About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

Absalom Fowler and Noah H. Badgett, Appellants, v. Ayers P. Merrill U.S. 375 (1851)

handle is hein.slavery/ussccases0254 and id is 1 raw text is: DECEMBER TERM, 1850.                                 375
Fowler et al. v. Merrill.
Order.
This cause came on to be'heard on the transcript of the
record from the Circuit Court of the United States for the
District of Columbia, holden in and for the County of 'Wash-
ington, and was argued by counsel. On consideration where-
of, it is now here ordered and adjudged by this court, that the
judgmaent of the said Circuit Court in this cause be, and the
same is hereby, affirmed, with costs.
AnSALO1I FOWLER AND NOAH H. BADGETT, APPELLANTS, V. AYRES
P. MERRILL.
The act of Congress passed on the 24th of September, 1789 (1 Stat. at Large, 88,
89), provides that ex parte depositions may be taken before a judge of a County
Court.
Where a Probate Court is organized for each county in a State, is a court of record,
and has a seal, it is sufficient if a deposition under that act be taken before a judge
of the Probate Court.
Although the day when a mortgage was executed was not stated, yet where it bore a
date in its commencement, and its acknowledgment and date of record were both
given, and both of them preceded a sheriff's sale of the mortgaged property, it was
certain that the mortgage was executed before the sale under execution.
Although, when the mortgage was recorded, the laws of the State did not make the
mere recording cosvey the title when the personal property thus mortgaged re-
mained in the possession of the mortgagor, yet they sanctioned the mortgage un-
less it was made without good consideration, and opposed by a bondfi*d subsequent
purchaser, who had no notice of its existence.
But the fact of recording the mortgage tended to give notice of its existence, and in
the present case the evidence shows that the purchasers at the sheriff's sale had
notice of the mortgage.
Such purchasers must allege that their want of notice continued up to the time of
making actual payment; a want of notice merely extending to the time of making
the purchase is not enough. Payment might have been refused, and then they
would not have been injured.
Moreover, between the time when the mortgage was in fact recorded and the time
of the sheriff's sale, the State passed a law making such recorded mortgages
valid.
The increase or offspring of slaves belong to the owner ofthe mother.
The decree of the Circuit Court being that the purchasers at the sheriff's sale
should either surrender the property to, the prior mortgagee, or pay the value
thereof, such value was properly computed as it was at the time of rendering the
decree.
,The hire of the slaves was properly charged as commencing when the prior mort-
gagee filed his bill for a foreclosure.                        C
THIS was an appeal from the Circuit Court of the United
States for the District of Arkansas, sitting as a court of
equity.
It was a: bill .filed by Merrill, the appellee, against Fowler

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:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most