Bowker v. Hill

Citations

• 115 F. 528
• 1879 U.S. App. LEXIS 1681

Syllabus

<p>1. Corporations — Dissolution—Actions against Officers and Stockholders — Parties.</p> <p>Trustees of a dissolved corporation can only pursue sueb claims against third persons, such as its officers and stockholders, as are of a general nature, accruing to all the creditors, — as, for example, general assessments on the shares of stock, or at least such as accrue to a distinct- class of creditors; and if the remedy depends on the equities of particular creditors, or upon the date when their claims were contracted, they must necessarily enforce their own rights.</p> <p>8. Same — Recovery of Dividends Improperly Paid — Jurisdiction of Federal Courts.</p> <p>Rev. St. Me. 1857, c. 46, § 34, giving judgment creditors of a corporation a bill in equity in the supreme judicial court of the state to reach dividends improperly paid, was not intended to exclude the jurisdiction of a federal circuit court, where the allegation as to the citizenship of the parties was sufficient to give the latter jurisdiction.</p> <p>-8. Same — Limitations.</p> <p>The cause of action given by Rev. St. Me. 1857, c. 46. § 34, does not accrue until execution against the corporation is returned nulla bona, and limitations do not run until such time.</p>