Phillips v. Eldridge
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract on a promissory note of Nathaniel A. Eldridge and Ethel E. Eldridge, his wife, for $1,385 payable to Edward F. Gleason on October 9,1913, with interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, indorsed by Gleason to the order of the plaintiff and indorsed by the plaintiff in blank.
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Contract on a promissory note of Nathaniel A. Eldridge and Ethel E. Eldridge, his wife, for $1,385 payable to Edward F. Gleason on October 9,1913, with interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, indorsed by Gleason to the order of the plaintiff and indorsed by the plaintiff in blank. The answer alleged that the plaintiff was not a holder in due course and that he had notice of the infirmities of the note, that the note was procured from the defendants by the payee Gleason oy threats of hnpnsomnent of the defendant Eldridge and that the free will of the defendants was overpowered by…
1Opinion of the CourtLoring, J.
There was evidence that the note here in suit was procured by duress practiced by the payee on the makers. If that evidence was believed, the plaintiff to recover had the burden of proving that he was a holder in due course as defined in B,. L. c. 73, § 69. The plaintiff and the payee, when called as adverse witnesses by the defendants, testified to facts which would have warranted a finding that the plaintiff was a holder in due course. But the jury were not bound to believe their testimony, although uncontradicted, and therefore a verdict for the plaintiff could not have been directed as…
2Cases cited7 opinions
- Lindenbaum v. New York, New Haven, & Hartford RailroadMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1908
- Leary v. William G. Webber Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1911
- Merchants' National Bank v. Haverhill Iron WorksMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1893
- Giles v. GilesMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1910
- Emerson v. WarkMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1904
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3Cited by20 opinions
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- Topjian v. Boston Casing Co.Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1934
- Beachy v. JonesSupreme Court of Kansas · 1921
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