Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 8.djvu/31

PERET V. SHABPB. 17 �Matthews, Justice. On November 27, 1880, the plaintiffs filed in the court of coip.mon pleas for Fairfield county, Ohio, a petition in a civil action, under the Code of Civil Procedure in that state, for the recovery of money only. �It alleged, iii substance, that the plaintiffs are citizens of the state of Massachusetts, and partners in trade; that the defendante are cit- izens of Ohio; that on October 20, 1879, the defendants applied to the plaintiffs to grant a Une of credit to the defendant Pierce, who was without means or reaponsibility, but familiar with the dry goodg business, to sell him dry goods such as he might desire, toestablish and conduct a retail dry goods store at Lancaster, in Fairfield ccunty, Ohio; that, as an inducement thereto, the defendants represented and stated that the defendant Sharpe owned a large and magnificent farm of 720 acres of land three and a half miles from Hartford City, in Blackford county, Indiana; that the same was in a high atate of. cultivation, and one of the best farms in the county ; that the defend- ant Sharpe had, within the few years that he had owned it, expended $9,000 in permanent improvements on it; that it was worth $25,000 and upwards, and would be fine security for $15,000, and the de- fendant Sharpe proposed to plaintiffs that he would convey said farin to the defendant Pierce in fee and allow him to execute to plaintiffs a mortgage thereon for $15,000 as security for a line of credit to that amount with plaintiffs, stating that he had not sold and would not sell said farm to Pierce at any price, but would loan it to him as a basis of credit to help him into business, and that he (said Sharpe) would never claim anything from said Pierce in respect to said farm as long as he (said Pierce) desired to hold it ; that thereupon the plaintiffs, relying upon said atatements and representations of the defendants, and believing them to be true, agreed to extend to de- fendant Pierce the line of credit aforesaid upon said land being con- veyed to him as aforesaid, and upon his mortgaging the same to the plaintiffs, and the same was accordingly donc on the same day, October 20, 1879, and the plaintiffs thereupon, in pursuance of said scheme, sold and delivered to said Pierce goods at the dates and of the value therein stated, viz. : from October 27, 1879, to November 3, 1880, amounting in all to $30,902.50, on account of which they acknowledge to have received payments from Pierce for which he is entitled to credit amounting to $12,449.47, leaving an unpaid balance of $20,455.03, for which Pierce is indebted to them; that the rep- resentations and statements so made by the defendants were false v.8,no.l— 2 ��� �