Chipman v. Flege
Chipman v. Flege
Opinion of the Court
Affirming.
Appellee Flege and appellant- Chipman 'on December 1,1920, entered into the following agreement:
“This contract made and entered into this 1st day of December, 1920, by and between Sam Chip-man, of Grant county, Kentucky, and J. Blaine Flege, of the county and state aforesaid.
“Witnesseth: That whereas Chipman being the owner of 40 acres of land in Hidalgo county, Texas, being Farm Tract No. 2413 of the North Capisallo District Subdivision of the Llano Grande grant of land having purchased same from Stewart Mortgage Company of Kansas City, Missouri; and
“Whereas, Flege being the joint owner of a brick building lot on north Main street, Williams-town, Kentucky, known as the Thompson Building, and lie having made an agreement with the joint owner, to-wit: T. W .Stewart, whereby they will both •convey same jointly to the said Chipman; and,
“Whereas, the said Chipman owes on the aforesaid land in Texas the, sum of - $6,400.00 due and payable in ten equal annual payments, with 6% interest from date; and premises known as the Thompson Building, and both 'Chipman’s notes and .Flege’s notes are secured by,liens on the respective property.
“Now, therefore, it is agreed that provided the Stewart Farm Mortgage Company of Kansas City, Missouri, is willing that Flege shall assume the payment of the vendor’s lien notes of $6,400.00 and that Chipman shall be released from all obligations thereon; that said Chipman will trade the aforesaid described property in Texas for the property owned by Flege and Stewart, known as the Thompson Building, and each party is to assume the debts owing on •each property, and is to assume all taxes owing on the property to date and all interest accrued on the lien notes.
“In witness whereof, the parties hereunto set their hands this 1st day of December, 1920.”
At that time Chipman owned a 40-acre tract of land In the state of Texas on which there was a purchase money lien of $6,400.00, and appellee owned a brick building and lot in Williamstown, Kentucky, on which there
No reply was filed but there is no question made-about this failure.
A trial resulted in a verdict in favor of appellee Furgerson for $750.00, upon which judgment was entered, and from which this appeal is prosecuted. The instructions given by the court are not copied in the record. They are lost, as shown by the bill of exceptions: We-must presume therefore that they presented the whole-law of the case unless appellant was entitled to a peremptory instruction in his favor, as he now contends.
Appellant relies upon three grounds for a reversal of the judgment: (1) General demurrer to petition should have been sustained; (2) his motion for peremptory instruction should have been sustained, and (3) error in the admission and rejection of evidence.
The sufficiency of the- petition depends in large part upon the construction placed upon the written contract
We do not think that appellant was entitled to a directed verdict in his favor for a breach of the contract was not only sufficiently alleged but the averments were
This letter recognized the right of appellant Chip-man to sell and convey his lands in Texas to anyone who-would assume pa3unent of the lien notes. This was all that was necessary in order to enable appellant and appellee to carry out their contract which is the subject of this litigation. The purchaser of the Texas lands was, of course, required to assume the lien notes given by appellant Chipman to the land company but there is no statement or intimation in the letter, or any part of the-record before us, indicating that appellant Chipman would not be fully discharged from obligation on the notes when assumed by another. The lands cost Chipman $12,800.00, and he paid thereon all but $6,400.00. This latter sum was secured by the lien upon the entire tract and it did not matter to the land company, we may assume, who undertook payment of the lien notes as the land was-doubly sufficient to secure the payment of the notes.
It is next insisted that the court erred in the admission of evidence for the plaintiff Flege. This evidence relates to the value of the Texas land at the time of the trade in 1920. Three^witnesses, Chas. Dder, Chas. Flege and Fred Flege, all testified concerning its value. Each of them had visited the farm in Texas and had witnessed sales of land in the same vicinity. They stated in Substance that they were acquainted in a general way with the values of lands in that part of Texas, and the price at which it was selling about the time of the making of the contract between appellant and appellee, and that such Texas lands were worth about $325.00 per acre. We think the witnesses qualified and the court did not err in allowing them to state, the value of the land in question in the year 1920.
Finding no error to the prejudice of the rights of appellant the judgment is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.