Frowein v. Haysler & Haysler
Frowein v. Haysler & Haysler
Opinion of the Court
The petition alleges that the defendants were partners engaged in merchandising, and that plaintiff and defendants being desirious of purchasing a certificate of deposit issued by the Henry County Bank to P. H. Parks for $732, the plaintiff furnished to defendants two hundred and fifty dollars with -the understanding that the same was to be used by defendants in making the purchase of said certificate •and that she was to have a proportionate interest therein. It further alleged that the defendants purchased said certificate and received dividends thereon amounting to sixty and three-fourths per cent, but defendants, instead of accounting to plaintiff thereon as requested to do by her, have denied and repudiated any interest she either had or might have had therein, etc. The prayer was for the recovery of the said sum of two hundred and fifty dollars and interest.
The answer was a general denial. There was a trial to a jury resulting in judgment for plaintiff and the defendants appealed.
The defendants contend that there was no evidence adduced justifying the verdict, and for that reason the court erred in overruling their motion for a new trial. Although the conversation leading up to and bringing about the said agreement, to the effect that if plaintiff would contribute two
If, as the testimony of the plaintiff’s son tends to prove, the defendants, on receipt of two hundred and fifty dollars from plaintiff, executed to her a receipt showing that the money had been furnished to them as partners by the plaintiff, 'and that the same was to be applied by thein to taking up the Parks’ certificate of deposit, and that afterwards, without the plaintiff’s knowledge or consent, they changed that receipt so as to make it show that the said two hundred and fifty dollars had been furnished by the plaintiff’s husband, and that still ■later on, when the plaintiff, on discovering the change in the receipt, called the attention of the partner in charge of the partnership business office thereto, and that he thereupon re-wrote said receipt so as to make it read as originally draw, then the question of his authority does not arise in the ease. It is true that one partner can not be made liable for the act- or undertaking of his co-partner in a transaction not embraced in their original partnership business unless proof is adduced that such partner knew of the transaction and assented to it, or subsequently ratified it. Shoe Co. v. Lumber Co., 86 Mo. App. 438; Canton v. Hardy, 27 Mo. 536; Rimel v. Haynes,
The defendants object to plaintiff’s instruction telling the jury that if it found for plaintiff to assess her damages at two hundred and fifty dollars with interest at six per cent from June 23, 1898. By reference to the petition it will be seen that the action is to recover the consideration of the contract — - in the nature of an action for money had and received and not to recover damages at all. When a party to a contract repudiates it, the other party, if he so elect, may rescind by suing for the consideration. 21 Am. and Eng. Ency. Law, p. 44.
The plaintiff’s second instruction told the jury that if she delivered to defendants two hundred and fifty dollars with the mutual understanding that they would apply such sum in the purchase of the Parks certificate of deposit, and that she should have a proportionate interest therein, and that defendants did purchase said certificate but refused to pay her any share in the dividends received thereon, that then defendants had by such conduct repudiated said understanding and that she was entitled to recover back said two hundred and fifty dollars with interest. The defendants’ first instruction told the jury in substance that unless they found the facts hypothesised in the defendants’ first, the plaintiff was not entitled to recover. These instructions fairly submitted all the issues in the case. The jury, under these instructions, were authorized to con
It results that the judgment mnst be affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.