Moses v. Lawrence County Bank

Citations

• 149 U.S. 298
• 13 S. Ct. 900
• 37 L. Ed. 743
• 1893 U.S. LEXIS 2302

Syllabus

<p>Under a statute of frauds which requires the consideration of a promise to answer for the debt of another to be expressed in writing, a guaranty by a third person of the payment of a negotiable promissory note need not itself express any consideration, if written upon the note before it is delivered and first takes effect as a contract; but must, if written after-wards.</p> <p>A negotiable promissory note, even if not purporting to, be “ for value received,” imports a consideration; and the endorsement of such a note is itself prima facie evidence of having been made for value.</p> <p>A promissory note payable to the maker’s own order first takes effect as a contract upon endorsement and delivery by him.</p> <p>The statute of frauds of a State, even as applied to commercial instruments, is a rule of decision in the courts of the United States.</p>