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79 Ind. 527

Armstrong v. Kirkpatrick

Indiana Supreme Court

Decided November 15, 1881

Indiana Supreme Court · decided 1881-11-15

<p>Pbomissoby Note. — Maker.—Signature.—Principal and Agent. — Corporation.— The directors of the Howard County Agricultural Association gave a note in which were the words “ on,” etc., “ The Howard County Agricultural Association, who execute this note by her directors, do promise to pay,” etc. Signed by T. M. K., A. L. S. “ Secretary,” and others, followed by the words “ Directors Howard County Agricultural Association.”’</p> <p>-H'eld, in an action thereon, that the note was that of the association and. not of the individuals whose names are signed thereto.</p>

Relies on Carpenter v. Farnsworth · Means v. Swormstedt · Hayes v. Matthews

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1881-11-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently December 1950

5 state decisions

3018811890190019101920193019401950decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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Woods, J.

¶1— Action upon the following instrument:

“ $3,264. On the first day of September next after date,, The Howard County Agricultural Association, who execute this note by her directors, and the other obligors, whose names are hereto attached as sureties, do promise to pay David Foster at the First National Bank of Kokomo, Indiana, the sum of three thousand two hundred and sixty-four dollars, without any relief whatever from the valuation or appraisement *528laws of tlie State of Indiana, and ten per cent, interest from date until paid. Kokomo, Indiana, November 1st, 1877.
[Signed] “T. M. Kirkpatrick.
“A. L. Sharp, Secretary.
“Samuel P. Butcher,”
(and ten others),
“Directors Howard County Agricultural Association.
---, Sureties.”

¶2The complaint was in two paragraphs, the first against the Howard County Agricultural Association, as the makers of the note, and the second against the individuals whose names .are signed as directors, alleging that they made the note.

¶3The court sustained a demurrer to the second paragraph, .and gave the plaintiff judgment upon the first paragraph for the full amount of the note.

¶4The appellant insists that upon its face the instrument is the note of the individuals whose names are signed to it, and not of the. agricultural association, and hence that the demurrer to the second paragraph should have been overruled .and that to the first paragraph sustained, if either; and, in .support of this view, cites from Hayes v. Matthews, 63 Ind. 412, the proposition, “that, in order to bind the principal .•and make it his contract, the instrument must purport on its face to be the contract of the principal, and his name must be inserted in it and signed to it, and not merely the name of the .agent, even though the latter be described as agent in the instrument.”

¶5If this were an accurate statement of the rule, the decision •of the circuit court could be upheld by it, because the name •of the agricultural association appears in the body of the instrument and at the place of signature, and besides it is expressly stated in the body of the writing that the association ■executes the note, thus putting beyond doubt or cavil what was the intention of the parties in this respect.

¶6But it is not an universal or general rule, that the name of the maker must be both inserted in and signed to the instru*529ment. Means v. Swormstedt, 32 Ind. 87; Gaff v. Theis, 33 Ind. 307; Pease v. Welborn, 42 Ind. 331; Jackson School Tp. v. Hadley, 59 Ind. 534; School Town of Monticello v. Kendall, 72 Ind. 91; Moral School Tp. v. Harrison, 74 Ind. 93; Carpenter v. Farnsworth, 106 Mass. 561; Bigelow Bills & Notes, pp. 46 and 47; 1 Daniel Neg. Inst., sections 298-308; 1 Parsons Notes & Bills, pp. 91-99; Story Prom. Notes, sections 65-70.

¶7Judgment affirmed, with costs.

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