11 Rob. 511 | La. | 1845
The defendant, sued on a promissory note transferred and endorsed over to the plaintiffs after maturity, is appellant from a judgment which condemns him to pay the amount thereof. His defence is, that the plaintiffs received in payment ,of said note, his, defendant’s, draft, on Thomas Mas-kell, for the payment thereof; and that by their neglect in not presenting the same for payment, he is entirely released from the payment thereof, and that said plaintiffs have only their remedy on the draft.
It appears that the appellant being indebted to one H. H. Wadsworth, to whose order the note sued on was made payable, the same was endorsed in blank by the payee; John Mug-gah became the holder thereof, and endorsed it over to the plaintiffs, on the 1st of January, 1844, about nine months after its maturity. On the 6th of April following, the drawer of the note wrote on its back an order on Thomas Maskell, to pay the within note on the first of May next, and signed said order. Now, the testimony of the witness Maskell informs us, that the note having been presented to him by John Muggah during the time he owned it, with the order on the back of it, and he, witness, having some claims against said John Muggah, he, the witness, offered to give him up those claims, and pay the balance. Muggah objected to the arrangement, except as to some of the claims the witness held, which he was willing to receive; but they did not complete the arrangement. John Muggah afterwards transferred the note to the plaintiffs, who refused to receive payment in this way.