Macomber v. Parker
Macomber v. Parker
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court. It was objected at the trial, that the plaintiffs had not made out a prima facie case, and two questions were thereupon reserved for the consideration of the whole Court.
1. Whether by the terms of the contract between Hunting & Lawrence and Evans, the latter, under whom the defendant claims, was interested in the bricks in question as joint
2. If that were so, then whether, upon the facts proved, such a sale and delivery had been made by Evans at the time of the defendant’s attachment, as to divest his interest.
As to the first question, we are of opinion, that by the terms of the contract, the bricks when made were the joint property of the contracting parties. By this contract Hunting & Lawrence were to furnish the materials for manufactur ing the bricks, and to attend to the sale of them ; Evans on his part undertook to manufacture the bricks, to hire and board the laborers employed for that purpose, and to allow Hunting & Lawrence sixty cents per thousand for every thousand of bricks made or clay sold, as rent thereof; and after all expenses should be paid, then the parties agreed to share the profit and loss, as the case might be, one half each. That this amounts to a complete contract of partnership, cannot, we think, admit of a doubt. Partnership is defined to be a voluntary contract between two or more persons, for joining together their money, goods, labor, and skill, or either or all of them, upon an agreement, that the gain or loss shall be divided proportionably between them. Gow, 2. With this definition the contract in question fully agrees. It contains every essential requisite in a contract of partnership. The parties agreed to join together their property, skill and labor, for the purpose of accomplishing an enterprise, in which they were to have a communion of interest and a communion of profit and loss. The bricks, therefore, when made were their joint property, and when the partnership was dissolved, and Hunting & Lawrence assigned their share to the plaintiffs, the latter became tenants in common with Evans.
The plaintiffs offered to prove, for the purpose of showing .hat Evans had no property in the bricks, and was only entitled to a share of the proceeds of sale of them when disposed of, that it was usual and customary for the owners of yards, under similar contracts, to retain all in their hands, and account with the makers of the bricks for their share of the profits after the sales were made and proceeds collected.
The remaining question is, whether before the attachment by the defendant there was a valid sale from Evans to the plaintiffs. It is objected in the first place, that the contract of sale was not completed, because the bricks had not been counted according to the stipulation between the parties to that effect. And if the counting was intended by the parties to precede the completion of the sale, then undoubtedly the objection must prevail. The evidence, however, does not support this objection, but rather shows that the sale was considered as complete and absolute at the time when the settlement between Evans and the plaintiffs was made; or at least the jury would be warranted by the testimony of Hunting, to find that such was the intention of the contracting parties. The whole bricks were estimated at 370 thousand. Evans sold his share in the whole and received pay in account, and a balance was due to the plaintiffs which was to be paid for in carting the bricks, so far as that might go. It is true the bricks were to be counted, but that was to be done to enable the parties to come to a settlement of their accounts, and not for the purpose of completing the sale. Taking the whole of Hunting’s testimony together, th;s, we
We come, then, to the second objection to the sale, namely, that there was no delivery. In answer to this objection it was said, as Evans agreed to cart the bricks and did actually cart one load after the sale, this may be considered as a delivery of a part under an entire sale, and so according to the authorities would amount to a constructive delivery of the whole. Perhaps this may be so, but we do not think, under the circumstances of this case, that any actual delivery was necessary. The plaintiffs were in fact as much in possession of the bricks as Evans was; he was their agent; the bricks were remaining in their yard, and under the circumstances proved, a delivery would be altogether an unmeaning ceremony. The plaintiffs accepted the bricks, gave orders to Evans to cart them, and in all respects treated them as their property. The sale, therefore, amounted to a transfer, and was so considered by the parties.
Then it was objected, that the sale was void by the statute of frauds ; but as here was a delivery of a part, that alone would take the case out of the statute. But that which fooK place was equivalent to a delivery of the whole, and there
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Ichabod Macomber versus Levi Parker
- Status
- Published