Sargent & Mansfield v. Henderson
Sargent & Mansfield v. Henderson
Opinion of the Court
Peter Henderson brought his action of complaint against Sargent & Mansfield, in the city court of Macon, on an ac: count which he alleged the defendants owed him and refused to pay. The account was for 6,000 roses, 1,000 as7 sorted carnations and 400 roses, amounting in the aggregate to $S22, with a credit of $240. Mansfield, one of the firm of Sargent & Mansfield, defended, and filed (1) the plea of general issue, and (2) a plea that “ neither this defendant, nor the firm of Sargent & Mansfield, nor any one authorized for it or for this defendant, purchased the goods from the plaintiff which are tho subject-matter of this suit; that the goods in said account sued upon were not contracted for by any one authorized to bind this defendant or said partnership therefor ; that said contracted purchase is not within the scope of the partnership business of Sargent & Mansfield, nor has said contract to purchase ever been ratified by said Sargent & Mansfield or this defendant.”
Upon the trial of the case, the jury, under the charge of the court, returned a verdict for the plaintiff. A motion was made for a new trial upon the several grounds contained therein, and was overruled by the court, and the defendants excepted.
It appears from the evidence as disclosed by this record, that the firm of Sargent & Mansfield was formed for the purpose of growing seed, such as corn, cabbage, egg-plants and beans and peas. Mansfield furnished the land, to-wit, the *270 enclosure in the mile track of the fair ground at Macon, and $2,000 in cash. Sargent was to plant the seed and cultivate them in his farm, and to sell the same, and was to have a general superintendence of the affairs of the farm, Mansfield’s being engaged in another and different business. During the continuance of said farm, it appears that Sargent, without the knowledge or consent of Mansfield, ordered from Peter Henderson roses and carnations set out in his bill of particulars attached to his complaint. He drew a draft on the firm for $240, in part payment of the plants so ordered, which draft was paid by Sargent without Mansfield’s knowing that the draft had been drawn or paid by Sargent. Subsequent to the drawing and paying of this draft by Sargent, Sargent ordered the balance of the plants. These transactions occurred in December, 1883, and January, 1884. The firm of Sargent & Mansfield ‘was dissolved in February, 1884. It appears also from the record that the first knowledge that Mansfield had of these transactions was in-June, 1884, several months after the dissolution of the firm; that he immediately wrote to Henderson and notified him that the transaction was without the scope of the business of the firm, and he would not be bound by it. It appears further that Henderson shipped the plants to Sargent & Mansfield, but when they arrived in Macon they were not carried (o said farm of the firm, but were received at the store of E. M. Sargent & Co., nearly a mile from, said farm of Sargent & Mansfield, and that E. M. Sargent & Co. sold a portion of the plants and delivered the balance of them to Ullman, who appears to have formed a partnership with Sargent for the purpose of growing plants. The portion that Ullman received were planted by Sargent in Ullman’s land, two miles from the city of Macon, in an opposite direction from said farm of Sargent & Mansfield. This purchase of the roses and carnations, and the sale of the same and the payment of the draft, never went in the books of Sargent & Mansfield, but u-pon the books of E. M. Sargent & Co.
*271 The letter-heads used by the firm contained the following :
Sargent & Mansfield, Cabbage,- collard and vine seed.
Seed growers,
P. 0. Box 367,
Macon, G-a., U. S. A-
Under these letter-heads E. M. Sargent, using the firm name, ordered these goods.
It was argued before us that, even though this view might be true, the jury had found by their verdict that Mansfield had ratified these acts, first, by his long acquiescence, and secondly, by the fact that a draft for a part of these goods had been paid by Sargent & Mansfield. We think the evidence clearly shows that Mansfield never knew of this transaction until some months after the dissolution of the firm. Sargent made a contract beyond the scope of his authority, and never revealed it to Mansfield. The goods were not received by the firm of Sargent & Mansfield where it was likely Mansfield might have seen them. They were taken by Sargent to the store of E. M. Sargent & Co., and (.here disposed of. There was nothing, so far as appears from the evidence in the record, to put Mansfield on any sort of notice that his partner was going beyond the scope of the partnership. The evidence shows also that he knew nothing of the draft or of its payment *273 by Sargent, and that it was never put upon the books of Sargent & Mansfield, but upon the books of E. M. Sargent & Go. The roses and carnations were not planted upon the farm of Sargent & Mansfield, but upon the farm of Sargenteé Ullman, which was two miles from the farm of Sargenteé Mansfield, in an opposite direction. We cannot see, therefore, how Mansfield could have ratified these acts, unless he had first known something of them, or could have known of them by exercising Ms rights as a partner. It seems from the record that Sargent kept all these unwarranted transactions concealed from Mansfield, and, as said before, Mansfield knew nothing about them until long after the dissolution of the firm.
Judgment reversed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Sargent Mansfield v. Henderson. [Fn]
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- 6 cases
- Status
- Published