Coffman v. Allin
Coffman v. Allin
Opinion of the Court
Opinion of the Court, by
Coffman having obtained a decree for $2,828 and costs, against Ovid M’Cracken, and Allin and wife, as heir at law to William M’Cracken, upon a bond for the conveyance of land, Allin, in discharge thereof, assigned a bond to Coffman, purporting to be executed by Silas Harland to Cyrus M’Cracken, and by him assigned to William M’Cracken, the ancestor of Mrs. Allin, for the conveyance of one half of said Harland’s settlement and pre-emption, and Taylor’s pre-emption on Salt river. James Harland, the heir at law to Silas Harland, refusing to convey the land mentioned in said bond, Coffman filed bis bill in chancery against James Harland, and Allin and wife, stating the preceding facts, and praying that Harland might be compelled to convey; or, in case that could not be done, that Allin and wife should pay the value of said land. Harland answered, and denied the execution of the bond by his ancestor; and the bill was taken for confessed against Allin and wife. Upon a final hearing, the court below being convinced the bond was not genuine, dismissed the bill as to Harland, and proceeded to decree that Allin and wife should pay to Coffman the amount of the former decree. The decree thus pronounced was,
The case, as the pleadings and evidence now present it, is widely different from that which was exhibited in the record, when formerly before this court. It, indeed, sufficiently appeared then, as well as it does now, that the bond upon Harland was not genuine; but there was nothing in the cause to show, as there is at present, that Coffman had agreed to take the bond at his own risk. The assignment by Allin to Coffman alone appearing in that case, implied an obligation upon the former to be responsible for the genuineness of the bond; and from thence the court inferred that Coffman had a right to a decree for the value of the land, for the conveyance of which the bond purported to have been given. But the obligation implied by the assignment itself, that Allin should respond, in case the bond was not genuine, is done away by the express agreement of the parties that he should not be responsible; for there can be no implied or presumed agreement, where there is an express one. It is indeed urged, that Allin knew that the bond was a forgery, and that the transaction in relation to the assignment, was on his part fraudulent. That such is the fact, there is certainly some degree of probability, arising from the evidence. But the bill, in this case, is evidently not
The point growing out of the exceptions taken in the court below to granting the defendants leave to file their original and amended answers, cannot be regarded by this court. In points of practice of this sort, the courts of original jurisdiction have, by the laws of this country, an extensive discretion, and it is necessary, for the purposes of justice, that they should have. Unless, therefore, they appear to have been guilty of a flagrant abuse of the authority confided to them, which does not, in this instance, seem to have been the case, this court cannot interpose its corrective power.
The decree must be affirmed with costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.