Tillotson v. Seal
Tillotson v. Seal
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff, Tillotson, in his petition alleged the sale of the land in question to N'T. C. Seal on the 8th day of November, 1888, at the agreed price of $1,600; that no part of the purchase price was then paid, and that the defendant orally agreed to pay ten percent
In the Beekley ease the plaintiff alleged that he procured a judgment against M. C. Seal in 1904, which was a renewal of a former judgment, and asked that the land be subjected to its payment. All defendants other than Tillotson answered, admitting the judgment against 1VI. C. Seal, and denying the other allegations off the petition. They further alleged that John B. Seal was the purchaser of the land from Tillotson. On that allegation the plaintiff joined issue, and alleged'that, if M. O. Seal ever transferred any interest in the land to John B. Seal or. to Ester L. Seal, such transfer was fraudulent as to the creditors of said M. O. Seal. In both cases the district court found that Tillotson had sold the land to hi. O. Seal and John B. Seal, and that they each owned an undivided one-lialf interest therein. In the Tillotson case it was determined that $1,540 had been paid on the land, and a claim of Tillotson for taxes paid by him was rejected. Tillotson was allowed interest at eight and ten percent as claimed, and
Both appeals present questions of fact which are controlling, and both are dependent upon the ■ same facts. So far as Tillotson is concerned, it can make no difference whether it be found that the land was sold to M. C. Seal, or to him and his brother jointly; for in either case the land is held for the amount of the unpaid purchase price. The only real questions in the Tillotson case, therefore, relate to the payments, the interest he is entitled to, and the claim for taxes. We shall not undertake to set out the evidence on the questions of payments and taxes. There is much conflict in the testimony as to the payments, and it is difficult to reconcile all of it. The sale was made over twenty years ago without a writing of any kind. Notes were not even taken for the purchase price. The payments that were made were in small amounts, and the plaintiff, Tillotson, does not seem to have' kept a record thereof. While his testimony on the subject is positive and apparently very candid, it is practically alone. On the other hand, the defendants produced receipts, canceled bank checks, and disinterested witnesses to sustain their claims as to the amount paid, and, unless we say that such evidence is false, we see no escape from a finding that payments were made as claimed by the defendants. We should not disregard this evidence, and hence the finding of the district court as to payments made must stand.
The plaintiff is not entitled to a greater rate of interest than six percent. He had nothing but an oral promise to pay, and, although the rate of interest claimed was
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Cephas Tillotson v. M. C. Seal, Esther, L. Seal, John B. Seal, Mrs. John B. Seal, Appellants L. H. Beckley v. M. C. Seal, Esther L. Seal and John B. Seal
- Status
- Published