Stafford v. Giles

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Stafford v. Giles, 135 Pa. 411 (Pa. 1890)
19 A. 1028; 1890 Pa. LEXIS 1195
Clark, McCollum, Mitchell, Sterrett, Williams

Stafford v. Giles

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam:

In this action of covenant on the general warranty contained in the deed of defendant’s intestate to plaintiffs, the defence was that the vendor did not intend to convey, nor did plaintiffs suppose they were buying, the seven-foot vein of coal underlying the land described in the deed; that the coal had been sold and conveyed by a former owner of the land, and, by mutual mistake of defendant’s intestate and the plaintiffs, a clause, excepting said coal from the operation of the deed, was omitted therefrom. Evidence was introduced for the purpose of proving these facts, and the sole question was whether it was sufficient to reform the deed in that respect. The learned judge of the Common Pleas thought it was, and he accordingly submitted it to the jury, rvith instructions to which no just exception can be taken. He refused to charge, as requested in plaintiffs’ first- point, that, under the evidence, the verdict should be in their favor; but he affirmed their second point, wherein he was requested to charge “ that the deed of Thomas Giles to plaintiffs cannot be reformed, except upon clear and convincing evidence of a mistake on the part of Giles and Stafford and Kilpatrick, or that the scrivener wrote therein contrary to the instructions of Giles and both of the plaintiffs.” Other portions of the charge, recited in the second and third specifications, are not in conflict with that proposition. The case was fairly submitted to the jury on evidence that was clearly sufficient to justify them in reforming the deed in the manner claimed by defendant.

In view of the evidence, it is difficult to see how the jury could have done otherwise than find as they did. It was clearly and conclusively shown that plaintiffs knew their vendor did not own the coal, and did not intend to include it in his sale and conveyance to them; and it is equally clear that they never could have supposed the}»- were buying it. Neither of the specifications of error is sustained.

Judgment affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name
JAMES STAFFORD v. THOMAS GILES
Cited By
1 case
Status
Published
Syllabus
1. In an action on the covenant of general warranty in a deed, where the grantor had no title to the coal under the land which was not excepted from the deed, evidence clearly showing that the grantees know the grantor did not own the coal and did not intend to include it in the sale, and that they never could have supposed they were buying it, is sufficient to warrant the submission of the case to the jury to determine whether the omission to except the coal from the deed was a mutual mistake. 2. In such ease, an instruction to the jury that the deed could not be reformed except upon clear and convincing evidence of a mistake on the part of the grantor and the grantees, was not inconsistent with the further instruction that both the grantees need not have been present when the bargain was made, for, where the evidence shows that one of the grantees was conducting the negotiations, he would then be acting for the other as well as for himself, and his negotiations would affect both.