The original suit was a bill in equity, filed January 10, 1879, by Keyser, as the receiver of the German American National Bank, against Hitz and wife, Donaldson, Prentiss, Chipley, Halstead, Crane, Tyler, and Jenks to enforce a deed in the nature of a mortgage dated January 26, 1876, by which Hitz and wife conveyed land in Washington to Donaldson and Prentiss, in trust to secure the payment of promissory notes for $20,000, made by Chipley, indorsed by Halstead, and held by the bank; as well as to set aside, as made in fraud of the bank, the following conveyances of the same land: (1) A release dated June 16, 1877, from Donaldson and Prentiss to Mrs. Hitz; (2) a deed of the same date from Hitz and wife to Crane; (3) a deed dated June 18, 1877, from Crane to Tyler, in trust to secure the payment of Crane's promissory notes for $20,000, payable to Hitz, and by him indorsed to Jenks.
Mrs. Hitz filed a cross-bill against Keyser and her co-defendants, alleging that she was induced to execute the conveyance to Crane by fraud, and in ignorance of its contents, and praying for a cancellation both of that conveyance and of the deed of trust from Crane to Tyler, and for an account of rents and profits. By leave of court, she afterwards amended her bill so as to allege that the deed to Crane was fraudulently altered after she executed it.
After a hearing upon pleadings and proofs it was adjudged at the special term, by a decree made November 28, 1881, and amended December 15, 1881, that these two deeds were valid against Hitz, but void as against his wife; that the former deed of trust had been discharged by payment and release, and that Keyser account for the rents and profits previously received by him, and collect and pay into court all rents subsequently accruing. From that decree Mrs. Hitz, Jenks, and Keyser each appealed to the general term, which, on December 11, 1883, reversed the decree of the special term, and dismissed both bills, save that the cause was retained to take an account of the rents and profits received, or which should have been received, by Keyser, and to determine the right to those rents and profits, which were claimed by Mrs. Hitz as her separate property, by Jenks as part of the security afforded by the deed of trust to Tyler, and by Keyser under judgments recovered against Hitz. 2 Mackey, 513. On July 13, 1885, a further decree was entered in general term, denying the right of Mrs. Hitz to any part of those rents and profits. 4 Mackey, 179. From each decree of the general term she alone appealed to this court.
The principal matter to be determined is the validity, as against Mrs. Hitz, of the conveyance from her husband and herself to Crane, and of the deed of trust from Crane to Tyler. The evidence establishes the following facts: Mr. and Mrs. Hitz were married in 1856; children were born to them, and she inherited the land in question from her father before the passage of the act of congress providing that 'in the District of Columbia the right of any married woman to any property, personal or real, belonging to her at the time of marriage, or acquired during marriage in any other way than by gift or conveyance from her husband, shall be as absolute as if she were feme sole, and shall not be subject to the disposal of her husband, nor be liable for his debts; but such married woman may convey, devise, and bequeath the same, or any interest therein, in the same manner, and with like effect, as if she were unmarried.' Act of April 10, 1869, c. 23, § 1 (16 St. 45;) Rev. St. D. C. §§ 727, 728.
Chipley and Halstead were men of no means, and the real object of the deed of trust from Hitz and wife to Donaldson and Prentiss was to secure certain liabilities of Hitz to the bank, of which he was then president. The object of making the deeds from Hitz and wife to Crane and from Crane to Tyler was to secure the payment of money actually advanced by Jenks to Hitz, and by Hitz applied to the payment of the notes secured by the former deed of trust.
The evidence satisfactorily proves that no fraud was practiced upon Mrs. Hitz, and that the deed from herself and her husband to Crane was put in its present form before it was signed by either of them. As these are pure matters of fact, and the evidence relating to them is well summed up in the opinion of the court below, they need not be enlarged upon. 2 Mackey, 521-526.
