96 Kan. 765 | Kan. | 1915
The opinion of the court was delivered by
G. F. Dikeman and several sureties executed a negotiable note for $1475 to the Havana State Bank. The note was endorsed before maturity to the First National Bank of Elk City, which brought action upon it. Dikeman filed an
The evidence in behalf of Dikeman showed this: Litigation was pending between him and the Havana bank, to end which, and to settle all matters in controversy, they entered into two written contracts, by which he agreed, among other things, to procure the execution and delivery of the note here sued upon. The plaintiff contends that to allow proof of an oral understanding that under certain circumstances the note was to be subject to a deduction would be to permit a written agreement to be varied by parol. The contention seems well founded.
The evidence in behalf of the sureties was to the effect that they signed the note at the request of Dikeman, with the understanding that it was also to receive an additional signature, which was not attached. The payee was not shown to have, had any notice of this arrangement, and therefore was not affected by it. (Carter v. Moulton, 51 Kan. 9, 32 Pac. 633; Note, 130 Am. St. Rep. 927.)
But in any event, neither defense was available against the plaintiff, which was shown to be a holder of the note in due course, unless that was prevented by evidence tending to show these facts: The cashier of the plaintiff bank, who purchased the note from the payee, was at all times mentioned a director of the Havana bank, and knew at the time of the written settlement referred to that an adjustment was being made in the course of which Dikeman was to give some notes to the Havana bank, and agreed with the Havana bank to handle one of them.
The cashier of the Elk City bank had no actual knowledge of Dikeman’s claim to a credit of $625. The fact that he was a director of the Havana bank might for some purposes be
The fact that the cashier of the Elk City bank knew that the note was given by Dikeman in the course of a settlement with the Havana bank did not charge it with notice of any defect or defense. Knowledge of the consideration for which a note was given does not put a buyer on inquiry, or prevent his becoming a holder in due course. (Leavens v. Hoover, 93 Kan. 661, 665, 145 Pac. 877; McKnight v. Parsons, 136 Iowa, 390, 113 N. W. 858, and cases there cited.) That an agreement for the purchase of the note was made while negotiations for its execution were still pending does not affect the matter.
The judgment is affirmed.