Hall v. Ridgely

MiTjT.ee, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. A creditors’ bill in the usual form was filed to vacate certain deeds, executed by John R. Ridgely, in fraud as alleged of existing creditors; which, after much litigation, resulted in a decree, dated June 22d, 1867, vacating the deeds as against the complainants and all other creditors of Ridgely, who were such on or prior to the 2d of May, 1861, the date of the first of the assailed deeds, who may come in and make themselves parties to the suit, and directing the property thereby conveyed or so much thereof as might be necessary to pay their claims, to be sold for that purpose. The decree contained the usual direction to the trustee to give notice to such creditors to file their claims. The defendants, Ridgely and others, having taken an appeal from this decree, entered into an agreement with certain judgment creditors, then parties to the suit, by which they agreed to withdraw their appeal and the creditors to accept the amount of their respective judgments without interest, to be paid out of the proceeds of a designated portion of the property; and on payment thereof the decree was to bo entered satisfied.

The specified portion of the property was sold by the trustee and an account stated, distributing the entire amount of proceeds with other money which had come to the hands of the trustee, to the discharge of the claims of these creditors. All the claims allowed by this account which was finally ratified on the 18th of April, 1868, appear to have been paid. On the 9th of March, 1868, the appellants -who were not named as complainants in the bill, filed certain claims on promissory notes existing prior to the 2d of May, 1861, all of which were barred by limitations long prior to the time they were filed. No notice was taken of them by the auditor in the account which was ratified, or by any of the defendants until May, 1869, when, on notice from the trustee that he would proceed ■ to sell other property to pay them, the defendants filed petitions in which they pleaded and relied upon the Statute of Limitations as a bar to each and every of these claims, and ³¹⁰ asking the decree should be entered satisfied in accordance with the agreement referred to, and the. trustee discharged from further execution of the trust.

The Court decided the petitioners wore entitled to the benefit of the defense of limitations as against these claims, and referred the case to the auditor to state a final account disposing of the case. The auditor accordingly reported there were no claims filed to which the Statute was not a bar, and that there was no other account to be stated in the case. Upon this report an order was passed ratifying it and discharging the trustee. From that order the claimants who filed their aforesaid claims on the 9th of March, 1868, have appealed, and the sole question for our consideration is, was the Statute pleaded and relied upon in due