St Romes v. Levee Steamco

• Decision Date: 14 May 1888
• Docket Number: COTTON-PRESS
• Citation: 127 U.S. 614,8 S.Ct. 1335,32 L.Ed. 289
• Parties: ST. ROMES v. LEVEE STEAMCO
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

8 S.Ct. 1335

127 U.S. 614

32 L.Ed. 289

ST. ROMES v. LEVEE STEAM COTTON-PRESS CO.

May 14, 1888.

Charles Louque and J. Q. A. Fellows, for appellant.

Wm. A. Maury, for appellee.

BRADLEY, J.

This is a suit in equity instituted in the court below on the 9th of December, 1882, by the appellant, as heir of her mother and brothers, against the appellee, to compel the latter to issue to the appellant a certificate for 66 shares of its capital stock, which are charged to have been unlawfully canceled and transferred to other parties without authority, and to recover the dividends on said stock since the year 1853. The bill states that in 1845 the complainant's mother, Widow de St. Romes, became the owner of said 66 shares of stock, and received 2 certificates therefor, one for 43 shares, and the other for 23 shares; but that on the 29th of July, 1853, the defendant, without authority from the Widow de St. Romes, by mistake and in fraud of her rights, canceled said certificates, and have ever since refused to recognize her, her heirs or assigns, as the owners thereof; that in 1861 Madame de St. Romes sued the company for the dividends accruing on said stock, and by judgment rendered in June, 1868, recovered the dividends for 1848, 1849, 1852, and 1853; that in April, 1876, the present complainant, as owner of said shares, instituted a suit in the superior district court of New Orleans against the appellee, which was ended by a nonsuit in 1882. The bill then states the amount of dividends declared by the defendant since 1853, and prays relief as above stated. The defendant, in its answer, admits that the Widow de St. Romes was owner of stock from 1845 to 1853; but that she transferred the same through her agent on the 29th of July, 1853, and has never owned it since; that her agent was Pierre Deverges, who acted as her attorney in fact in the management of her business for many years, being held out by her to the community as such, with power to dispose of her property; that the stock in question was sold by Deverges, as the widow's agent and attorney in fact, to one Cohen on the day mentioned, and transferred to him on the books of the company; and from that time Cohen and those claiming under him have been in possession of said stock, with right to all dividends; that to effect the sale of the stock the Widow de St. Romes delivered her certificates of stock to her said agent, and he surrendered them to the defendant, and new certificates were issued to the purchaser. The answer further states that the books and papers of the defendant were destroyed by fire in 1859, and that its secretary, who superintended the transfers of its stock, and Deverges, have both been dead many years, and that the widow never assumed to assert any claim to the stock until the suit brought by her in 1861; it states that Cohen sold the 66 shares to Peschier & Forstall, who sold them to A. & M. Heine, who transferred them to one H. Gally, the present owner, and that these persons have successively owned and possessed said stock in good faith, by just title, and received the dividends thereon, to the present time. The answer sets up the prescription of three years and of ten years. It further states that in 1871 the Widow de St. Romes instituted suit in the superior district court of the parish of New Orleans against the defendant and the then owners of the stock, holding under said sale to Cohen, and claimed said stock and the dividends which accrued after 1854, which suit was finally decided by the supreme court of Louisiana in March, 1879; and although the widow attempted, before the decision was announced, to withdraw the suit (then on appeal) on the pretense of an assignment of her interest therein to her son Eugene, in November, 1867, the court, under article 901 of the Code of Practice, refused to dismiss the case on that account, and gave judgment agains the said Widow de St. Romes on the ground of prescription. The answer sets up this judgments as res judicata in defense to the present suit. The answer further states that in April, 1876, the present complainant instituted suit against the defendant in the superior court for the parish of New Orleans, claiming the shares and dividends now sued for; which suit was finally dismissed for want of proper parties. The answer claims that this decision also makes the case res judicata, and precludes the complainant from a recovery in this suit. Some further supplemental pleadings were filed in the case, but they need not be stated here.

The material questions are (1) whether the matter in controversy is res judicata; (2) whether the suit is defective for want of proper parties; (3) whether the claim is prescribed; and, (4) if none of these defenses can be maintained, whether the stock was transferred by authority of Madame de St. Romes. The first question requires us to direct our attention to the suits that were brought against the defendant in relation to the stock and its dividends. The first suit was commenced in January, 1861, and terminated by the judgment of the supreme court of Louisiana in January, 1868. It was brought by Madame de St. Romes against the defendant to recover the dividends for the years 1848, 1849, 1852, and 1853, and to be recognized as holder and owner of the stock since 1853, and entitled to all dividends declared thereon since that time, with judgment for the same; or, in default of payment of said dividends, judgment for the value of the shares and interest thereon from 1853. The court gave judgment in the plaintiff's favor for the dividends of 1848, 1849, 1852, and 1853, which accrued before the transfer of the stock, not being satisfied of Deverges' authority to collect them; but, as the alleged transferee of the stock was not a party to the suit, it was held that the plaintiff could not be justly recognized as owner of the stock in question. Nevertheless her right to claim it in a direct action was reserved. It is clear that nothing was determined in this action with regard to the validity of the sale and transfer of the stock. Near the close of the proceedings, on the 23d of November, 1867, Madame de St. Romes executed a transfer to her son Eugene de St. Romes of all her interest in the case then pending, and subrogated him to all her rights, claims, and demands that might result against said company. On June 9, 1868, this transfer was filed of record in the cause, and the money recovered in the suit was ordered to be paid to Eugene de St. Romes. On the 20th of June, 1871, the Widow de St. Romes commenced a new action against the defendant, praying that she might be recognized as the owner of the stock; that the canceling of the certificates might be declared void and the transfer void; and that the defendant, the Levee Cotton-Press Company, be ordered to pay her all the dividends which had accrued on the stock since 1853, with legal interest. In pursuance of the decision of the court in the previous cases, she made the then holders of the stock parties defendant. During the progress of this suit, in May, 1874, Eugene de St. Romes died intestate, leaving as his sole heirs his mother, his brother Victor, and the present plaintiff, Ermance de St Romes. In August, 1874, Victor also died intestate, leaving as his sole heirs his mother and his sister, Ermance. On the 21st of October, 1874, the Widow de St. Romes, the mother, renounced the succession of her sons in favor of her daughter Ermance. The suit still went on in the name of the widow, and in November, 1874, the superior district court dismissed the plaintiff's demand,...