Taylor v. Sheridan
Taylor v. Sheridan
Opinion of the Court
The note in suit was given on the fifteenth day of February, 1878, to the woman who .is now the wife of plaintiff, and was transferred to him after maturity. The defense pleaded is stated substantially as follows: In November, 1859, the defendant was owner in fee simple of a tract of land, situated in the state of New York, which contained fifty acres. He made a verbal agreement with his mother, Jane Marvin, to give to her a lease of the premises for life, and in the month named he applied to a justice of the peace to draw such a lease. An instrument was drawn, executed, and delivered, but by mistake of the justice it was so drawn as to be in effect a warranty deed, and it transferred the title to the premises therein described to the mother of defendant. No consideration was paid for the deed. It was made to insure his mother a home during her lifetime, and the payee of the note, who is the sister of the defendant, and the daughter of Jane Marvin, was present when the agreement to give the lease was made, and was also present when the justice was requested to draw it, and knew of the intention of the parties and of the mistake made. It is further alleged that, knowing all the facts stated, his sister, in July, 1875, by means of the undue influence which she possessed over her mother, and for the purpose of cheating and defrauding the defendant, induced her mother to convey the premises to her; that the mother has been dead several years, and his sister refuses to convey the land to him, and refuses to pay him its value; that he had no knowledge of the conveyance to her until about the time of the death of their mother. The defendant asks that it be decreed that the deed was made an absolute conveyance by mistake of the scrivener who drew it; that it was not the intention of the parties to it that it should be an absolute conveyance; that it be decreed to be a life lease; that his sister be permitted to keep the land, and that defendant be allowed the value thereof, as against the note in suit. The district court did not grant the defendant any relief, but rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the full amount of the note and costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.