Bouldin v. Alexander

delivered the opinion of the court.

The bill in this case was filed by Joseph Alexander and

“1st, Whether the defendant, Albert Bouldin, purchased, under' the direction of the church, the entire lot of. ground on the corner, of Fourth and L Streets of George H. Varnell, for the use and benefit of said church ; and whether the money col-, leeted by said Bouldin from or on behalf of the church was by him used to aid in the payment of said lot, and, if so, to what amount.

“2d, To state the accounts between the said Albert Bouldin.' and the plaintiffs, as trustees of the said church, and the trustees of whom they are the successors; to report the amounts of' money received by said Bouldin from the said church, and from other persons on behalf of said church, and the amounts to which he was entitled for his services in behalf of said church, and has expended therein and about the same, and to state the balance due either way, and for these purposes that he may call witnesses and take t istimony.

“ That the plaintiffs, until the further order of this court, are enjoined and restrained from selling, disposing of, or in any way incumbering the title of said church property so as to weaken the security of said Bouldin upon the church property.”

When our mandate went down on that appeal, the complain-. ants moved that a writ of possession issue at once; but the court • withheld it for the coming in of the auditor’s report, and, with the consent of the defendants, the order of reference was made to include the following additional questions': —

“ 3. In whose possession has the church building and property on the corner of Fourth and L Streets, Washington, D. C., been since the commencement of this suit ?

“ 4. What is the fair value of the rents, issues, and profits arising and accruing to the party in possession of said property from and since this suit ? ”

There was no claim in the bill for compensation for the use and occupation of the property, though it was alleged that the defendants unlawfully and by force kept the complainants, who were the only duly elected trustees, out of possession.

As to the notes, it was alleged in the bill that on the 28th of July, 1862, six notes were made to Bouldin, five for the sum of $100 each, payable in one, two, three, four, and five years from date, and the other for $120, payable in six years; and that these notes were secured by a deed of trust to one J. W. Barnaclo. In addition to this, according to the -averments in the bill, four other notes of $400 each were afterwards executed to Bouldin, on a settlement of his accounts for the erection of the church building. It was also alleged that the defendants who claim to be trustees of the church property had executed a deed of trust to one Callan, to secure all the notes originally given to Bouldin. The claim on the part of the complainants was, that on a full settlement of all the accounts of Bouldin, and a correction of the mistakes that had occurred in former settlements, it would be found there was nothing due.on the notes, and that Bouldin would be largely in debt to the church.

The defendants, in their answer, claimed that the notes for $620 were given and secured by deed of trust to Barnaclo, as stated in the bill, and that on the settlement of accounts, when the church building was completed, six notes, of $400 each,

On the hearing of the case before the auditor, Bouldin refused to produce the notes that had been given to him, or account for their absence. It was proved, however, that there had been paid to or collected by him divers sums of money which should be credited on the notes. The aggregate;of these sums, including interest from the date of payment tb Nov. 1, 1875, is, according to the report of the auditor, §1,233'.47. On account of the failure of Boiildin to present the notes, the auditor made no statement of the amount due upon them, but treated them as withdrawn from the suit by Bouldin. The auditor also found that the entire lot of ground on-iíhe corner of Fourth and L Streets, bought from Varnell, was for the use of the church, and charged Bouldin with the proceeds of a sale made of part of the lot. He also reported that the defendants had been in the possession of the church -^property since the commencement of the suit, and that the value of the rents, issues, and profits accruing to them by reason of such possession, was six per cent per annum on the value of the property, or §498.33 a year. He, therefore, in his accounting, charged the defendants with that amount, payable quarterly each year, from Sept. 28,1867, the date of the commencement of the suit, until Oct. 1, 1875, and interest on each quarterly instalment as it fell due. The total amount of his allowances in this way, on account of rents, was §4,910.26, as of Oct. 1, 1875.

Upon the filing of the report, the complainants excepted because rents had not been charged from July 28, 1867, instead of September 28. The defendants excepted, 1, because they, had been charged with mesne profits; 2, because Bouldin was not credited for the amount of his notes; 3, because Bouldin was charged for the proceeds of the part of the lot bought from Varnell which he had sold ; 4, because no allowance had been made to Bouldin for his services; and, 5, because of the amount allowed for payments made to Bouldin.

The court below at special term overruled the exceptions of the complainants, and sustained the exceptions of the defendants to the allowance against Bouldin for the proceeds of the sale of part of the lot bought from Varnell, and to the allow

From this decree the defendants below have alone appealed, and they assign for error the decree against them for the payment of mesne profits, and the disallowance of the claims of Bouldin, not embraced in his notes.

As to the mesne profits, we think the decree below cannot be sustained. There.is no claim for an allowance of this kind in the bill, and the proofs do not show that the appellants, or those whom they represent, derived individually any such pecuniary advantage from the use of the property pending the suit as to' make it proper they should be held personally accountable in that way: Bouldin was the founder of the society. He gathered the congregation together. • He bought the church lot and superintended the erection of the church building. If money was wanted that could not be got from others, he furnished it himself from his own means, and in the end, as Fhe case shows, while "the society had -secured a property worth, according to the report of the auditor, a little more than $8,000, there was a debt owing to him of over $3,000. The congregation had

In other respects the decree below is right, so far as it goes. Upon the. evidence, Bouldin is not entitled to any further credr 'its than have been allowed. He voluntarily withdrew or withheld his notes from the auditor and the court, and cannot have any affirmative relief on their account. His rights under the Barnaclo deed of trust are saved by the decree, and as the persons who executed the Callan deed were not lawful trustees, all proceedings under that deed were properly enjoined. We think, however, some order should have been made giving the complainants the benefit of the finding in their favor by the auditor in respect to the moneys paid to or collected by Bouldin to apply on his notes. From the answer of Bouldin, it seems probable that a part of these payments have already been indorsed on the notes; but this cannot be determined with certainty without an inspection of the notes themselves. If he will produce the notes, or satisfactorily account for their absence, so that the proper application of all payments can be

. The decree will be reversed so far as it charges the appellants, with any sum for mesne profits and use and occupation, and the cause remanded for such further proceedings in conformity with this opinion as may, appear to be necessary; and it is

So ordered.