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Pleading - 1799
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Chancery Court of New Jersey John Stites To his Excellency Richard Howell Esquire Governor Captain General &
Commander in Chief in and over the State of New Jersey and territories thereunto
belonging Chancellor and Ordinary in the same Humbly complaining sheweth unto your Excellency your orator John Stites of
Elizabeth Town in the County of Essex and State of New Jersey that your orator
being seized of certain premises namely one equal undivided half part of all
those several premises and tracts of land hereinafter mentioned and described
viz And your orator further sheweth unto your Excellency that since the said bond
and mortgage became due he has paid upon the same to the said Gozen Ryers and to
his order diverse large sums of money and the said Gozen Ryers has also on
diverse accounts become indebted to your orator in diverse other large sums of
money which debts have not been paid by the said Gozen Ryers nor the payment
thereof insisted upon by your orator by reason of your orators being indebted
upon the bond and mortgage aforesaid And your orator further sheweth that in the course of business he has by fair
and lawful assignments of just and bona fide debts due from the said Gozen Ryers
to diverse persons and for which full and valuable considerations have been paid
became a creditor of the said Gozen Ryers in diverse other large sums of money
all which are particularly set forth and stated in a schedule hereunto annexed
which your orator refers to and which he prays may be considered as a part of
his Bill of Complaint Besides which your orator has become possessed of diverse
assignments of valuable considerations of one other bond given by the said Gozen
Ryers to Levi Thayer for the payment of one thousand pounds with interest on
which said bond an action had been previously commenced in the State of New York
Whereupon your orator is ready and offers to give credit for all balances due to
the said Gozen Ryers on the account above mentioned. The several bonds papers
and securities therein stated being duly executed and ready to be produced to
this Honorable Court when and where they shall direct. All which sums when added
together and taken into a fair account are sufficient and more than sufficient
to pay off and discharge the said bond and mortgage And your orator further sheweth unto your Excellency that he has offered
repeatedly to go into an account with the said Gozen Ryers of and concerning the
said Bond and mortgage, and accounts so as aforesaid set forth and ascertain
what balance might still be due to him the said Gozen Ryers if any there should
be and to pay of and discharge the same should such balance appear, and which
your orator is still ready to do. And your orator well hoped that the said Gozen
Ryers would have so done and have paid to your orator any balance which might
have been due to your orator or to have received such balance as might have been
due to him the said Gozen Ryers as the case might have been either to have
delivered up to your orator the said bond and mortgage deed to be cancelled or
to have reassigned the same to your orator as in justice and equity he ought to
have done But now so it is may it please your Excellency that the said Gozen Ryers
combining and confederating himself to and with diverse other persons at present
unknown to your orator whose names when discovered your orator prays may be
inserted in this his Bill of Complaint with apt and proper words to charge them,
he the said Gozen Ryers in order to deprive and defeat your orator of the
benefit of redeeming the said mortgaged premises sometimes pretends and gives
out in speeches, that there is an authority contained in the said mortgage from
your orator to sell off the said premises so mortgaged as aforesaid if there
should be any default of payment of the monies due on the said bond and mortgage
Whereas your orator charges that there is not authority in the said mortgage (by
any construction whatever) given by your orator to the said Gozen Ryers to sell
and dispose of the said mortgaged premises when the same should have been paid
off and discharged or when your orator should have a sufficient set off against
the debt secured by the said mortgage And your orator further charges that he has fully and absolutely revoked by a
deed of revocation executed by him under his hand and seal all the power and
authority whatever which was given in and by the said mortgage deed to the said
Gozen Ryers And at other times the said Gozen Ryers pretends that he is nothing
indebted to your orator upon the bonds mentioned in the account hereunto annexed
which have been assigned to your orator and which were executed by Gozen Ryers
to Levi Thayer whereas your orator charges that the whole of the money mentioned
in the condition of the said bonds us due to your orator from the said Gozen
Ryers and that any contrary pretences are founded expressly in fraud and
collusion contrived and set on foot by and between the said Levi Thayer and the
said Gozen Ryers to swindle and defraud honest men of their property which Levi
Thayer your orator charges not to be within the jurisdiction of this Court and
is now in some distant parts altogether unknown to your orator so that he could
not make him a party to this Bill. Upon which pretenses the said Gozen Ryers
refuses to come to any manner of account with your orator or to recovery the
said premises to him or to give up the same to him to be cancelled, but has
advertised to sell the same premises on Monday the fifteenth day of July instant
at the house of Joseph Crane at Elizabeth Town Point under pretence of a special
power and authority given to the said Gozen Ryers to make sale of the said
mortgaged premises at public vendue and to make a title therefore in case
default should happen to be made in payment of all or any part of the money with
the interest and with default is in the same advertisement set forth to have
happened as by an advertisement for that purpose signed by the said Gozen Ryers
now in the hands of your orator and ready to be produced as this Honorable Court
shall direct will appear To the end therefore that the said Gozen Ryers and his confederates when
discovered may upon their respective corporal oath true direct and perfect
answer make to all and singular the matter and things aforesaid as fully as if
the same were here again repeated and they thereunto particularly interrogated
and more especially whether your orator has not offered to come to an account
with the said Gozen Ryers and to pay the balance to him if any thing remained
due upon the said bond and mortgage after allowing him the just and equitable
offset in the said annexed account mentioned or what other offer and when it was
made by your orator or his agent to the said Gozen Ryers for taking up and
redeeming the said mortgage whether he has not advertised the same premises for
sale in the manner before set forth in this Bill and under what pretences and
authority the same are so advertised for sale Whether your orator has not fully
and absolutely revoked the said authority contained in the said mortgage if any
such authority there be And that the said Gozen Ryers may be compelled to go into an account in this
honorable Court of what may be due upon the said bond and mortgage after
allowing to your orator just and equitable offset as this Court may think just
and equitable according to the rules of equity and good conscience and that your
orator may be at liberty to redeem said mortgaged premises upon such terms as
this Court shall impose and that thereupon the said Gozen Ryers may reconvey and
reassign to your orator the premises aforesaid and that your orator may have
such other and further relief in the said premises as the nature of your
orator’s case doth or may require and as to your Excellency shall seem meet May it please your Excellency the premises considered to grant unto your
orator not only the States most gracious writ of Injunction issuing out of and
under the seal of this honorable Court to restrain the said Gozen Ryers his
agents or attornies from proceeding to sell the said mortgaged premises under
the authority so as aforesaid set up agreeably to the said advertisement until
the order of this Court made herein but also the States most gracious writ of
subpoena directed to the said Gozen Ryers commanding him at a certain day and
under a certain penalty therein to be expressed to be and appear before your
Excellency in this Honorable Court then and there to answer the premises and to
stand to and abide by such order and decree as to your Excellency shall seem
agreeable to Equity and good conscience and your orator shall ever pray John Stites within named being duly sworn deposeth and saith that the
material facts set forth in this bill, are true, to the best of his knowledge
and belie. Sworn at Trenton Acknowledgments to the New Jersey State Archives :- |