Buhman v. Becker
Buhman v. Becker
Opinion of the Court
Action to recover from defendant the reasonable value of work and labor alleged to have been performed by plaintiff for and at the request of defendant in cultivating a tract of defendant’s land, on which was a vineyard, during the years A. D. 1891 and 1892, and in constructing upon said land a dwelling-house and a barn, and in manufacturing boxes and trays in which to cure and store raisins produced from said vineyard; and also to recover the value of the lumber and other materials furnished and used by plaintiff in the construction of said house and barn, and in manufacturing said boxes and trays. The amount for which plaintiff prays judgment is an alleged unpaid balance of $4,345.27. The defendant denied that the alleged labor was performed or the materials furnished at his request, and denied that he promised to pay for either. He also filed a cross-complaint, alleging that he leased said tract of land and said vineyard to plaintiff at a rental of $500 per annum, and that plaintiff occupied and cultivated the land and vineyard during said term as a tenant under said lease; that there was due from plaintiff to defendant $1,000 for rent, and also $2,104.73 for money which, at the special instance and request of the plaintiff, the defendant had expended and paid out in erecting improvements on said leased premises, and for conducting the business of raising grapes thereon, which the plaintiff promised to pay out of the proceeds of the first grape crop, but which he has wholly failed to pay; and for these sums, amounting to $3,104.73, the defendant prays judgment against the plaintiff. The court found that plaintiff had performed the labor and furnished the. materials at the instance of defendant, as alleged in the complaint, and that the answer and cross-complaint of defendant were wholly untrue, except that defendant had paid to plaintiff during said term sums of money amounting to $1,722.73, but further found a balance due plaintiff from defendant of $2,104.65, for which judgment was rendered against defendant. Defendant appeals from the judgment on a bill of exceptions as to matters of law and fact.
Counsel for appellant seem not to appreciate the force of the circumstantial evidence, the salient features of which are as follows: The defendant is a farmer, estimated to be worth sixty to seventy thousand dollars. In November, 1890, defendant’s daughter Emma and plaintiff became engaged to be married, and plaintiff was then negotiating for a lease of land from a Mr. - Curtis, on which he intended to live after marriage. About a week after the engagement, and only two weeks before the marriage of plaintiff to defendant’s daughter, defendant dissuaded plaintiff from taking the lease from Curtis, and persuaded him to take and cultivate defendant’s vineyard tract. As to the terms of the agreement then made, the evidence is conflicting, but sufficient to justify the finding of the court. On the part of the plaintiff it tends to prove that defendant told plaintiff that he had never been able to determine whether any profit could be made from the vineyard or not, but that, if plaintiff would take and run it carefully long enough to determine whether it could be made profitable (no definite time mentioned), defendant would guarantee that plaintiff should lose nothing by the experiment; that, before and frequently after the marriage, defendant told plaintiff and others that he intended to give the quarter section, including the vineyard, to plaintiff’s wife for her . home, and advised plaintiff to erect thereon all the improvements above mentioned. From the date of their marriage, in November, 1890, until the summer of 1891, plaintiff and his wife lived with defendant’s family, working a part of the time for defendant, but most of the time on the improvements of the vineyard tract; that, besides his own personal labor,
We concur: Britt, O.; Belcher, C.
For the reasons given in the foregoing opinion the judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BUHMAN v. BECKER
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Assumpsit for Services Bendered—Sufficiency of Evidence.—Tn assumpsit for the value of services in permanent improvements of a vineyard, defendant admitted the improvements, but claimed that they were made by plaintiff as lessee. There was evidence that defendant persuaded plaintiff, his son in law, to take the vineyard instead of leasing other land, saying that he did not know whether any profit could he made out of it or not, but that plaintiff would lose nothing by it; that he told plaintiff and others that he intended to give the vineyard to his daughter, and advised plaintiff to make improvements; that, until the death of his wife, plaintiff worked part of the time for defendant, hut most of the time in improving the vineyard, paying out above receipts $2,900; that, after the death of the wife, defendant demanded $1,000 for rent, and that plaintiff leave the premises with all the improvements. Held, that plaintiff should recover for his services and the improvements. ,