Leeson v. Anderson

This case presents the question of' whether the acceptance, by the holder of a prbmissorynote past due, of a less sum than the face of the note, with' an agreement to discharge the debt, operates to release *248fully the debtor. We are constrained to hold that it does .not. The debtor, in paying a portion, only, of the debt, when he is bound to pay the whole, furnishes no consideration for a promise by the creditor to discharge him, and such payment is treated in law as a payment pro tanto only. See 2 Daniel, Neg. Inst. § 1289, and cases cited. See, also, Harrison v. Close, 2 Johns. 448; Ryan v.…