48 Barb. 568 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1867
It is fully settled, that by the act of 1860, an assignment in trust for the benefit of creditors, must be acknowledged before a proper officer, before delivery. Otherwise it is of no effect. The officer, in taking the acknowledgment, must be governed by the provisions of the Revised Statutes regulating the proof and recording of conveyances of real estate. (1'JS. 8. 758, §9, 15, marginal.) The language of section nine is, “ No acknowledgment of any "conveyance having been executed shall be taken by any officer, unless the officer taking the same shall know, or have satisfactory evidence, that the person making such acknowledgment is the individual described in, and who executed such conveyance.
In the case before me, the acknowledgment was made before Peter J. Gage, a notary public, on the 1st of August, 1866. He testifies that on the said day, he was sent for by Mr. Joachimssen, the counsel of the persons who were to execute the instrument; his office being in the same building with Mr. Joachimssen. They were then first introduced to him by that gentleman; they then executed it, in his presence. He had no doubt, from knowing Mr. Joachimssen, that they were the gentlemen represented in that paper. Consequently, on that introduction, he took the acknowledgment, as a notary public. He had no personal knowledge of them before that day.
These views, or rather the conclusions deducible from them, are, I think, supported by the general term of this district, in Watson v. Campbell, (28 Barb. 421.)
I hold, therefore, that legal proof of the identity of the persons appearing before an officer for the purpose of acknowledging the execution of an instrument, is necessary when the officer has no previous knowledge of them; that a mere introduction at the time is not sufficient; and when this previous knowledge does not exist, the officer shall take satis
Judgment for the plaintiffs, in conformity with the prayer of the complaint, with costs.
Gierke, Justice,]