Swan v. Littlefield
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
This was an action of assumpsit by the plaintiff as the indorsee of two promissory notes, signed by the defendants as copartners, one dated December 4th, 1839, and the other October 6th, 1841. The defence relied upon was a discharge under the insolvent law of this commonwealth, which took effect on the 17tb of January, 1842, and a discharge under the bankrupt law of the United States, which took effect on the 17th of August, 1842. The plaintiff undertook to avoid these…
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This was an action of assumpsit by the plaintiff as the indorsee of two promissory notes, signed by the defendants as copartners, one dated December 4th, 1839, and the other October 6th, 1841. The defence relied upon was a discharge under the insolvent law of this commonwealth, which took effect on the 17tb of January, 1842, and a discharge under the bankrupt law of the United States, which took effect on the 17th of August, 1842. The plaintiff undertook to avoid these discharges, on various grounds, and, among others, he specified unlawful payments and preferences of preexisting creditors,…
1Opinion of the CourtWilde, J.
This case depends on the bankrupt act of 1841, c. 9, § 2, (5 U. S. St. at Large, 442,) by which it is provided, “ That all further payments, securities, conveyances, or transfers of property, or agreements, made or given by any bankrupt, in contemplation of bankruptcy, and for the purpose of giving any creditor, indorser, surety, or other person, any preference or priority over the other creditors, shall be deemed utterly void, and a fraud upon this act.”
At the trial the plaintiff introduced evidence tending to prove, that subsequent to August 19th, 1841, (the day of the passage of the…
2Cases cited2 opinions
- Hutchins v. TaylorU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Rhode Island · 1842
- In re ChadwickDistrict Court, W.D. Pennsylvania · 1842