Dunham v. Barnes
Dunham v. Barnes
Opinion of the Court
The evidence well warranted the inference that a sale of three tons of canvas paper stock, distinct from and additional to that which was delivered and received under the contract previously made with Cowen as agent for the plaintiff, was entered into between the parties on or about the 18th of February 1863. It was then ascertained that a larger amount of the article had been delivered at the plaintiff’s factory than by the existing contract he had agreed to purchase. What the rights of the respective parties might have been, if the defendant had then insisted that the plaintiff was bound to pay for the whole of the stock, having received the excess over the amount stipulated for by the contract into his possession, it is not necessary now to determine. Such delivery and receipt of the merchandise might have rendered the plaintiff liable to pay the market value of it, if the parties had stood on their strict rights. But it is clear from the evidence that neither of them intended to do so. On the contrary, the plaintiff expressed dissatisfaction with the price charged for the stock, and an unwillingness to retain the excess above the quantity stipulated for in the contract; the defendant on his part did not insist that the plaintiff was bound to keep the excess, or that he had already received and bought it, and was liable for the price but offered to take it from the plaintiff’s possession and sell it to other parties. In this state of things, a new negotiation wan
The paroi evidence was rightly admitted. There was no written contract between the parties. The account which was made out, and by which the parties adjusted the balance due from the plaintiff, was nothing more than a common bill of parcels and receipt for money, the existence of which does not operate to exclude verbal evidence of the agreement of par-ties. Hazard v. Loring, 10 Cush. 267. New trial granted.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Thomas H. Dunham v. David Barnes, Jr.
- Status
- Published