Britton v. Britton
Britton v. Britton
Opinion of the Court
— This was an action for money loaned, begun by appellee Ida F. Britton, against appellant John Britton, and appellee Joseph Britton, who were partners, doing business under the firm name and style of Britton & Bro. The complaint is in one paragraph. Joseph Britton was defaulted. Appellant answered the complaint in two paragraphs consisting of a general denial and plea of payment. A reply in denial was filed, and upon the issues thus formed there was a trial by the court. At the request of the appellant the court made a special finding of facts and stated his conclusions of law thereon. Upon motion the court rendered judgment in favor of appellee Ida F. Britton for $845.42. Appellant excepted to the conclusions of law and moved for a new trial. His motion for a new trial was overruled. The as
The facts found by the court show that appellees Ida F. Britton and Joseph Britton are husband and wife, and have been husband and wife since the year 1876; that long prior to the loaning of the money as alleged in the complaint, the said Ida owned a certain tract of land in the city of Crawfordsville, the title to which was in her own name; that she sold said property, and the proceeds therefrom were invested in other property, the title to which was taken in the names of her husband and herself; that said last piece of property was also sold and the proceeds of such sale used in purchasing another piece of property in said city of Crawfordsville, the legal title to which was taken in the name of said Ida'and her said husband; that on the first day of December, 1893, which was after the happening of all of the facts as above detailed, John Britton and Joseph Britton, who are brothers, formed a partnership for the purpose of manufacturing and selling brick in said city; that they negotiated for the purchase of certain real estate in said city upon which to locate their brick yard; that neither of said partners had any money with which to purchase real estate, or with which to carry on the said business of manufacturing brick, but was dependent wholly upon credit. Thereupon it was agreed between said partners that the real estate necessary for the carrying on of said business should be purchased in the name of Joseph Britton and his wife, Ida, and if afterwards the appellant desired, he was to have a half interest in the real estate so purchased at the original price paid. That by certain conveyances described in said special finding, the title
Upon the facts found as above, the court states its conclusions of law to be that the appellee Ida P. Brit-ton should recover from the appellant and her co-appellee, the sum of $800.00 with interest thereon from the first .day of December, 1895, and judgment was accordingly rendered. We do not think the court erred in its conclusions of law upon the facts found. The facts as found by the court, which were within the issues, conclusively show a liability upon the part of the partnership of Britton & Bro. to the appellee in the amount as stated by the lower court. There was evidence also tending to prove every material fact found by the court and under the facts the amount of the recovery was not too large.
' It is contended by counsel for appellant that the lower court erred in permitting the witness Campbell to detail a conversation had with the appellee Joseph Britton, in the absence of appellant-, which conversation was for the purpose of negotiating a loan to said Britton & Bro., to be used by them in their brick business. The loan was afterward consummated and is the same money which appellee Ida F. Britton seeks to recover. We think this was clearly a declaration of one member of a firm, and was admissible against this firm. It was made in the course of the partnership business, and was made with respect to a transaction pertaining thereto. Boor v. Lowrey, 103 Ind. 468, 53 Am. Rep. 519; La Rose v. Logansport Nat’l Bank, 102 Ind. 332; Abbott Trial Ev. 218.
Prom a careful examination of this record, we conclude that the cause was fairly tried, and a proper conclusion reached. We find no error which would justify a reversal. The judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.