Drinker v. Byers
Drinker v. Byers
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The only question which arises in this cause is, whether the agreement of indemnity executed by Henry Drinker, on the 31st of January, 1793, a few days before he executed the deed of conveyance, with special warranty for the lands, to the defendant, was extinguished by the defendant’s acceptance of a deed af-terwards, on the 20th of February following.
It has been contended by the counsel for the plaintiff, that as the promise of indemnity of the 31st of January, 1793, was collateral to the purchase of the lands, and as deeds of conveyance with spe-: cial warranty were made by the vendor, on the 20th of February following, and accepted by the defendant without objection, it was thereby merged, according to the rule and principle laid down in Share and Anderson, 7 Serg. & Rawle, 43, The principle de
In the next place, it has been insisted on, that the execution and acceptance of the deed of conveyance was a consummation of all previous agreements between the parties relating to the purchase of the lands. That this collateral promise of indemnity was thereby waived, and that the vendor was discharged from his obligation under it. It is certainly true that when articles of agreement for the sale of land are carried'into execution, by a conveyance from the vendor and bonds from the vendee, the contract, in general, is considered as closed, unless in extreme cases, showing gross misapprehension or fraud. Bailey v. Snyder, 13 Serg. & Rawle, 160. Seitsinger for Drinkel v. Weaver, 1 Rawle, 384. Crotser v. Russell, 9 Serg. & Rawle, 78. McKennon and Henderson v. Doughman, 1 Penn. Rep., 417. This, however, is but a general rule, to which there are exceptions; see Brown v. Morehead, 8 Serg. & Rawle, 569, and is founded merely on presumption, which may, as I apprehend, be rebutted by circumstances or parol evidence. In the case of Frederick v. Campbell, 13 Serg. & Rawle, 136, parol evidence was held admissible to show that at the time the deed was executed, the vendor declared to the vendee, that he had a good title to two hundred and twenty-five acres, and would warrant that quantity of land, the deed containing no such covenant or warranty. In the present case, although the promise of indemnity does not appear to have been made at the time qf executing the deed of conveyance, yet its date is only three weeks anterior, and would appear from its terms, to have been made some time after the agreement for the sale of the land. This promise of indemnity was. made in writing and delivered to the vendee; it is still retained by him; not delivered up to the vendor at the execu-
Judgment affirmed,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.