Warburton v. Wilkinson
Warburton v. Wilkinson
Opinion of the Court
This suit -was instituted by ap-pellee to recover of appellant the sum of $650, the balance due on the rent of 2,000 acres of land for grazing purposes for the year beginning August 1, 1913, and ending July 31, 1914. Appellant answered that he had not made a contract to rent the premises, and that his brother, J. A. Warburton, who leased the premises, was not his agent and had no authority to rent the premises. A jury being waived, the court rendered judgment in favor of appellee for $650, with interest at 6 per cent, from January 1, 1915.
The evidence clearly shows that J. A. War-burton, a brother of appellant, who had charge of the cattle of the latter, made the rental contract, and that appellant reaped all the benefits of the contract, and ratified the acts of his agent by repaying to him the sum of $150 paid on the contract. J. A. War-burton was undoubtedly the undisclosed agent of appellant, and whether appellee knew this fact or not would not affect the liability of the undisclosed principal. The evidence shows that the cattle were the property of appellant, that he knew that they were pastured on the land of appellee, and that he paid all that was paid on the rental contract. He is undoubtedly liable for the rent.
It is the general rule that an undisclosed principal, when subsequently discovered, may be held liable on all simple nonnegotiable contracts made in his behalf by his duly authorized agent, although the contract was originally made with the agent in entire ignorance of the principal. This has been held in many cases. Me’chem on Agency, § 1731, and authorities cited. To the same effect are Heffron v. Pollard, 73 Tex. 96, 11 S. W. 165, 15 Am. St. Rep. 764, Sanger v. Warren. 91 Tex. 472, 44 S. W. 477, 66 Am. St. Rep. 913, and Marx v. Luling Association, 17 Tex. Civ. App. 408, 43 S. W. 596.
The judgment is affirmed.
<@x3jPor other oases see same topic ana KEY-NUMBER in all Key-Numbered Digests and Indexes
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Warburton v. Wilkinson.
- Cited By
- 14 cases
- Status
- Published