Case Name: RICHARDSON et al. v. PROSPECT HILL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH
Court: Texas Courts of Civil Appeals
Jurisdiction: Texas
Decision Date: 1928-05-02
Citations: 7 S.W.2d 179
Docket Number: No. 8003
Parties: RICHARDSON et al. v. PROSPECT HILL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH.
Judges: 
Reporter: South Western Reporter Second Series
Volume: 7
Pages: 179–181

Head Matter:
RICHARDSON et al. v. PROSPECT HILL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH.
(No. 8003.)
Court of Civil Appeals of Texas. San Antonio.
May 2, 1928.
Rehearing Denied June 13, 1928.
Bell & Bell, of San Antonio, for appellant.
Matlock & Kelly, of San Antonio, for appel-lee.

Opinion:
SMITH, J.
A. D. Hall executed his promissory note, in the sum of $900, payable to the order of W. W. Payton. The Prospect Hill Baptist Church of San Antonio acquired the note, which Payton indorsed, without recourse, to J. H. Ford and, F. A. Cox, trustees of said church. The note was secured by the vendor's lien upon a certain improved lot in San Antonio. That property was also heavily incumbered by liens to secure other indebtedness than that held by the church. Some of these obligations were held by J. M. Richardson, who, being desirous of protecting his interest, entered into negotiations with Trustee Cox for the purpose of procuring a release of the lien held by Ford and Cox as trustees for the church. These negotiations resulted in an agreement by which Cox individually assigned and transferred the church's note and lien to Richardson for the recited consideration of $50, which Richardson paid over to Cox, who in turn paid it into the treasury of the church. The church repudiated the transaction, and brought suit and recovered judgment for the amount of the note, less the $50 paid Cox, and for foreclosure of the lien. Richardson has appealed.
The ease is essentially one wholly of fact, to be determined, in the absence of a jury, by the court, as was done. The court found, in effect, that Cox, Ford, and another were the duly elected and acting trustees of the church; that the church became the owner of the note and lien through assignment from the payee to Cox and, Ford, as trustees of the church; that without the knowledge or consent of the church or his cotrustees Cox sold the note for $50, executed his individual transfer thereof to the purchaser, accepted the $50, and deposited it with the general funds of the church; that the purchaser of the note and lien from Cox knew the same was the property of the church; that neither the church nor its officers knew of nor ratified Cox's act in selling and transferring the note and lien; that the lien was upon property of the market value of $14,000 or $15,-000, and otherwise incumbered for about $8,000. These facts were found by the trial court upon sufficient evidence, and those findings are binding upon this court, and therefore are adopted as the findings of this court.
We conclude that under those facts the court properly rendered judgment in favor of the church for the amount of the note, less a credit for the $50 collected by Cox, and for foreclosure of the lien upon the property involved. Appellant brings forward his first, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth assignments of error. They each rest upon the claimed insufficiency of the evidence to support the court's findings of fact, and must be overruled in view of our conclusion that there was sufficient evidence to support those findings.
The judgment is affirmed.