Case Name: William Thrower vs. William J. Vaughan
Court: South Carolina Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: South Carolina
Decision Date: 1844-12
Citations: 1 Rich. 18
Docket Number: 
Parties: William Thrower vs. William J. Vaughan.
Judges: Richardson, Q’Neall, Evans and Frost, JJ. concurred.
Reporter: South Carolina Law Reports
Volume: 30
Pages: 18–25

Head Matter:
William Thrower vs. William J. Vaughan.
A sheriff has no authority to levy or sell under an execution satisfied in fact, though unsatisfied ón its face; if, however, he has no notice of the satisfaction, he will not be liable in trespass, to the defendant, for acting under it.
A purchaser under such an execution, will acquire no title to the property, if, before the purchase, he receives notice of the satisfaction.
Where a sheriff has several executions against a defendant, and makes one levy (seizure) of his property, and enters the same on each execution, he is entitled to charge for but one levy, and not for a levy on each execution.
Before Butler, J. at Lancaster, Spring Term¡ 1844.
This was an action of trover for four bales of cotton,' sold by the sheriff as the property of the plaintiff, and bought by the defendant.
The first question in the case in point of order was this; were there any executions in the sheriff’s office against the plaintiff unsatisfied at the time of the sale, which took place in March, 18421 There had been a great many executions in the office, under which nearly all his property had been sold. The plaintiff, supposing all were satisfied, undertook to carry these four hales of cotton to market; on the way, not far from Mr. Massey’s gin, the deputy sheriff stopped the wagon and threw off the cotton, saying that he had levied on it. The cotton remained at the same place till it was sold. Upon a calculation of all the demands in the office,’ made with great care by Mr. Beck-ham, the Clerk of the Court, it seemed to be clear that the sheriff had no demand against the plaintiff, at the time of the levy, or the sale which was made shortly afterwards; on the contrary it appeared, according to the clerk’s calculation, and which was approved by the court, that the sheriff was indebted to the plaintiff some small balance.
The sheriff contended that he had-a right to charge for a levy on each execution in his office, as to the same piece of property levied on. There were many executions in the office at the time the plaintiff’s property was levied on, and by allowing the sheriff to charge a levy on each, there is no doubt but that some of the costs at the time of this sale were unsatisfied. The Clerk, under the direction of the court, allowed the sheriff for one levy, until it was exhausted by sale of property, and then he had a right to charge for another. This was done rather in reference to the act done by the sheriff than the number of executions which he had at the time of the levy. It may have been, that in some instances, the plaintiff, Thrower, had made payments to the plaintiffs in execution, and had taken their receipts as his vouchers, and whether the sheriff knew of these receipts or not, did not appear. It seemed, however, that plaintiff was always willing to come to a settlement with the sheriff, and before this action was commenced, he gave Mr. Clinton a large fee to make a calculation for him; Mr. Clinton- did so; but the sheriff was not willing to settle by it. This action was then commenced against the purchaser at sheriff’s sale. His rights and liabilities, the presiding Judge told the jury, were not to be confounded with those of the sheriff. He said that he should be protected in his purchase, if the sale was apparently fair, unless he had such notice as would have put a reasonable man on his guard. Upon this point, the evidence was as follows. The defendant, Yaughan, attended the sale in company with the sheriff, and when the cotton Was offered for sale at Maj. Massey’s gin house, the deputy sheriff, who sold it, advised Yaughan to bid for it, with a yiew of indemnifying himself from some supposed liability for plaintiff. The plaintiff, who is an ignorant man, and on that occasion much confused, made, in an excited voice, use of these disconnected words, as the deputy testified, “ Take notice, you know.” “ Take notice you sell under Miller’s execution,” (he having contended that that was satisfied.) The witness replied yes, and also under Falk ner’s execution. ' The cotton was knocked off to the defendant.
The presiding Judge said to the jury, that if the plaintiff, by what he said at the sale, gave such notice as amounted to a denial of authority of the sheriff to sell at all, and such as would haye put a reasonable man on hia guard' who heard it, that then such a person, if he became the purchaser, ought not to be protected in such an action as this. But that if the notice was not sufficient to put him on his guard, or to enable him to make the necessary inquiry on the subject, that then he should be protected. And that under these instructions, he said the jury were at liberty to find for or against the defendant. Verdict for the plaintiff for the value of the cotton.
The defendant appealed, on the following grounds.
1. Because the defendant was an innocent purchaser, at sheriff’s sale, without any notice whatever that the executions in the sheriff’s office, against plaintiff, were paid off, nor did he know but that they were still unsatisfied.
2. Because the court should have instructed the jury, that the costs, as taxed on the executions, by the former and present sheriff, were, as regards the defendant’s rights, to be held and deemed as legal and valid costs.
3. Because the court said to the jury, that if the plaintiff in this case, who was the defendant in certain executions in the sheriff’s office, told the defendant that these executions were paid off, and the sheriff then informed the defendant that they were not satisfied, that he was bound to regard this as notice that they were paid off.
4. Because the court ruled that the sheriff was by law entitled to but one levy, though there were twenty executions against the plaintiff in his office, and upon all of which were endorsed the levy of the same property.
5. Because the plaintiff had loose receipts, for money paid in the office to the former sheriff on executions against him, which he kept in his possession, and never attached' said receipts to the executions upon which the money was paid, nor showed them to the present sheriff, until after the purchase by defendant of plaintiff’s cotton at sheriff’s sale.
J. Williams, for the motion.
Clinton, contra.

Opinion:
Curia, per
Butler, J.
The doctrine recognized in the case of Hunter vs. Stephenson, 1 Hill, 415, seems to be this — that every execution unsatisfied on the face of it, is, prima facie, authority to sell; but this, as Mr. Justice O'Neall remarks, "may be rebutted by the defendant. He may shew that, before the sale, the.execution was paid, and thereby the sheriff's authority te sell was ended." Satisfaction, in fact, must be regarded as the termination of the authority of a sheriff to act under legal process, so far as he may have acquired a right under it to convey title to another. No conveyance can be good, which rests upon that which is null and void. Such is not the consequence of a mere irregularity. There are, no doubt, many cases in which this general principle would be qualifier, so far as it regards the liability of the sheriff for trespass. As where the defendant, having receipts in his possession of money paid to the plaintiff, but the knowledge of which he has not communicated to the sheriff. In a case like that, he ought not to be permitted to take advantage of his own wrong, in an attempt to hold the sheriff liable for a trespass in seizing his property for sale. In the case supposed, a defendant always has it in his power to prevent the mischief — a sale to an innocent purchaser without notice. Under this general view, the defendant, Vaughan, could not be protected in his purchase at sheriff's sale. By their verdict, .the jury have established the fact of notice ; ' and also, that the executions under which the sale took place had been fully satisfied, according to the computation of the clerk, made under the direction of the presiding Judge. The data upon which the calculation' was made, were afforded by memoranda and entries made by the sheriff himself, and did not depend on receipts which the plaintiff may have had in his own possession, and which w'ere unknown to the sheriff at the time of sale. The result of the clerk's calculation is questioned, on the ground that the sheriff was not allowed as much costs for levies as he was entitled to by law. I am not satisfied but that if the sheriff had been allowed all that was contended for, the executions would have been still unsatisfied. From what was stated at the bar, and from my own impression, I am inclined to think that such was the fact. In any view of the matter, it is not a case in which we should struggle to sustain the sale. There seems to have been a reckles indifference to the feelings and rights of the plaintiff, Thrown er, from the manner in which his property was taken from him and sacrificed at sheriff's sale. When he supposed he had settled every thing' in the sheriff's office, by the sale of his land and other property, the sheriff seizes on the small remnant of property to satisfy a few dollars of costs, which, he contended, was still due him, for .sundry levies made on executions that were satisfied, so far as it regarded the demands of the plaintiff on them. The validity of the sale in question is made, therefore, to depend on this narrow question. Has the sheriff a right to charge, as levies, the indorsements on several executions of property taken into his possession by one seizure ? It seems that when the sheriff made one seizure, he endorsed a memorandum of it on all the executions in his office, as so many levies, and charged one dollar for each. If he could be permitted to do this, it is possible, from what appears to the court, that some very small amount may have been due on the executions at the time of sale. As I laid down the principle on the circuit, the sheriff should have been permitted to charge for one levy, when it consisted of one seizure, but should not charge for a levy according to every memorandum on eaeh execution. As, for instance, when the sheriff took possession of one flock of sheep, or one gang of negroes, at the same time, this should be regarded as one levy, to be entered on all the executions in the office, for the purpose of giving effect to sales made under any of the executions. The title being conferred on the sheriff, by virtue of his possession of the property, the entries on different executions might be referred to as his instructions and convenient explanation of his authority.
I further held, that when one of these levies was exhausted, or when the property embraced in several levies, as the case might be, had been exhausted by sale, then that the sheriff should be at liberty to make and charge for another. To prevent these repeated levies, which would increase the cost by mileage, the sheriff should, in the first instance, mafep a sufficient levy. But where he has been prevented from doing so by the act of the defendant, or from any other good cause, he would have a right to make repeated levies, and charge for each. But not to make one levy on a horse, for instance, and charge a fee for.it on twenty executions, if he should have so many in his office. A defendant can always prevent separate and repeated levies, by giving up, in the first instance, property to satisfy- executions against him, or all the property he has, when he is unable to satisfy them. At any rate, he could prevent flagrant abuse on the part of the sheriff. The mere entry of a levy on an execution, is not ipso facto a levy in law. For instance, suppose the sheriff, never having seen the article of property, makes an entry of it on his execution, this is not a levy which could give him authority to sell. Sometimes sheriffs take and enter what are called levies by consent. I hold that these are not Such levies as are contemplated in law, and, without subsequent possession, are not such as could be charged for under the fee bill; which goes to shew that the act of seizure, and not the entry, constitutes the legal ingredient of levy.. .
The Act of the Legislature of-1839, in relation to the duties of sheriffs, fully sustains me in these views. The 47th section of that Act is as follows — " The sheriff shall make a memorandum, in writing, of the date of every levy-, and specify the property on which such levy has been made, on the process or in a schedule thereunto annexed ; and if more than one process be levied on such property, reference on each shall be made to such memorandum or schedule." This clause has two objects in view; to ascertain the date of the levy, and to preserve on the executions upon which it might operate, the evidence of it. 'When property is levied on under a junior execution, the levy is good, ipso facto, so far as it regards the senior executions in the office. The property becomes liable to pay the costs for one levy, as soon as it is seized by the sheriff, and it is immaterial upon which execution it is charged, so far as it regards the defendant. According to the doctrine contended for, if a levy is made under a junior execution by the order of the plaintiff in such' execution, the. sheriff has a right to endorse that levy on all the senior executions in his office, and to charge a dollar for each; although, Without such levy, thé senior executions would have taken the money by virtue of the former levy. Where there has been a levy on a senior execution, and the money is paid on it, then the sheriff may merely seize the property under subsequent executions when he has orders to proceed on them. In this way, there might be a succession of separate levies on the same piece of property. But when the sheriff has many executions, and has orders to proceed in all, then he should enter the levy on each, and charge according to the number of levies which, in fact, he has made. Or he might levy under one and make entries on all. There being no more trouble to make levies under fifty executions than under one ; the trouble and expense of the sheriff being the same in both instances. The levy'made under one execution, and the memorandum of it on several papers, are very distinguishable things. The one is the act which gives the sheriff his title, and the other is the evidence by which that act may be indicated and explained. In principle, it is like the case where property of a defendant is advertised fqr sale, by notice of sundry executions against him. One advertisement will be sufficient for the purpose of effecting a sale in all the cases. For the purpose of acquiring title in the sheriff, and for completing his authority to sell, one levy and one advertisement will be legally enough. It is not the number of levies that confers the authority on each, or the number of advertisements that will complete it. The rule that controls the one should be applicable to the other. As it regards advertisements, it has been settled in the case of the State vs. Beckett, 3 McC. 290, that " where there are a number of plaintiffs having executions against the same defendant, and his property is advertised under their executions, the sheriff is still entitled to the costs of but one advertisement, as all the plaintiffs's names can be put into one advertisement." According to these views, the computation of the sheriff's costs was correctly made, and there being nothing due on the executions at the time of the sale to defendant, it must be held invalid, as found by the' jury. Motion refused.
Richardson, Q'Neall, Evans and Frost, JJ. concurred.