Samuel Blatchford

“ Something must be done at once. The bank cannot go on as affairs are now, and if I surrender it to a receiver I know our stock will be worthless; the margin is too small. If I could have gotten the refusal of all the stock I might have induced some capitalists to come in, but I am afraid it is too late now. With $4,000 cash I could have infused new life into our stock and built it right up. Please let me hear from you, as I suppose you must feel an interest in Mrs. Valentine's stock.'
Johnson did not offer himself as a witness.
2. Mrs. Valentine was called as a witness by the plaintiff. ”

“ The answer avers that the actual transfer of the stock, on the books of the bank, was delayed for some time, without the knowledge and against the will of the defendants. It denies that the transfer of the stock was made without legal consideration, or with any view to exonerate Johnson from liability as stockholder. It denies that the defendant Valentine is, or was, at the time of said transfer, known by Johnson 'to be utterly insolvent, or that such transfer was made with a view of detrauding the creditors' of the bank. It avers that it is not true that Mrs. ”

“ He was to pay me $1,000 a year for my services. He was away a great deal of the time, and I took care of everything while he was gone. He went away two winters to California, and I had the care and responsibility of everything-the entire place-while he was gone. ”

“ Q. You stated, in reply to the thirty-second direct question, that you thought you proposed to Mr. Johnson to take the stock instead of money. Did you mean to be understood, by any subsequent answer, that the proposition for you to take the stock arose with Mr. Johnson? A. No.'
The circuit court dismissed the bill, taking, as we think, an erroneous view of Mrs. Valentine's testimony in one important particular. It was assumed that she testified that she had had charge of Johnson's house and family since the death of Mrs. Johnson in 1864, at the fixed compensation of $1,000 per year ”

“ He sends the certificate and the power to Lamb on the fifth of December. He loses no time in assigning his stock. Lamb understood what Johnson was doing. He sent to Cole the letter from Johnson, and directed Cole to inquire as to Mrs. Valentine's responsibility. He received information that she had none, and that she was Johnson's sister. With that knowledge he acted as Johnson's attorney in transferring the stock. He evidently thought there was no bona fides in the transfer, for, in his letter sending the certificate to Johnson, although Johnson had instructed him to send it to Mrs. ”