Farmers Bank v. Gunnell's adm'x

Citations

• 26 Va. 131
• 26 Gratt. 131

Syllabus

<p>1. To fix liability upon the endorser of a negotiabte note, the holder must use due diligence in giving him notice of dishonor; and where the holder and endorser reside in different localities, and at the time of the dishonor, and for months before and afterwards, the usual and ordinary intercourse by mail between the two is intercepted by a state of war, the holder does not prove due diligence, by proving simply, that he deposited in his post office, on the day of the dishonor of the note, a notice of dishonor addressed to the endorser at his place of residence.</p> <p>2. A state of war which intercepts intercourse by the ordinary and usual course of mail between the holder and endorser of a note, excuses the holder from giving notice of dishonor so long as such interruption continues; but diligence on the part of the holder requires that he should.forward notice to the endorser as soon as the interruption ceases.</p> <p>3. That the note was made endorsed and discounted in the city of Alexandria, and that at that time that Tcity was in the firm occupation of the troops of the United States, and the endorser after endorsing the note and before its maturity returned to his home within the lines held by the forces of the Confederate States, and remained there until May 1862, nine months after the note fell due, does not excuse the holder from giving the endorser notice of protest and non-payment of the note.</p> <p>4. That at the date of the protest of a note in August 1861, up to the 10th of April 1862, the city and a portion off the county of Alexandria, where the note was discounted, was in possession of the forces of the United States, and the endorser was within the lines of the forces of the Confederate States, and that the bank, the holder of the note at Alexandria, on the xoth of April ceased its banking operations by resolutions of its board of directors, and turned all its assets over into, the hands, management and custody of three agents; and the bank n