Cargill v. Walker
Cargill v. Walker
Opinion of the Court
By the bill of exceptions it appears, that on the trial in the Circuit Court, it was proved that the consideration of the note, on which the action is founded, was the purchase of a negro by the defendant of the plaintiff, which negro the plaintiff had previously purchased of one Alexander S. Outlaw. It was further proved by the production of the execution, and the return of the sheriff thereon, in connection with his oral testimony, that the said negro was sold after the sale and delivery to the defendant and the execution of the note sued on, to satisfy a judgment creditor of the said Alexander S. Outlaw : that Uriah G.. Mitchell was the agent of the plaintiff, who
“ On these facts, the Court instructed the jury, “ that if they were of opinion that Mitchell was the “ general agent of the plaintiff, and that the negro had “ been levied on as it had been testified, and that “ the defendant proposed to said Mitchell, if he “ would indemnify him, that he would litigate the “ right to the negro, at law, and he refused to give* “ the indemnity, and the negro was sold under the “ levy ; that the offer to claim upon indemnity being “ given, was tantamount to an offer to return the “ negro, so far as to permit the deprivation of the “ possession of the defendant, of tho slave, to be giv- “ on in evidence in defence of the action.- And if “ they were of opinion the facts supposed wore true, “ they should'fiild a yerdict for the defendant.”
It is undoubtedly true, that the offer made .by defendant, to contest the right of the sheriff to sell under the executions, upon reciving* indemnity, was equivalent to an offer to return the negro to the plaintiff; but would an offer to return, with the other facts set out in the bill of exceptions, form a defence ? It does not appear- whether the executions had come to the sheriffs hands before the sale by the plaintiff’
Suppose there had been a warranty of soundness, and the defendant, believing the negro to be unsound,, had given notice of that fact to the plaintiff and offered to return him; when sued upon the note, proof of this would not have formed a defence, but. it would have devolved upon him to satisfy,the jury
The judgment must be reversed, and the, cause remanded. •
Reference
- Full Case Name
- CARGILL versus WALKER
- Status
- Published