Shuttleworth v. Myer
Shuttleworth v. Myer
Opinion of the Court
Affirming.
On January 28, 1890, the following contract was made between E. H. Patterson and Joseph H. Allen, of the one part, and Archer Harmon and Samuel P. Myer, of the other part:
“Louisville, Ky., Jan. 28, 1890. This contract witnessed : That whereas, we, E. H. Patterson and J. H. Allen are owners of not less than two-thirds interest in all the property rights and benefits derivable therefrom based on and accruing from all contracts in the name of said Patterson as trustee for the purchase of land in Owsley, Clay, Lee and Perry and other counties in southeastern Kentucky, now made or hereafter to be made, aggregating about 100,000 acres and located on the waters of the Bed Bird Pork of the Kentucky Biver, and whereas said Patterson and Allen desire the services and assistance of S. P. Myer and Archer Harmon in effecting sales of said lands and property rights to others or in otherwise realizing and making profits thereon: Now, in consideration of one dollar in hand paid to us, and of the services and assistance of said Myer and Harmon, to be by them rendered in effecting the above purposes, which service and assistance they hereby agree to render, we, said Patterson and Allen, hereby transfer and assign to said Myer and Harmon, their heirs and assigns, one-half of all the rights and interest of us, said Patterson and Allen now or hereafter owned by us, in and under all of said contracts made or to be made in the name of said Patterson, trustee, and of all benefits and profits realized thereon, or accruing thereon, by a transfer of said contracts or sale of said lands or property rights, or in any other manner. “Witness our signatures and the signatures of said Myer and Harmon this day above*507 written. [Signed] E. H. Patterson, trustee, Joseph H. Allen. Archer Harmon, for himself and S. P. Myer. Witness, J. B. Kelly.”
On the same day, in consideration of $6,000 in hand paid by James A. Shuttleworth, Myer and Harmon executed the following contract to James A. Shuttle-worth and James G. Givens:
“Louisville, Ky., Jan. 28,1905. Eor value received, we, S. P. Myer and Archer Harmon, hereby assign and transfer to James G. Givens and James A. Shuttleworth one-half of all our rights, interests and benefits, now or hereafter accruing under and by virtue of a contract on this date between us and E. H. Patterson and J. H. Allen for certain interests under contracts for the purchase of lands in southeastern Kentucky now or' hereinafter made in the name of said Patterson as trustee of which contracts between us and said Patterson and Allen a copy is given above and made a part hereof for greater certainty, [Signed] S. J. Myer. Archer Harmon. Witness, Wm. Ayers. ’ ’
Some time after this Patterson, as trustee, sold out the holdings referred to in the above contracts to a New York corporation known as the Kentucky Coal, Iron and Development Company for $456,199.95, and, Harmon having brought suit against Patterson as trustee, and the Kentucky Coal, Iron and' Development Company for one-sixth of the fund arising from the sale, Suttleworth appeared in that suit, and set up his contract, and claimed one-sixth of the property. He was denied any relief for the reason that on the same day that the contract first above quoted was made, and at the same time,' there was another writing signed in which it was stipulated what Harmon, and Myer were to do. In this writing it was provided that Patterson might in six months notify
An action for relief for fraud or mistake can not be brought more than ten years after the perpetration of the fraud or the making of the mistake, and so the plaintiff is confessedly barred by limitation, unless he can bring his case within the- fifteen-year statute applying to suits on a written contract. This he insists he has done by reason of the fact that the contract between -him and Myer and Harmon was in writing, signed by the- parties; and that, as-the subject-matter of the contract was certain land options, which, under the statute, must be regarded as per
It will be observed that the contract made by Myer and Harmon with Shuttleworth only assigns to Givens and him one-half of their rights under the contract which they had made on the same day with Patterson and Allen, and a copy of that contract is expressly made a part of the contract with Givens and Shuttleworth. It will also be observed that in the contract made by Patterson and Allen with Myer and Harmon it is clearly stated that the consideration for the transfer is services and assistance to be thereafter rendered by Myer and Harmon. What these services and assistance were to be are not shown by either of these writings, but clearly Myer and Harmon could have demanded nothing by virtue of their contract if they failed to render the services agreed on. A purchaser from them must have known that he took only their rights, and he should have inquired what they were to do, and what was the contract in this regard. It was reasonable from the paper that there was some agreement between the parties on the subject. In a matter of this magnitude it should have been presumed that the agreement was in writing; and, however this may be, the purchaser was notified that services and assistance were to- be rendered in the future by Myer and Harmon, and therefore he knew, or must be charged with knowing, that they were selling a right which they were thereafter to perfect. There is some conflict in the authorities as to whether there is an implied warranty of a chattel not in the possession of the ven
Judgment affirmed.
Petition by appellant for rehearing overruled.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.