Callaway v. Woodward
Callaway v. Woodward
Opinion of the Court
This is an action against defendants as partners. The petition charges that they were partners in the real-estate agency business; that, as such partners, they fraudulently obtained from plaintiff the money sued for, in the following manner : That plaintiff and defendant, W. H. Woodward, each purchased at sheriff’s tax sale a forty acres of land ; the tract purchased by the plaintiff adjoined other land owned by him, and the tract purchased by W. H. Woodward adjoined other land owned by him ; afterwards, in 1884, plaintiff sold the forty which he had thus purchased, together with his other lands; that, afterwards, in 1886, defendants stated to plaintiff that each of their tax forties which they had bought was claimed by one Sanders, and that, in order to avoid a law suit, all parties should join in and buy Sanders’ claim, to perfect the title ; that plaintiff agreed to this and was to bear one-half of the expense of procuring said title and defendants the other half; that, afterwards, defendants represented that they had procured a deed from Sanders for both tracts, for which they had been compelled to pay four hundred dollars, besides travelling expenses, amounting to thirty-two dollars, one-half of which was two hundred and sixteen dollars; that, relying on such representations, he paid to defendants the latter sum; that all of such statements as to the amount paid Sanders were false, and were made by defendants with the design, intent, and purpose to cheat and defraud plaintiff; that,
The evidence in the case, as we gather it from the abstract presented, shows that defendants were not partners till 1884, four years after W. H. Woodward and plaintiff purchased their respective tracts at sheriff sale; that both W. II. Woodward and plaintiff' sold their lands, including these tracts, making warranty deeds therefor, plaintiff selling his in 1884 ; that nothing more occurred concerning the land till 1886, nearly two years after plaintiff ’ s sale ; that then defendant, W. H. W oodward, went to plaintiff’s home and told him that ‘£ we (plaintiff and W. H. Woodward) are about to get into trouble about our tax lands”; that Woodward said, ‘£he was-trying to get a settlement for his own forty acres, and wanted me to join him and pay one-half of the expenses, and get a clear title to both our tracts.” The evidence then further showed that, on W. H. Woodward afterwards stating that he had the deed from Sanders, plaintiff settled with him, paying him a check for forty dollars and executing his note for one hundred and seventy-five dollars, both check and note payable to W. H. Woodward*. This statement of the evidence is from the testimony given by plaintiff.
I am unable to find any support whatever for the judgment against Henry Woodward. The evidence clearly shows an individual transaction of W. H. Woodward. Defendant, Henry, never had any interest in the land. It was purchased four years before he entered into partnership with W. II.; W. II. Woodward had sold the tax forty; had made an individual warranty deed, and was interested in protecting his warranty
The evidence does not develop a justification for this action as against the partnership, and we will, therefore, reverse the judgment and remand the cause.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.