West v. Sloan
| Citation | 3 Jones 102,56 N.C. 102 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of North Carolina |
| Decision Date | 31 December 1856 |
| Parties | FANNY WEST and others v. E. B. D. SLOAN and others. |
Where a trustee has been guilty of a breach of trust by secretly buying the trust property at his own sale, in order to avail himself of the cestui que trust's acquiescence in his ownership as a bar to his rights, he must show that he fully apprised the latter of the nature and extent of the fraud practiced on him.
A trustee who purchases at his own sale, and keeps the cestui que trust in ignorance of the fact, cannot rely upon the statute of limitations or the lapse of time as a bar to an account.
A trustee who has never settled his account with the cestui que trust, or closed the trust in any way, but still owes a balance, cannot be protected by the statute of limitations, or the presumption arising from the lapse of ten years.
CAUSE removed from the Court of Equity of Mecklenburg county.
Sarah Sloan died in January, 1825, having made a will, which was duly proved and recorded. In the 9th clause of this will, is the following bequest: “It is my will and desire, that immediately after my decease, that my son, James Sloan, take into his possession my negro woman, Hannah, for the use of my daughter, Fanny West, and dispose of her in such a manner, as he thinks best calculated to support the said Fanny West during her life, but in the event of the said Fanny's death, the said negro, or her value, is to be equally divided between the children of the said Fanny West.” In pursuance of this will, the trustee, James Sloan, took possession of the woman, Hannah, and had possession of her and her offspring up to the time of his death, in 1847, and since that event the latter have been possessed or disposed of by the defendants, his children and legatees. Fanny West, with her husband and children, removed to Alabama, and thence her husband went further west; and there was much evidence tending to show that he was dead when the suit was brought. It was fully proved that he is now dead. Mrs. West and the family, while in this State, and after their removal, were in very necessitous circumstances, which was the case up to the filing of her bill; her husband was a very indolent, careless, and improvident man, and altogether abandoned the charge of his wife and children after going to Alabama. She was not able to read or write, and not acquainted with the transaction of business.
About the year 1829, James Sloan, professing to exercise the discretion given him by the will, advertised the negroes Hannah and two children, and sold them at public auction, when the defendant Wm. M. Stinson became the purchaser at $440 for the three. He, immediately thereafter, without giving any note or paying any money, without taking any title and without taking possession, relinquished his purchase to the trustee, James Sloan, at the price he had bid, and Sloan took the slaves home with him from the place of sale. Stinson is now the son-in-law of Sloan, but was not so then.
The plaintiffs allege that this sale was fraudulent; that the property was bought by Stinson, as the agent of Sloan, and by a collusion with him. The prayer is for an account.
The defendants, in their answer, say that this sale was made for the convenience and benefit of Mrs. West; that the slave Hannah had become feeble, and, having two young children, she could not be hired for anything, and the best thing that could be done for her was to convert the slaves into money, and give her a portion of it for her support and maintenence; that, with this view, the slaves were sold and bought by the defendant Stinson, without any concert with the defendant Sloan, and that he bid for them a fair price; that, afterwards, he sold the slaves, at the same price, to James Sloan, who took them home with him. They say that Mrs. West gave to James Sloan divers receipts recognising the sale, of which the following is an example:
PICKENS, May 8, 1838.
Signed by plaintiff, Mrs. West.
They showed receipts to the same purport, dated in 1835, 1836, 1843 and 1845, which are all the payments that were proved to have been made after Mrs. West went to Alabama. The defendants relied on the statute of limitations, also upon the length of time, as evidence of abandonment, &c. They admitted, however, that there had never been a settlement of the trust, and that there was a balance due for interest.
Replication, commissions and proofs.
The cause was set for hearing and sent to this Court.
Guion and H. C. Jones, for plaintiffs .
Osborne, for defendants .
Sarah Sloan, by her last will, bequeathed to the plaintiff Fanny a negro woman named Hannah. The bequest is in the following words:
“It is my will and desire that, immediately after my death, my son James Sloan take into his possession my negro woman Hannah, for the use of my daughter Fanny West, and dispose of her in such manner as he thinks best calculated to support the said Fanny West during her life-time, but in the event of the said Fanny West's death, the said negro, or her value, is to be divided between the children of the said Fanny West.”
James Sloan, the trustee, took the negro into his possession, and he, by his will, bequeathed the slaves in question among his children. The defendant E. B. Sloan, is the acting executor of James Sloan, and took into his possession the slaves in controversy, and delivered over to the legatees, under the will of James Sloan, the negroes respectively bequeathed to them, and some he has sold. All the proper parties are before the Court. The bill prays that some suitable person may be appointed trustee for her and her children, and a decree that the defendants deliver over the slaves in their respective possession, being the descendants of Hannah, and for an account, not only of their hires, but of the value of such as have been sold. Fanny West, with her children, removed from the State in 1827, leaving the negro Hannah in the possession of James Sloan. The latter occasionally remitted to her small sums of money, or paid them to her agent. The first of these payments was in 1835; the next in 1836; another in 1838, and another in 1843. The last was in 1845, and it is admitted that there is still a balance due the plaintiffs. The will of Sarah Sloan is dated in 1825.
The answer of E. B. Sloan admits that his father received the negro Hannah...
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