The Columbus weekly dispatch. (Columbus, Miss.) 1902-1905, 1904-04-14

Chancellor McCool Ends the Suspense.--Full
Text of Opinion.--Goes to the
Supreme Court.

ing at ten o'clock, the COurt
House being almost filed with
interested spectators who were
drawn there by the announce
ment that the decree was to be
handed down. It sustained the
contentious Of the bank in every
particular, dismissing the bills
of the several cOmplainants and
taxing them with the costs of
the proceedings. The case was
argued at the last term of the
court, nearly every lawyer OF
prominence of the local bar be
ing retained by those who were
parties to the suit, and Chancel-
lor McCOol has had the case IN
der consideration ever since, re
serving his decision 10 be rem
dered in vacation. The suit was
one Of the most important which
has been tried in the local courts
for some years and it involved
about ten thousand dollars. In
it the creditors Of the estate of
the late John NJ. Billups sought
10 set aside the transfer Of GER
tain realty 10 the bank on the
part If Major Billups on the
ground that Withholding the
deed from the record vitiated
the same. This was the conten-
tiol of the claimants and Chan
cellor McCool dismissed their
bills I'M a lengthy decree in which
numerous authorities were cited
and in Which he covered the
points al law completely. The
case TOW goes to the Supreme
Court fuI final adjudication and
itvill be probably a year before
that tribunal passes upon its
merits. In the case the bank
was represented by Col E, T.
Sykes and @. II. Alexander, Of
jackson. while mem bers of the
local bar represented local liti-
gants. On account of the i'm
portance of the case THE DIS
PATCH presents the decree in
full as follows:
While the pleadings and evi-
dence are voluminous in these
cases, they substantially show
that the com plainants in the fore
going cases filed their bills, which
were consolidated and tried as
one against the defendant, seek
ing to subject certain property,
claimed as assets of J. NJ. Billups,
deceased. to the payment of
claims which he owed complain
ants, which property therein de
Scribed is claimed to be owned
by the defendant, by virtue of
two unrecOrded deeds of trust
and one unrecorded deed, exc
cuted about eight years prior to
the death Of the said J. NJ. Bill
lups. and which instruments
were never recorded until sub
sequent to his death, and soon
thereafter these bills were filed
The debts of said complainant
were contracted about seven
years more or less after the exc
cution of said instruments, by
the said Billups to the said de-
fendant. Com plainants allege
that they had no knowledge of
said BilIups having previously
conveyed or mortgaged this prop
erty, and believing him fnanci-
ally solvent and personally above
reproach as TO his fair dealings,
they extended 10 him liberal
credit without security, except
some questionable security on
cotton. merely expressed in the
face of the notes, no record of
which was ever made to give no
tice of their liens on said cotton.
The defendant bank alleges in its
answer to and cross bill, that J.
M. Billups was thought to be
practically out of debt. except
his debt to the bank, over which
he had been president for about
twenty nine years. and also an
additional debt TO Col. Banks,
vice president of said bank. with
whom the said Billups and Banks
were partners in the cotton mill
business. They believed that he
was capable of having fhe prop