Stephens v. Allen

By the Court,

Lord, J.:

The object of this suit is to have certain conveyances of lands, made by the plaintiff to the defendants by deeds absolute upon their face, declared to be mortgages, to secure an accounting for so much of said lands as have been sold by the defendants, and to compel them to reconvey the residue of said lands to the plaintiff. The principal question involved, and to which the argument is almost wholly directed is, whether the transaction between the parties was an absolute sale of the lands in dispute, or a pledge of them to secure the payment of the debt and expenses…