132 Me. 111 | Me. | 1933
The parties to this suit were accommodation indorsers of a promissory note for $2,€00 given on August 5, 1931, to the First National Bank of Van Burén and payable four months after date. The plaintiff, having paid the note in full before maturity, took an assignment of it by the indorsement without re
A brief summary of the evidence in this case seems sufficient. The maker of the note in controversy was Mary J. Gagnon, the daughter of the plaintiff, and the defendants were the parents of A. J. Gagnon, her husband. On or about April 1, 1931, Mrs. Gag-non purchased a millinery and dry goods store in Madawaska and the original note, of which that in suit is a renewal, was given to help finance this transaction. The business venture was not a success. On July 25, 1931, Mrs. Gagnon, being heavily in debt and pressed by her creditors, gave her father, the plaintiff, a mortgage of $12,000 on her stock of merchandise, household furniture and an automobile, and he undertook to pay her debts and reimburse himself for his own advances. The note at the bank of April 1,. 1931, was not paid when it came due, but renewed by a new note which the defendants indorsed. The plaintiff paid this note on December 4,1931, as already noted.
Witnesses testify that the plaintiff informed the defendants in advance that he was going to take the mortgage from his daughter and assume all her debts. There is evidence that, after the mortgage was given, the plaintiff said that he had assumed these debts and the first note that would be taken care of was the one in controversy. The plaintiff claims that the defendants were originally joint indorsers and agreed to remain liable as co-sureties after he acquired it. He denies that he assumed and agreed to pay the note or release the defendants.
A reading of the briefs indicates that the plaintiff’s real complaint is that the decision below was against the weight of the evidence. That question is not open on this review. In cases heard by the Court without a jury, the right of exception is limited to rulings upon questions of law and does not include opinions, directions or judgments which are the result of evidence or the exercise of judicial discretion. Ayer v. Harris, 125 Me., 249, 250; Pettengill v. Shoenbar, 84 Me., 104; Dunn v. Kelley, 69 Me., 145.
The main issue upon which counsel for all parties direct their arguments and the case seems to have turned in the trial court is whether the plaintiff, in fact, released the defendants from their liabilities as indorsers. The finding of the single Justice on that question is supported by credible evidence and is conclusive upon this Court.
Exceptions overruled.