About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

Bank of the United States, Appellant, vs. Elizabeth Lee, Edmund J. Lee, and Richard Smith, Appellees, The 107 (1839)

handle is hein.slavery/ussccases0085 and id is 1 raw text is: JANUARY TERM, 1839. THE BANK OF THE UNITED STATES, APPELLANT, V&o ELIZABETH LEE, EDMUND J. LEE, AND RICHARD SMITH, APPELLEES. R. B. L. in 1809, then residing in Virginia, for a valuable consideration, made a conveyance in trust for the benefit of his wife, of certain persortal property, and slaves, which deed was duly- recorded according to the provisions of the act of the legislature of Virginia. The property thus conveyed, remained in the possession of the husband and wife, while they resided in Virginia; and in 1814, & B. L. removed to the District of Columbia, with his wife and family, and brought with him the slaves and property conveyed in trust for his wife. In 1817, R. B. L. borrowed a sum of money of the Bank of the United States, on his promissory note, endorsed by one of the trustees named in the deed of trusk of 1809. At the time the loan was made, R. B. L. executed a deed of tmst of eley.94 slaves, and among them were the slaves and the household- furniture conveyed'hy t6e deed of 1809, to secure the bank for the amount of the 10an. In 1827, R. B. L. died, entirely insolvent. During his residence in Washington, being in reduced circumstances, le sold some of the slaves, conveyed by the deed of 1809., for the support of his family; without objection by his wife or hpr trustees. In 1834, the debt to the bank being un- paid, a bill was filed against Mrs. E. I., the wife of R. B. L., and the trustees, .in order to compel the surrender of the remaining slaves, and the household furniture, to the trustee for the bank, for the sale of the same, to satisfy the debt due to the bank: held, that the d~ed of 1809, vesting the property in Mrs. L.'s trustees, was effectual, according to the laws of Virginia, to protect the .title thereto, against the subsequent creditors, or pur- chasers from R. B. Lee; and that the removal of R. B. L. and his wife, into the District of Columbia, with the property conveyed to the trustees for the use of Mrs. L., did not affect or impair the validity of the deed of trust. A liberal construction should be given to the clause-of the Virginia statute, for the suppres- sion of fraud. This is the well established rule in the constructiou, of the statute of Elizabeth, which the first section of the Virginia statute substantially adopts. If A sells, or conveys his lands or slaves to B, and then produces to another his previous paper title, and obtains credit on the goods or lands, by pledging them for money loaned, he is guilty of fraud; ard if the true owner stands by, and does not make his title known, he will be bound to make good the contract, on the principle that he who holds his peace -when he ought to have spoken, shall not be heard now that he should be silent. He is deemed, in equity, a party to the fraud. ON appeal from the Circuit Court of the United States, for the county of Washington, in the District of Columbia. The appellant 'filed a bill in the Circuit Court, stating, that in 1817, Richard Bland Lee represented himself to be the owner of certain after mentioned property, then in his possession; that he ap- plied to the bank for a loan of $600, and offered to convey the said' property in trust, to secure the repayment of said sum of money; that the loan was made, and a deed of trust executed and delivered on the 11th-June, 1817, to Richard Smith, as trustee; that the said Lee died ii 1827, intestate and insolvent, leaving said 4dbt unpaid; that no'administration was taken on his estate; that his widow. Elizabeth Lee, the defendant, has taken possession of said property.land withholds it from said trustee, alleging that it had been previously conveyed by he said husband, in January, 1809, to trustees, for ner use. The bill. charges, that the said deed of the 9th January, 1809, if ever made, was a, voluntary and fraudulent deed ; and, therefore, 'void against the complainants, who are bona fide purchasers, for a

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most