveyances and transfers the complete legal title of the land is held by Ezra T. Maddux.

It is claimed by the plaintiff that all of these conveyances and transfers were withoutconsideration, fraudulent, and void as to the creditors of Thomas A. Maddux, and that the title held by Ezra T. Maddux is a secret trust, and that as to said creditors the land is the property of Thomas A. Maddux, and should be subjected to the payment of his debts. On the other hand, the defendants contend that the conveyances were made in good faith, and for valuable considerations, and are really what they purport to be. There is possibly this exception to this claim, which is that the quitclaim deed made to Ezra T. Maddux by the other children of Elizabeth Maddux, deceased, was without consideration, but was made in good faith, to enable Ezra T. Maddux to adjust and extinguish certain tax claims upon the land, or to procure a loan of money thereon. It is conceded that Thomas A. Maddux is insolvent. It appears from the evidence that after the death of Elizabeth Maddux the defendant Thomas A. Maddux, and all of his children, remained in Boone county, and in possession of the land, upon which there was a large amount of timber. They had a saw-mill, and cut and sawed the timber from the land, and sold lumber, railroad ties, wood, etc. In 1873 the family removed to Crawford county, and rented a large farm, and farmed quite extensively. Thomas A. Maddux appeared to be the ruling spirit in this enterprise. He took the active management of affairs, and did the purchasing for the family, and accounts were run with merchants in his name. The claims upon which the plaintiff's judgments are founded arose by the purchase of agricultural implements, cultivators, plows, wagons, lumber, and general hardware for use upon the farm in Crawford county. Thomas A. Maddux made the contracts for the property, and gave his obligations therefor. The purchases were made in 1874 and 1875, and soon thereafter were put in judgment, and execution was levied upon personal property on the farm. Ezra T. Maddux made claim to the property levied upon, and a trial of the right of property was had, which resulted in judgment against the plaintiff herein. In that suit a wagon, which the plaintiff had sold to Thomas A. Maddux, was claimed by Ezra T. Maddux, and it was awarded to him. When payment was demanded for the property purchased, Ezra T. Maddux claimed to own all the personal property. He claims in his testimony in this case that, when he went to Crawford county, he took with him, as his own property, “nine head of horses and mules, eight cows, three two-horse wagons and harness.”

We recite these facts in connection with the origination of these judgments, not as directly affecting the title to the land in controversy, but as showing the general method pursued by the defendants in the prosecution of their business. It would seem that they ought to have paid the debts made necessary by the purchase of implements and machinery with which to carry on their business; and their conduct in this regard tends in some degree to show that their transactions and claims, with reference to the property of...