Horace Gray

“ The order of assessment, whether made by the directors as provided in the contract of subscription, or by the court as the successor in this respect of the directors, was doubtless, unless directly attacked and set aside by appropriate judicial proceedings, conclusive evidence of the necessity for making such an assessment, and to that extent bound every stockholder without personal notice to him. ”

“ In many jurisdictions the cause of action, within the meaning of a statute of limitations, would be held to have accrued at the time of the order for an assessment, and not before. It has been so held by the supreme court of the state of Illinois, where this company was incorporated, and the order of assessment made, as well as by this court in cases coming up from circuit courts of the United States, and unaffected by decisions of the highest court of the state in which those courts were held. ”

“ By the original contract between the parties, made in the state of Iowa on February 16, 1869, Purdy, the present defendant, agreed to take 50 shares, of the par value of $25, in the plaintiff company, and to pay 5 per cent. ”